Thirsk and Malton MP visits award-winning Citizens Advice partnership helping the Pickering community

The MP met local staff from the Society and Citizens Advice advisers, who told him how important the partnership is proving in offering assistance to households in the Pickering area.

Yorkshire Building Society funds Citizens Advice advisers to hold free, confidential appointments at least one day a week across 40 percent of its branch network, including in Pickering. The appointments are open to everyone, not only Yorkshire Building Society customers. The Citizens Advice advisers offer independent and impartial advice in private meeting rooms to assist people with a wide range of issues.

Each hour-long appointment is free, confidential and can be booked directly by contacting a participating branch.

Malgorzata Dzienisiewicz, branch manager at Yorkshire Building Society in Pickering, said: “By partnering with Citizens Advice, we’ve increased the availability and accessibility of support for people in our community facing any number of issues.

“Through our national partnership, Yorkshire Building Society and Citizens Advice have so far supported over 9,400 people in communities like ours across the UK.”

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton said: “I visited the Pickering branch of Yorkshire Building Society to find out more about the mutual’s partnership with Citizens Advice.

“I heard about the challenges faced by local people who use the service and learned about how this collaboration is making impartial advice more accessible to our community. It is really positive to see how a charity and a mutual organisation can work together effectively to benefit the local community."

Carol Shreeve, Chief Executive Officer at North Yorkshire Citizens Advice & Law Centre, said: "This year we have seen so many households reach out to us for support for a huge range of issues. That’s why our partnership with Yorkshire Building Society is so important in helping us to increase the support that we can offer to people in need in our local communities.”

For more information on this innovative partnership and details of participating branches please visit www.ybs.co.uk/citizens-advice