The number of people across the South Hams going to the Citizens Advice Bureau for help has shot up by more than a quarter in the past year, manager Emma Handley has revealed.

The bureau staff dealt with some 9,000 inquiries – mainly issues involving unemployed people of working age, she said.

Meanwhile, the number of people with mental health issues seeking help in the South Hams has increased massively. It has all come at a time when the bureau has seen its income cut with the loss of various grant funding.

Ms Handley said: 'It has been a good year. However, the challenges remain considerable.'

And she warned: 'We recognise that there will be new funding challenges to be met.'

Ms Handley outlined the bureau's position at its annual meeting, held at the Royal Seven Stars Hotel in Totnes.

She said: 'During the year funding has ended for fuel poverty; Cabinet Office advice services support; and the South West Community Foundation grant. The Advice Services Transition Fund project funding ends next year.'

She added: 'As a result of Citizens Advice securing responsibility for consumer services, our work on payday loans and scams has increased. To highlight a few significant features of the year – benefits and tax credits have increased as an inquiry area.

'Applicants entitled to the new personal independence payment wait on average eight months for it. Threatened homelessness is on the increase, and Healthwatch Devon funds a "champion" in each bureau.

'We seek outcomes to demonstrate that advice services improve health and wellbeing; that clients fare better if their stress levels are reduced. Twenty two per cent of clients have long-term health issues.

'Future target areas are access for our clients – where outreach work makes a considerable difference – and prevention, especially in the area of money advice.'

She added: 'This has been a year of consolidation. The Advice Services Transition has enabled the South Hams Citizens Advice Bureau to stabilise staff. It has said a final farewell to the legal service franchise, with the loss only of Nick Dilworth; the rest of the staff have been re-employed. This has helped us integrate debt and benefit advice into the bureau, using volunteers but with the specialist support of staff. The SHCAB also act as consultants to other agencies providing support in-house.'

The South Hams Citizens Advice Bureau was launched in 1979 as four separate bureaux, with Totnes, Dartmouth, Ivybridge and Kingsbridge each having their own. The CAB is now based at Follaton House in Totnes, with drop-in facilities at all four towns.

Graham Meaden, bureau chairman, said: 'In spite of these big physical changes, there are recurring themes throughout the history of the service – mainly a steady increase in clients and a struggle for resources.'

He introduced a new trustee, Mark Taylor. The board's officers for the coming year are Paul Evans, chairman; Anna Brownlow, vice-chairman; and Chris Mottram, treasurer.

Zoe Oldman, business development manager, spoke about the CAB and income generation.

The aim of her post, funded by the Big Lottery for two years, is to seek innovative ways of bringing in more money to sustain bureau activity. She pointed out that the National Council for Voluntary Organisations forecasts that there will be £178bn less available for the sector in 2017/18 than there was in 2010/11.

Yet while support for the volunteer sector is declining, there is rising demand, not just in numbers of clients but in the complexity of the issues they bring and the challenges they present – for example, South Hams CAB has seen an increase in clients with mental health issues from four per cent to 21 per cent.