Advice service changes : Spring 2026
13 APRIL 2026 00:05
Advice service changes : Spring 2026
Why the changes?
We’ve been reviewing last year’s enquiries data, thinking about the unrelenting pressures on people today and, unfortunately, anticipating more to come. The last 12 months have been extremely busy for us - fewer clients in number but each facing more, increasingly complex problems. We need to make it easier for people to reach us whilst ensuring we are able to spend more time with the people who need us the most. In this day and age, that means offering a range of phone, digital and in-person advice options. The big challenge is: how to mix and match our (finite) resources in a way that best meets local needs?
With much head-scratching, we think we may have cracked the ‘do more and best with less’ conundrum. Here's how!
With effect from Monday 13 April 2026
Telephone & digital advice services
We are delighted to announce an increase in our telephone hours as well as continuing our email, text, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp services, and our appointments capacity.
- Our local Telephone Advice Line - 01239 621974 | 01970 612817 - will be open every day, Monday to Friday, from 9 - 11am.
- Our digital services - ask@cabceredigion.org and 07971 802 060 for text & WhatsApp (no voice calls) and Facebook Messenger (@CeredigionCAB) - are available 24/7 and responded to within 2 working days, Monday to Friday, from 9am - 4pm.
- Appointments for more complex enquiries and issues are available throughout the working week, usually by phone or digital face-to-face but also in-person at our community venues in Aberystwyth, Borth, Cardigan or Lampeter.
In person, drop-in advice sessions
In 2023, we secured funding to set up weekly, in-person advice sessions across the county. We've been reviewing their future now that the funding is drawing to an end. Our conclusion: their success is such that we can't not continue them! We’re tweaking the opening hours a little and, in Aberystwyth, moving to a larger space and different day to accommodate demand. (We'll also be fundraising this year to maintain these crucial services.)
From Monday 13 April, our weekly drop-in advice sessions will open from 10am - 2pm on:
- Mondays in Lampeter - Emmaus Christian Fellowship, 78 Bridge Street SA48 7AB
- Tuesdays in Aberystwyth - Aberystwyth Football Club, Park Avenue SY23 1PG
- Wednesdays in Cardigan - St. Mary’s Old School Hall (Kinora), Pont-y-Cleifion SA43 1DW
CAB•Chat, our 24/7 self-help tool
Earlier this year, we launched CAB•Chat, a generative AI ‘chatbot’ developed and funded by a partnership of local Citizens Advice in Wales. It doesn’t give advice but it does pull together reliable, quality assured information, practical templates and tool kits from trusted online sources - in seconds. It also recognises and responds appropriately to people in distress and crisis situations. Already, it's being well-used and we're working closely with the developer, reviewing every (anonymised) interaction, to improve it.
In an ever-expanding world of generic, unverified AI tools, we think CAB•Chat adds a vital dimension to our services - not just for clients but also for local organisations and community groups who need ready access to trustworthy information for the people they support. We'll continue to supply it and make it easier to access on the website.
Client referrals
We’ve been on a long-standing mission to make it easier for people to reach us - wherever they first seek support. Referrals from other local organisations and services ensure people who we might not otherwise reach find their way to our services.
We want to give local groups, services and partners a simple, safe and secure way to refer people to us. We'll be adding a 'Referrals' section to our Get Advice page. All existing privacy policies (yours and ours) continue to apply but this new, straightforward process allows others to refer their clients directly into our GDPR-secure systems - no need for password protected emails or new platform logins. Simples!
Keeping in touch
Finally, we've launched our quarterly newsletter! Do get in touch with enquiries@cabceredigion.org if you haven't received it and would like to. And we'll continue to share what we and our local communities are doing on a daily basis via our social media. Do like our pages and follow.
As we move into summer, we'll be asking you - local people, communities, organisations, our clients - about the changes we've made, whether we're getting the mix of services right for you and the people you support, and consulting on plans, projects and fundraising ambitions that we're hatching for the future. Your input to these will be crucial. In the meantime, you know how to reach us - and can download our new leaflet to help us spread the word!