Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts provided support to hundreds of people in Alfreton during the last year, according to a new report.

Of the 2,381 people in Amber Valley helped by the charity helped during 2020/21, the largest proportion – 214 – were in Alfreton where a total of 1,881 issues were tackled.

In total, Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts helped people living in Amber Valley with 17,644 issues last year, including housing, education, debt and benefits.

The figures are revealed in the charity’s ‘Our impact and social value in Amber Valley 2020/21’ report, which also explains how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted on both the charity and people living in Derbyshire.

On an operational level, Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts closed its face-to-face service and adopted a completely telephone-based model of support.

A foreward written by chief officer Chloe Doxey explains: “The pandemic brought about fundamental changes within our community and we found that a substantial number of our clients were first-time users of the service, having never needed us before.

“Complexities around furlough and employment issues meant that this area of enquiries rose along with enquiries relating to welfare benefits, in particular first-time claimants of Universal Credit.”

Face-to-face appointments are now available in Heanor and Belper but you can also contact Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts via its freephone advice line: 0808 278 7954.