Adviceline Adviser
Citizens Advice in East Dorset and Purbeck is a local, independent charity who help people move forward with their lives. We offer free, confidential advice on a number of issues, including Benefits, Debt, Employment, Energy and Housing.
We are looking for volunteers to provide generalist advice to clients over the phone and, where appropriate, refer them internally for further specialist help. You will be supported by a supervisor and we offer full training to help you deliver advice effectively. This role is a key part of our core service.
What do you need to have?
You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:
- Be friendly and approachable
- 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 maths and 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
- Confident in English language (verbal and written) to effectively support people through challenging situations
How much time do you need to give?
We hope you can volunteer for a minimum of one day per week or more if available, for a minimum of twelve months. We’re ideally looking for volunteers who are available on Mondays or Fridays, but if you can commit to another day please contact us to discuss.
What’s in it for you?
- Make a real difference to people’s lives
- Gain new skills and knowledge, and build experience for employment
- Use and develop existing skills to do something worthwhile
- Improve your health, wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem
- Meet new people from a range of backgrounds and ages
- Get to know and give something back to the local community
- Experience expert training and support and feel part of a team
You will join our team at either our Wimborne or Wareham office and we will reimburse travel expenses.
Valuing inclusion
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is really important to us and integral to all we do. We want to build diverse and inclusive teams, where everyone is welcome and everyone feels like they belong. To be the people’s champion we must reflect the people we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our teams – people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.
What will you do?
- Work with clients on the telephone and email to fully understand their situation.
- Use Citizens Advice resources to give tailored information and advice about benefits, employment, consumer, housing & family issues.
- Agree on the best next steps the client can take to move forward with their problem, and take action on their behalf if they need support.
- Make referrals to other organisations where additional or complementary help is required.
- Record the details of your client interactions in our digital system, detailing information shared and agreed actions
- Contribute to Citizens Advice research and campaigns work to benefit the wider community and shape a society where people face far fewer problems.
Some examples of what you could do:
- find the information online that explains how to apply for Housing Benefit in a client’s local area 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
No prior experience or knowledge is required as full training is provided. You will be fully supported during all advice sessions by a supervisor.
Interested?
If you would like to have a chat with someone before applying to volunteer, please complete the expressions of interest form and our Training Manager will be in contact. Alternatively, please complete the Volunteer Application Form. Thank you.
