In the waiting area at the front there is not a seat to be had, as people of all ages and backgrounds wait to speak to a volunteer about their problems.

Through the back, the phone lines are buzzing and staff are busily following up enquiries from the public, while fans blow much-needed spurts of cool air across the room.

It's not an uncommon scenario explains Morag McCauley, bureau manager.

''This branch is actually one of the busiest in Scotland and every day
there are always people waiting to speak to an adviser,'' she said.

''The fact that we are right in the town centre helps and people don't have to make an appointment – they can just drop in to speak to someone.

''We also offer a greater open door service than any other Scottish
bureau and are open Monday to Saturday.''

The scope of its activities is evident when you discover that, between April 2007 and March 2008, the Falkirk bureau assisted 9961 clients and dealt with 20,386 problems and issues.

In total their work provided clients with gains of £2,091,626 – which included benefits, debt written off, owed wages, consumer refunds and
electricity/gas refunds.

It's a considerable amount of work, which relies on a combination of both the efforts of generalist volunteers and specialised staff dealing with areas such as money advice and community service.

Today I am spending some time with them to get an idea of the type of tasks a CAB volunteer carries out.

Anne Laird (41), of Stenhousemuir, works as a volunteer adviser and first decided to get involved with the bureau eight years ago.

She explained: ''At the time I was not working and just looking for something to do. I saw the advert for CAB and I went along to the training.

''I now have a full-time job where I work 26 hours a week but come in on Thursdays to do six hours in here.''
Edna Oliver (58), of Brightons, is also a generalist volunteer.

She said: ''I had a career in social work for a number of years and, when I stopped that, it felt like I had been a housewife for ages, so I wanted to go out and do something. I applied for the next training course and really enjoyed it.''

For the next few hours I sit through some of the cases with Anne and Edna.

People come in looking for help and answers on a range of problems.

In many cases it's a last resort for people who can't afford the expense of legal advice or are exhausted after hours of frustrating phone calls.

Questions over the conduct of electricity companies, dealing with the Child Support Agency, contracts and consumer rights are just some of the topics that come up. Anne and Edna answer them as best they can.

Sometimes they will phone the other party to put the clients case directly, while, on other occasions, they call consumer experts for advice or help write a letter.

If legal advice is required they will provide a local list of lawyers for clients to follow up.

Such is the broad role of the CAB any kind of enquiry is possible.
Frequently problems surrounding divorce or separation, benefits, debt repayment, bankruptcy and contracts are put into the hands of staff.

For both Anne and Edna this is one of the attractions of being a generalist adviser.

''I like the variety of it so that is why I have never wanted to specialise. There are never two days the same,'' said Anne.

Edna added: ''I never wanted to specialise either. It's nice as you are dealing with people which is interesting and you never know what they are going to see.''

However, the opportunity does exist to develop more specialist skills such as employment tribunals or money advice.
Christina Sneddon (29), of Camelon, is an employment adviser.

''I try and help people get back into work,'' she said.

''I could be doing things like filling out forms, showing how they could be better off going back into work, doing talks or helping in employment tribunals.''

She got involved after seeing at first hand the work of the bureau.

''I actually used the service when I had a few problems myself and got great help then,'' she said. ''I realised this is what I wanted to do – help other people and give them information.

''I absolutely love it and you get real satisfaction from the job as you are helping people that were in the same situation as yourself.''

To get started volunteers attend a training course that takes around four months – but flexible – and which occur twice a year.

People start the programme with other new volunteers and begin by learning the aims and principles of the CAB.

Following that, trainees will sit in with experienced advisers and learn about the interview process.

Once trainees are confident enough and the mentor feels ready, they can begin leading interviews themselves, which continues until they feel ready to become a fully fledged adviser.