A Citizens Advice Woking volunteer has emailed senior borough councillors protesting at the proposed cut in core funding.

Katherine Adams said that the people who use Citizens Advice will suffer.

“Where will all those local people get the help they so desperately need?” she wrote. “It is difficult for them to give their support as most come to us ‘on the quiet’ for fear of shame.

“They will not get the support when they are in debt; they will not get the support when benefits have stopped, sometimes unnecessarily; they will not get the support when someone dies; they will not get the support when they need to complete a governmental form; they will not get the support when the bailiffs call; they will not get the top-up on their energy bills; they will not recoup the monies lost through mismanagement from either HMRC, WBC or other organisations; these are the people who will suffer, not me the volunteer, not you the councillor, not the organisations.”

Katherine says she has been working at Citizens Advice for more than ten years as a general advisor.

The email, sent to Ann-Marie Barker, the council leader, Will Forster, deputy leader, and Dale Roberts, portfolio holder for economic development and finance, concludes: “The people of Woking will suffer, do you want this? I don’t. You can do something about this.”