CITIZENS Advice (CA) is to merge four of its Somerset groups into one later this year to help cope with a financial crisis.

The Wellington Weekly reported in May how Taunton CA, which runs an outreach office in Wellington, was facing a £40,000 funding shortfall this year and across the county the organisation was looking at losing out on more than £100,000.

Now, the trustees of the Taunton, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, and Mendip groups have agreed the move will take effect on October 1.

The new organisation will be known as Citizens Advice Somerset, but West Somerset CA will remain independent.

The Wellington office, which is supported with a £5,000 annual grant from the town council, helped 460 people from across the town last year, three-quarters of whom were experiencing mental health issues.

Citizens Advice Somerset chief executive designate Angela Kerr said the merger was partly in response to a new unitary Somerset Council replacing the four district authorities to ensure services remained aligned with those of the council.

Ms Kerr said: “It is also felt that by coming together we will create a stronger and more sustainable foundation for advice services in Somerset.

“The new structure will ensure that we are best placed to respond to the ever increasing demand for our services and enable us to optimise our resources in support of the valued staff and volunteers working on the frontline.

“We plan to continue to work within all of Somerset’s parishes and are fully committed to providing locally responsive services as is the case at present.

“By joining together we will be able to extend the benefits of our specialist provision and enhance the support offered in each locality.

“Please be assured that our clients, staff, and volunteers are at the heart of our planning.

“We are very busy putting everything in place to ensure that services are uninterrupted and that our teams are supported through the period of change.

“As we begin the process of reorganising our operations we want to assure all our funders of our ongoing commitment to delivering discrete local and/or specialist projects alongside the Somerset- wide general advice service.

“During the autumn, we will begin discussions with all our stakeholders as part of the process of refining our vision and setting our objectives for the next few years.

“We are excited about the potential opportunities the merger will bring and in particular how it will enable us to provide more agile services in response to our communities’ needs.”