CATWD says it is desperate for more volunteers, both advisers and trustees, to help people falling into crisis due to rising costs.
Using statistics from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, CATWD acting chief officer Jennifer Jadia told the Times: “A person earning £30,000 will see their take-home pay plunge by £1,600 thanks to soaring living costs, stagnant wages and tax increases.
“And with the energy price hike in April, things are expected to go from bad to worse, which is why it’s vital that we train up additional volunteers to ensure we are able to help all those in crisis.”
As the Times recently reported, CATWD is seeking new volunteer advisers, but is also searching for three new trustees for the local board. The team is planning a ‘pop-up’ at Royal Victoria Place in February, where they will be able to meet the public and answer questions.
The CATWD’s appeal comes as the latest figures show that benefit claimants had more than doubled in the Borough since the start of the pandemic. According to Kent County Council (KCC), Tunbridge Wells saw one of Kent’s largest percentage increases in people on Universal Credit (UC), up 136 per cent from 2,832 claimants when Covid-19 restrictions were imposed in March 2020, to 6,695 in October 2021.
However, Tunbridge Wells has one of the lowest proportions of the population on UC under Kent County Council, at just 5.4 per cent of the population in October 2021.
Figures on child poverty before the pandemic are not yet available, but KCC’s statistics show child poverty here had increased 2.5 per cent year on year, to 2,185 children in 2019-20, representing 9.1% of all under-16s in the borough.
