Included on this page is information you will find useful to determine whether you wish to volunteer with the CAB now or at a later stage. We look forward to working with you as part of our valuable team.
 

What CAB's do

CAB outlets deal with £1.4 billion worth of debt problems a year. One million debt enquiries were dealt with by the CAB networks in England and Wales.

Last year Citizens Advice Bureau dealt with:

• Over 1.8 million problems concerning local benefits
• Over 600, 000 employment problems. Clients include vulnerable employees facing poor working conditions and discrimination at work: people facing redundancy and employers
• Over 35, 000 immigration, nationality and asylum problems.
• Over 600, 000 housing problems: families struggling under the burden of mortgage arrears; homeless teenagers desperately looking for somewhere to live; tenants trying to get landlords to carry out essential repairs and return rental deposits
• In a survey by the Commission for Racial Equality (1999) more people from black and minority ethnic communities cited the CAB as their first port of call when seeking advice on discrimination than any other agency. Citizens Advice dealt with over 40, 000 discrimination problems last year—10% up on the previous year
• Citizen’s Advice rural equality project works with other local organisations to highlight the problem of rural racism providing training for employers and local agencies and supporting people in the South West who have experienced discrimination, harassment and racial attacks

What you can do to help

You may already be aware that the Citizens Advice Service provides free, confidential advice to anybody on almost any subject you can think of—but did you know that the delivery of this advice depends on the energy and expertise of the 22, 000 volunteers?

Every CAB is a registered charity and volunteers are our lifeblood. Perhaps you have already been thinking about volunteering but are not sure what is involved. By joining us you will become part of a well established growing advice network which really values it’s volunteers.

All kinds of people have the skills we need and no specific qualifications are needed before you start. Training and support are available every step of the way. All we ask is that you work well in a team and enjoy helping others.

There are many ways to get involved. You could:

• Train to be an adviser
• Help keep the bureau running smoothly as an administrator
• Use and develop your IT and web design skills
• Use your language skills
• Be the first point of contact as a receptionist
• Use and develop your fundraising skills
• Raise your local profile using your PR skills
• Ensure your local CAB works effectively as a Trustee Board Member
• Influence local/national policies as a Social Policy worker

What is in it for you ?

As a volunteer it is not just the CAB who gains but you too. It could give you vital skills for the future and is good experience for paid employment. You’ll get 100% support, full training and your expenses paid. We are committed to equal opportunities for all our workers and clients and welcome volunteers regardless of race, gender, sexuality or disabilities.

• Use you existing skills and develop new ones
• Advisers receive 160 hours of training which leads to a nationally recognised qualification
• Opportunity to develop your communication skills. We particularly welcome speakers of community languages as volunteers
• Chance to give as much of your time as you want to help others
• Develop real practical life skills and experience in the office environment
• Join a well-established advice network—if your circumstances change you can move from one bureau to another
• Meet new people in the community
• Play a part in changing national and local policies—we use our client’s experiences to campaign for changes
• Flexibility to fit your volunteering commitment with the rest of your home and working life
• Out of pocket expenses. Havant & District currently pays travel expenses at 30p per mile or public transport costs.

Responsibilities of a Volunteer

• IMPARTIALITY Whatever you views are you will be expected to work with all kinds of clients and on any kind of problem they have. You will need to be prepared to examine you own views and feelings to make sure that you are able to give an equally good service to everyone
• EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES All staff are expected to carry out the Citizen’s Advice policy of equal opportunities. This means an active opposition to all forms of discrimination and to make sure that the service is equally available to all
• CONFIDENTIALITY Everything you see and hear in the bureau has to be private and every volunteer has to sign an agreement to observe a strict rule of confidentiality before they begin work
• A COMMITMENT TO TRAINING A willingness to learn and develop is central to being an effective volunteer. Learning to be a generalist adviser involves a great deal of commitment to training and learning. All advisers/CHUM’s periodically assess how they are doing. This is to identify training and development needs, these are always changing and you will need to spend some time reading in order to keep yourself informed. All kinds of training courses, sessions and self-study materials are available to staff to develop their skills.
• BUREAU WORKERS MEETINGS We hope that you will attend as many of these as possible. They allow for training, case discussion, explanation of policy and practice, identifying preventative work and mutual support
• TIME To ensure we can provide a consistent advice service we like to agree with you what hours you can give. We recommend that to become and continue to be a competent volunteer adviser that you give at least 6 hours per week.
• TEAM MEETINGS We again hope that you will attend you individual team meetings to enable both yourself and your line manager to look at your particular work area and identify any problems or difficulties you may be facing and to assess your progress and development needs
• INVOLVEMENT Many activities that occur on behalf of the district go on outside the bureaux, opening hours and opening days. If you are interested in these activities and playing an active role we encourage staff to be involved. Many of the weekend events could also include a family activity in some circumstances

How to become a Volunteer

Please contact us for an application pac. Please fill it in and return to the Trainingt Manager at Leigh Park CAB.

If you have any queries please contact either our District Manager,  on 023 9271 7707  who will be happy to answer your queries on volunteering. Or if you are happy to please complete our on-line application pack and forward via the e-mail address and a member of staff will contact you in due course to arrange an informal discussion.

Your details and information a kept strictly confidential and within the CAB service.