A Moray charity is hoping to secure a permanent home to ensure its protected from any future financial troubles.
The Moray Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) offers free, confidential, impartial and important information to some of the region’s most vulnerable people.
The charity is funded by, and rents its premises from, the local authority and its future was thrown into jeopardy last year when its annual budget was cut by £30,000.
The organisation is based on Moss Street in Elgin and currently rents its premises from Moray Council.
However, with a five-year lease about to expire, they want to branch out and take ownership of the building through a community asset transfer so that it can secure a brighter future for the once-threatened service.
Eddie Coutts, the organisation’s chairman, wants to own the building so that positive changes can be made to it.
He said: “What we are trying to do is secure a future for our accommodation because obviously if we own the building, we can try and modify it for the future different needs that we can incorporate in.
“Things like parking for the disabled, adjusting the building and it just really secures our long-term tenure of a building that is highly suited for our purpose.”
Its funding for this financial year has yet to be decided but Mr Coutts said he was “hopefully optimistic” that funding will be restored to the level it was at during 2017-18, which was £115,000.
He said: “The service helps about 5,000 people a year for £115,000 which the current administration of the council believe is great value for money.
“Recently we received statistics from our umbrella organisation that for every pound we receive from public funds we put £6 back into the local economy.”
To support the asset transfer, visit www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MorayCAB_CAT