THE retirement of three committed community workers — and the expansion of the service — has left the Citizen's Advice Bureaux in both Tavistock and Okehampton appealing for more volunteers.

The bureau currently has 13 voluntary advisors, but Ann Wright and Mary Hurn, both long-serving members of staff, are about to retire and Audrey Stephens has already left after 16 years' service.

Mary Hurn has worked at the bureau for ten years since she retired from full-time work and is leaving at the end of March to spend more time with her husband and new grandchild.

She said she would be sad to leave.

'You couldn't work with a nicer crowd of people and Margaret Bull is a super manager,' she said.

Mrs Hurn added that the CAB was not just for hard-up people seeking help with benefits, an image perhaps many people have, but offered help for everyone, no matter what their problems.

'You don't know what's coming through the door, it could be anything — someone with £40,000 of debts or someone wanting to know how to sue their double-glazing contractor.

'What we like is that they go out more confident about which way they should go about tackling their problem. Often it's just about empowerment because you can't always help them directly.'

Mrs Hurn said it was sometimes quite an emotional job, but important to be able to leave that at the bureau at the end of the day.

'You see these people sometimes and wonder how they can cope, but you see them around town and they are walking around like normal — they do, they cope.'

The bureau is trying to secure funding for a paid Money Advice worker to cope with the increased volume of debt work, the job Mrs Stephens undertook on a voluntary basis before her retirement.

Tavistock deputy manager Sue Cole said: 'Volunteers have to have a sympathetic nature and be interested in helping people. They have to have at least six hours a week available in two separate stints and a willingness to learn a lot.'

CAB volunteers undergo six months of rigorous training before they would be expected to deal with the public.

They would also be expected to be able to provide at least a year's service after their training.

Volunteers do not need any particular academic qualifications and are welcomed at any age.

Contact Sue Cole or Margaret Bull on 01822 612359 between 10.30am and 1.30pm weekdays or in person at Kingdon Hall, North Street, Tavistock same times except Wednesdays.

l Tavistock Citizens Advice Bureau has been granted further funding to ensure the future of its Health and Social Care Information project.

Devon County Council has awarded the bureau £22,000 to allow information specialist Pam Wheeler to continue compiling and up-dating her database for the next two years.

The database lists details of all aspects of health and social services available both locally and nationally.

The information is available to any individual and statutory or voluntary organisation

'We would hope she would be able to pull up a lot of information that would be useful for anyone coming in with whatever problem,' said Mrs Cole.

Mrs Wheeler is based at the Social Services building in Abbey Road and can be contacted on 01392 386984.