With the recession still biting and more and more people forced to rely on food banks to help them through a difficult time, one of the founders of the Ross Advisory Service, Joyce Thomas, thinks this is the worst possible time for Herefordshire CAB to lose its funding.

Mrs Thomas was one of a group of local residents who set up the Ross Advisory Service in a temporary building in Croft Court, which was later taken over by the CAB. Over the years the service has dwindled, with much of the advice given on line or by telephone.

However, Mrs Thomas firmly believes that when people are facing problems they need someone they can turn to and talk to in person.

She understands that Herefordshire Council is proposing to cut all the grant funding they provide to Herefordshire CAB from April 2014. This amounts to £117,460 per annum and is less than £1 per head of population. However, rather than joining the calls for a U-turn by the Council, she would like them to consider using Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to preserve this valuable service.

She told the Ross Gazette there is so much development potential in Ross at the moment, with companies wanting to build supermarkets and private housing, that there is a real opportunity get some money and give something to the people.

For the full story please see this week's Ross Gazette.