Column: Martin Lord is from Citizens Advice Essex

CITIZENS Advice, the national network of independent advice charities, was formed at the outset of the Second World War.

Back then, volunteers provided in-person help from front rooms, pubs and even recommissioned horse boxes on issues as diverse as lost ration cards, rat infestations and homelessness caused by bomb damage.

Fast forward more than 80 years, and while not on the same scale, the impact of the pandemic on communities and how we serve them has undoubtedly been enormous.

For example, many of the 600-plus volunteers working in local offices across Essex, and the staff who support them, have been displaced to their living rooms, kitchens and studies.

From there, they've continued to provide advice by telephone, email and webchat.

During the 12 months after the first lockdown, volunteers and staff across the country advised more than two million people. That's 18 people every minute.

During the same period, our website received over 60 million unique hits.

Although comprised of separate charities, we are a national service and share some technical infrastructure.

Because of this, we've been able to collect data about precisely how the pandemic has affected people.

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We can also make predictions about what might happen next.

Providing a stark reminder of the human cost of this pandemic, we saw a rise in views on our national web pages on wills and deaths.

An increase during the first wave of the pandemic was followed by a more significant increase through the winter lockdown, mirroring the higher death toll of the second wave.

Demand for our "Help to Claim" Universal Credit service mirrored the initial surge in applications for the benefit, flattening from May 2020 onwards.

We also saw a change in the people seeking support with applications during the pandemic.

Women and under 35s made up a more significant proportion of inquiries.

The number of people seeking advice about electricity and gas bill problems dropped sharply during the first lockdown.

Emergency protections meant they could postpone seeking help while they tackled more immediate day-to-day issues.

More recently, though, there have been rises in the need for charitable support and help with gas and electricity debts are once again becoming a concern.

When the weather becomes colder, we expect this to increase as a problem.

In Essex, we provide a range of specialist services to support people who struggle with their energy bills.

During the first lockdown, we saw a staggering increase in the need for redundancy advice.

Changing times - an archive picture from the early days of Citizens Advice Essex

After the announcement of the initial extension to the Government furlough scheme, this diminished markedly.

People's questions about the scheme also changed.

Initially, enquiries were mainly about being made redundant while on furlough.

As people became familiar with the scheme, questions changed to getting a second job.

Later, as home-schooling increased, the focus shifted to people asking whether they could ask to be furloughed.

And what of the future?

It's going to be a pivotal year.

We expect a rise in the number of people enquiring about debt and money issues, which is already evident from our website statistics.

Many of the protections put in place during the pandemic will end.

For example, the ban on evictions ended on May 31.

No doubt, this will lead to more people seeking advice.

Other trends and predictions depend on how the economy recovers, the forthcoming Government spending review and a range of other factors.

Whatever happens, just like in 1939, what we see at Citizens Advice will be a barometer for what's happening in society.

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