Citizens Advice at Swanley Square Shopping Centre to relocate

A free national advice and support service is set to close a town centre branch as it relocates services elsewhere.

Citizens Advice in Swanley Square Shopping Centre, which provides free, confidential and impartial advice, will be shutting later this year.

The site’s walk-in service has already relocated to Swanley Link, which offers a range of other facilities including Post Office services, a library, a café, and free computer access.

It also gives people the chance to do things like pay their council tax, register births and deaths, and apply for bus passes.

The rest of the service will be operating from the Swanley Civic Centre building nearby, and is aiming to be in the new premises by December 1.

The branch is part of Citizens Advice in North and West Kent (CANWK), which also serves people across Dartford, Gravesham, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, and Tunbridge Wells.

CANWK CEO Angela Newey said: “We are moving our meet and greet service to the Swanley Link – it’s a busy location in the heart of the community.

“From the Link we are also available for local people to learn more about our services and hand in documents as part of their advice session.

“We are moving to save costs and focus our funding on giving advice.

“We are very grateful to the Swanley Town Council for offering this accommodation and supporting our service.”

Swanley Town Council chief executive Ryan Hayman said: “I am delighted we have been able to maintain this crucial and well-used service as losing their presence in the town would have been a disaster.

“What we now have is a great partnership between community-focused organisations under the same roof.

“We have been able to accommodate them in our buildings by being creative with available space, ensuring we get maximum local value from both Swanley Link and the town council’s offices.”