Very often, it is the people who need things most who are first to feel the fall-out of financial problems.

Take, for example, Girlington Advice Centre, which ran into trouble when its main source of funding - cash from Council coffers paid to the voluntary sector - was hit by cuts.

The Girlington centre, like many others across Bradford, provides advice on a wide range of topics to some of the must vulnerable and needy people in society.

Now, thankfully, the National Lottery's Community Fund has thrown a lifeline to the ailing centre in the shape of a £146,000 grant.

The money will help pay for a much-needed new part-time outreach worker, who will be able to take the good work of the centre directly to the people who need it most, and it will also help with the costs and overheads such a service naturally incurs.

Those of us who are lucky enough to not need the help of such centres to advise us of our rights and entitlements might hardly give such a news item more than a passing thought.

But to many, many people, such facilities are absolutely vital - and can truly mean the difference between leading a life worth living and despair. The world can be a complicated, cruel place when you feel alone and threatened, and without the sterling work of the people at the Girlington Advice Centre and other facilities like it, many people would feel simply unable to navigate the bureaucracy, red tape and often sheer bloody- mindedness that dealing with authority can represent.

This, like many others, is a vital service, and one that should not be underestimated.