A WOMAN with a natural talent for organisation has pledged to bring a Wyre Forest advice service up to date for the 21st century.

And Kate Bennett is relishing the task after being installed as manager at Kidderminster's Citizens Advice Bureau on New Road two months ago - even though she has a hard act to follow.

Her predecessor, Sylvia Tudor-Hughes, spearheaded a £60,000 fund-raising push to secure the site and expanded the service during her successful 11-year tenure.

The CAB offers advice and support for people from all walks of life with problems related to issues such as finance, housing, employment and benefits - and deals with more than 10,000 new inquiries each year.

Mrs Bennett said: "The service has to expand and develop as the needs of clients do. I have been delighted with the commitment and support of staff and the management committee."

The 44-year-old, who lives with her husband in Stourbridge, is well equipped to take the service forward, having spent two years as a volunteer at Brierley Hill CAB and three years as a case worker at Cannock.

But Kidderminster and the surrounding area provides a whole new challenge.

"Wyre Forest is more cosmopolitan than the other areas I've worked in. There is a richer mix of different types of people," she said.

"I'm pleased with the amount of young people who have been coming through the doors over the last two months. I've always said 'you've got rights, however old you are'."

Mrs Bennett is not setting out any firms plans for developing the CAB until she has carried out "market research" about what people in the area want.

But she has started to make her mark by installing a computer network and introducing a new benefit check scheme.

Anyone coming into the offices is offered the chance to have their benefits checked to see if they are claiming their full allowance - and it has so far made a couple of people £35 and £40 a week better off.

Mrs Bennett is ably supported by a team of about 15 volunteers - but is always on the lookout for non-judgmental people with a willingness to learn.

"With the growth of the advice industry in the new millennium, trainees are able to work for qualifications which can help them get work in other areas," she said.

Initially a volunteer herself, she had trained in law at Wolverhampton University after growing tired of her job selling telecommunications equipment.

She got a taste for being in charge when she helped to launch Dudley Advocacy and is still keen to maintain a hands-on approach with clients even though paying bills, managing staff and resources and applying for funding are all pressing tasks.

"We don't tell people what to do - we give them advice. Sometimes we can make a difference by pointing someone in the right direction."