Volunteer Client Adviser

Citizens Advice East Hampshire is calling for volunteers of all backgrounds to deliver essential services and support local people. Last year the charity supported around 8500 people in East Hampshire. It can only do this work thanks to its team of volunteers.

Have you finished your studies, are you on a career break, or looking for a change in direction or have you recently retired from work? Could you use your educational and professional skills to support the local community?

The charity is launching an appeal for new volunteer Advisers. Never has the help and advice Citizens Advice support people with been needed more. Last year we saw a massive rise in people coming to us for help with cost of living, debt and related subjects, who were all really struggling to make ends meet. Our advisers are key to us being able to meet this demand and we train them to provide high quality, informative and sometimes complex advice to people in need.

This role would include:

• Talking to clients over the phone, face to face, or online to explore what problems they’ve come for help with
• Finding information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options
• Supporting clients to take action to resolve their problems. This might include drafting or writing letters, making phone calls, or referring the client to another organisation
• Writing a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken.
• Looking out for problems’ that are common, or are unfair, and write a short report about the problem or a letter to an elected official like an MP, AM or local councillor.

Helen Drake, Chief Officer at Citizens Advice East Hampshire said:

“Demand for our advice and support services has never been higher due to the cost of living crisis and the impact of Covid on people's lives. We have risen to the challenge to meet this demand for our help but now need new volunteer advisers who are able to train to help with the complexity of peoples problems as well as want to help their local communities, learn new skills and use their existing skills from study or a lifetime of work and be part of effective and supportive team”

Richard, Adviser at Petersfield said:

“I find helping clients is incredibly rewarding. If the client goes away more at peace than when they arrived, I feel we have made a difference to their lives.”

As well as volunteers Advisers we are also seeking volunteers to undertake the following roles:

• Trustee
• Reception and Administration
• Initial Checker and Assessor
• Fundraising
• Social Media
• Research and Campaigns

To find out more and apply, please register your interest today.

Skills

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 complex 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.