Telephone Adviceline 08444 111444 On Line Advice at www.adviceguide.org.uk
Help at Home
Consumer tip
What is Help at Home?
Q I have changed my mind regarding a loan, which I signed up for last week. Is it too late to stop the payments?
Help at Home is a volunteer-based service that can offer help if you have just come out of hospital or are recovering from an illness at home. Examples of help available include: fetching your prescription, getting your shopping, arranging services such as meal delivery or just to have a chat. We also offer help with one-off tasks or for short periods, not just after illness, such as: change a light bulb, take curtains down for a wash or empty the contents of high cupboards.
How much does it cost? The service is free for three weeks, after your illness or hospital stay. It is also free if you are referred for help by a health or social care professional. If you don’t fall into either of those categories we still want you to access Help at Home but we do ask for a donation to help cover the overheads of co-ordinating the scheme. As a guide, we suggest £2 for a short or simple task, or £5 for a longer job.
Who comes to help and when? Before the first visit, a member of staff will visit your home to assess your needs. After this visits are arranged by Care Network’s Help at Home co-ordinator, at a time to suit you and your helper. The help arranged is given by volunteers, who offer their time freely. All staff and volunteers are fully trained by Care Network Cambridgeshire and police (CRB) checked. They carry an ID badge and they visit at the time arranged, not unannounced, to protect your safety. As a general rule help is offered on a short-term basis. However regular help may sometimes be offered if there are volunteers free and, in those cases, we will try to arrange for the same volunteer to visit each time. If your circumstances change and you need more help or different tasks carried out, you must contact the Help at Home co-ordinator first, and don’t just ask your volunteer.
How can I access the service? The service is open to all adults in Cambridgeshire and anyone can ask for help. All you need to do is contact your local Help at Home office: South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City: 01223 714433 or whfh.south@care-network.org.uk. Alternatively visit www. care-network.org.uk and click on Help at Home for more information.
A Recent changes to the Consumer Credit Act means that you are now better protected if you take out a loan or buy goods on credit. You now have the right to cancel a credit agreement within fourteen days, if you change your mind after signing the agreement. You can also settle the agreement early if you wish to, either by paying off the whole amount or part of it. You must be provided with information, before you take out an agreement, to help you work out whether this would be the right kind of credit for you. Lenders must now also check more carefully to assess your ability to pay back the money before they offer you or increase your credit. This includes asking you for information and getting a credit reference agency (CRA) report, if necessary. If you are refused credit, because of information supplied by a credit reference agency (CRA), the lender must also give you details of the CRA who supplied the information. For more information go to www. adviceguide.org.uk.
Get advice From a Citizens Advice Bureau Citizens Advice Bureaux offer free, confidential, impartial and independent advice. Our advice helps people resolve their problems with debt, benefits, employment, housing, discrimination, and many more issues. It is available to everyone. Advice may be given face-to-face or by phone. Most bureaux can arrange home visits and some also provide e mail advice. A growing number are piloting the use of text, online chat and webcams.
Your Local Bureau Royston Citizens Advice Bureau Town Hall, ROYSTON, Hertfs. SG8 7DA Opening hours 9:30-12 Mondays and Wednesdays Letchworth Bureau opening hours 9:30-3pm Mondays to Thursdays. 9:30-12 Fridays Adviceline 08444 111444 www.northhertscab.org.uk Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau 66 Devonshire Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. CB1 2BL Drop in drop in sessions: 9:30-1 pm Monday to Friday. Adviceline 0844 848 7979 www.cambridgecab.org.uk
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