News from Citizens Advice charities across Oxfordshire. Together we give free, confidential quality assured advice to everyone on benefits, debt, housing, relationship and employment issues, consumer rights, abuse, discrimination, hate crime and much more.
In this newsletter:
- We are still here for everyone
- Coronavirus-related scams alert
- Linking community support groups across Oxfordshire
- Share our messages across our communities
A short update on how we can help people during the coronavirus pandemic
Citizens Advice across Oxfordshire are keen for people to know that we are still here for everyone. At the moment, we are not able to provide face-to-face advice but we are bolstering our Adviceline telephone service to help anyone who is in need of advice.
As lines are busy, we are urging people to start by visiting www.citizensadvice.org.uk. If an answer cannot be found, please call your local Citizens Advice Adviceline.
Citizens Advice website is constantly updated with the latest advice on what the coronavirus could mean for people on topics such as:
- Sick pay
- Rights to work from home
- Flights, accommodation and event cancellation
- People’s rights with schools closed
- Scams
- Losing work because of coronavirus.
Please take a look and share our latest advice with your local community.
Concerns about increasing coronavirus scams
We are very concerned about the increase in coronavirus-related scams across Oxfordshire. These range from unexpected individuals asking to access homes to offer temperature checks to face masks and sanitisers being paid, for but never delivered. Vulnerable and older people are being targeted but everyone needs to be vigilant and stay cautious of cold calls, emails and messages that are sent out of blue.
If in doubt, or if it seems to good to be true, check with Citizens Advice Scams Action team, encourage people to advise their neighbours to be cautious, and report similar cases to the police via 101 or online.
What’s happening across Citizens Advice?
Please follow us and share this update across our Oxfordshire communities so that more people are aware of our support
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New Oxfordshire community sharing group
A new website has been launched by Oxfordshire All In to support groups across the county helping people in response to Covid-19.
SHARE what is happening in our local community –
FIND their most local Support Group –
USE the resources
If there is no public Community Support Group nearby, let OCVA SUPPORT PEOPLE to set one up.
58 groups have been added already. Help OCVA add to their growing map of support across the county by sharing this form.
Free food parcels for the most vulnerable in Banbury
Citizens Advice and partners have launched a free food parcels delivery service for the vulnerable in Cherwell. The delivery service will begin on Wednesday March 25th.
The new emergency delivery service will supply non-perishable food and basic essentials to people who are self-isolating because they are in coronavirus high risk groups – and those who have already contracted Covid-19.
Donations can be made by online at www.canosn.org.uk. People who need parcels should call 0300 3030 125 and leave their names and telephone numbers for call back. Find out more about the new service.
Please help by sharing our advice across Oxfordshire
We are doing our utmost to ensure we continue to be here for everyone at this challenging time. Please help us to help others by sharing our newsletter and Twitter posts.
Thank you
Get in touch If you have any feedback about the newsletter, or would like to suggest a topic for us to cover, please get in touch at communications@caox.org.uk
About Citizens Advice in Oxfordshire
The four Citizens Advice charities; West Oxfordshire, Oxford, North Oxfordshire and South Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire South and Vale all work together to share knowledge and improve efficiency across the county. Each charity relies on local fundraising to continue their work and all are part of national Citizens Advice.
We’re Citizens Advice
We give people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever their problem.