EVERY working day, 20 or so people wait patiently in Stroud CAB's waiting rooms or call for help.

Nearly 4,000 people a year get help and many more try to get through on the phone.

At the same time, every working day half a dozen volunteer advisers and two or three volunteer receptionists and administrators turn up for no financial reward to be there for those in need of help.

They make no fuss, get on with the job, act professionally, confidentially and non judgementally.

Their work is interrogated and questioned by paid staff and then they must start all over again to help others find a way through - many have been coming back week after week for years.

These volunteers are the beating heart of a charity which has been helping people since 1962.

There are no fluffy dogs or cute children here, so why do people bother volunteering and why should anyone pledge money to help this charity survive?

At the AGM, bureau manager Carla Evans explained: "Stroud district is a relatively prosperous area but there are still people coming through our doors who cannot feed the meter to heat their homes in the depths of winter.

"There are still people fleeing domestic violence, people expected to work 70 hour weeks for below the minimum wage and people dying of cancer being told they are fit for work and refused benefit." During the AGM, Carla told the story of Tracee Williams, who was helped by CAB.

"When I first met Tracee, she was in a wheelchair, smiling and friendly but shaking and trembling from the symptoms of undiagnosed Parkinson’s Disease," said Carla.

"She was a single parent of two children but her incapacity benefit had been stopped because she had failed to return a form on time.

"Tracee was living only on child tax credits and the child maintenance payments from her former partner, while her debts spiralled and desperation set in.

"This is a woman who had been director of a multi-million pound business only a few years before but was now completely overwhelmed by the train of events stemming from her ill health.

"Stroud CAB was able to help Tracee appeal the incapacity benefit decision, claim disability living allowance, create a debt plan and communicate with her creditors.

"We found entitlement to free school meals, income support to help with her mortgage and council tax benefit. "There were other aspects of her life where we could help out too - we arranged for Knightstone Housing to visit her each week to help her face and manage her ongoing correspondence until her health and confidence improved and she could manage on her own.

"Soon after our involvement, Tracee's Parkinson’s Disease was diagnosed and drug treatment commenced, allowing her to walk again.

"When I first met Tracee, her only wish for the future was to be able to walk her youngest child the few yards from her house to school but now she is painting and drawing, has joined an exercise and dance class, is looking for paid employment and has been an absolutely tremendous volunteer for the bureau."

The 50 or so people attending the AGM, including Stroud MP Neil Carmichael, former MP David Drew and SDC leader Frances Roden, all applauded and could not help but be affected and inspired by this story.

*The SNJ is urging anyone who might one day need Stroud CAB's help, to donate to our worthwhile appeal.

To make a donation write to the Appeals Co-ordinator, Unit 8, First Floor, Brunel Mall, London Road, Stroud, GL5 2BP and ask for a standing order form, call 01453 762084 or go to www.strouddistrictcab.org.uk and click on donation or pick up a standing order form from CAB's office in Brunel Mall, Stroud.