In the early 1980’s a group of parents involved with play-centre decided it was time that the Eastern Suburbs had their own Citizens Advice Bureau. Less than a dozen of them became the nucleus of a group that secured the use of a garage just off the main road in Miramar. They converted these unlikely premises into a functioning bureau by rostering some of their members to handle the physical transformation, others the indexing of information (onto cards!) and yet others to provide childcare for the volunteers that were busy. When they opened for business it was for a few hours a day.
Since then there has been a significant transformation, the Bureau is now located in the heart of Kilbirnie and co-located with the Kilbirnie-Lyall Bay Community Centre. We now have over twenty volunteers fulfilling a range of roles, from interviewers, to budget advisors to administrative support. And we are now open 35 and half hours spread over six days a week.
What has not changed is the commitment to and involvement with our community. Most of our volunteers are local people with Kilbirnie, Hataitai, Miramar, and Strathmore Park all being represented. The close association we have with the community centre adds to this local knowledge, we are a familiar face to hall users, and people using the drop in.