Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Angus Citizens Advice Bureau to shut Forfar and Montrose offices

The charity has blamed a funding squeeze for the decision but is pledging to develop community-based coverage of its services locally.

Angus CAB office in Castle Street, Montrose. Image: Google
Angus CAB office in Castle Street, Montrose. Image: Google

Angus Citizens Advice Bureau is to close its offices in Montrose and Forfar.

The charity says a funding squeeze has led to the decision.

But it is promising the towns will not be forgotten, by developing community-based services which might use other locations locally.

The offices, at Castle Street in Montrose, and Queen Street, Forfar are to shut on April 1.

The main Angus CAB office in Arbroath is to remain open.

The charity also plans to begin a home visit service in the summer.

Large offices ‘not sustainable’

Angus CAB manager Zoe Watson said: “Over the last few years, like all charities, we’ve seen our funding squeezed.

“We’ve taken the opportunity to think about how we can best use our resources.

“Maintaining three large offices is not really sustainable, and nor is it the best way to offer our service.

“We can better provide the advice people need by basing ourselves in more locations such as community hubs and trusts, as well as existing local organisations.”

Forfar citizens advice bureau
The Forfar CAB office in Queen Street. Image: Google

She added: “I know some people might feel disappointed that our old offices are closing, and I want to stress that Angus CAB will still have a presence in both towns.

“We’re just moving from those bases to a variety of different locations in these towns and throughout Angus.

“This means we will be operating closer to the communities that need us most.

“We are moving from investing in buildings to investing in advice.”

Angus CAB Staff and volunteer numbers to remain the same

Ms Watson continued: “Angus CAB will have the same number of staff and volunteers and they’ll be spread across more locations.

“We intend to offer the same number of hours of service as currently. Our advice will remain free, impartial and independent.

“We hope that our larger footprint in Angus will bring more value into communities through opportunities to understand and get involved in our work, to volunteer with us or to see us working with other local and trusted organisations.”

“We are also seeking new partnerships with anyone that would like to host the CAB in their premises for one day a week.”

“I’d like to thank all our wonderful staff and volunteers.

“We couldn’t offer our service without them, and they will be central to our new delivery model.

Angus CAB is all about the advisers who work here, and local people can be sure that they will remain the heart of our new model.”

The charity said details of the new arrangements in Forfar, Montrose and beyond will be announced in due course.

Its Arbroath office is based at 11 Millgate. From April 1 it will be open 10am to 1pm Monday to Friday (excluding Wednesday), for walk-in services.

Conversation