We are now recruiting Volunteers
Citizens Advice Rushmoor is always looking to strengthen and expand our team of experienced volunteers: here is some information about what is involved.
We can offer you excellent training and support when you start your volunteering journey with us. At Citizens Advice Rushmoor our volunteers deliver nearly all our public facing services. Volunteers work in teams, supported by experienced supervisors, with expert information, training and resources provided through our national systems. Volunteering can be done from home, so your training and supervision can take place remotely – but there will always be someone on hand to help.
What will you do?
If you volunteer with us you’ll be helping our clients with issues such as benefits, debt, housing and employment, during and post coronavirus. You will:
- complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role – the programme can be condensed or extended to suit your commitments and availability
- talk to clients over the phone, or use email or webchat, to explore what problems they’ve come for help with
- find information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options
- signpost and refer clients for further help
- write a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken
Some examples of what you could do are:
- help a client who has less money because of coronavirus
- find the information online that explains how to apply for benefits and explain it to them
- identify what steps a client can take to resolve their problem with a second hand car
- help a client find and understand what steps they can take to deal with their rent arrears
What’s in it for you?
- make a real difference to people’s lives during covid19 and beyond
- learn about issues such as benefits, debt, employment and housing
- build on valuable skills such as communication, listening and analysing
- increase your employability
- help people from a range of backgrounds and communities
- make a big impact supporting Citizens Advice during the pandemic and after
- be a member of a committed, diverse and lively team
And we’ll reimburse out of pocket expenses too.
What do you need to have?
You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:
- be friendly and approachable
- be able to interact with and respect others from all kinds of backgrounds
- be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
- have good listening skills
- have excellent verbal and written communication skills
- have good IT skills
- be able to understand information and explain it to others
- be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection
- be willing to undertake training in your role
For this phase of our recruitment, you’ll need to have access to the internet and your own IT equipment.
How much time do you need to give?
Let us know how many hours you could do per week (between Monday and Saturday) most of our information and advice giving roles take place during office hours.
You’ll need to be available for at least 6 months.
Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people, and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
Complete our online application form here. We’ll then get in touch to let you know the next steps for volunteering with us.