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Volunteer roles

Assessor (entry level adviser)

Commitment minimum 15 hours per week delivery (2 full days of 9.30am to 5pm or possibly 3 shorter days by agreement), with some additional commitment during initial training.

Role Description Delivering triage assessments by telephone, webchat and/or face to face. You will be exploring the client issue then giving either information, signposting elsewhere, or booking an appointment. On reaching competence in the Assessor role (approximately 60 full days of delivery) we certificate you and give you the option to move on to training as an Adviser. (Adviser training and development is over a similar period with similar competence-based achievement and certification.)

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • The ability to communicate effectively with clients; control the conversation, extract key information, research answers and explain options in a way that will be understood by clients with a range of abilities.
  • The ability to write objective, succinct case notes that meet our quality standards.
  • Call centre experience is an advantage.
  • Typing skills required
  • Research skills (mainly online) are essential
  • An organised approach
  • The ability to follow instructions and act positively on feedback and constructive criticism.

Recruitment timetable We usually recruit a new intake every 2 months. The 6 days of training will be a mix of independent learning and remote group sessions via Google Meet and you will spend some additional time during training to do observations of our service delivery and practice using the key tools and systems for the role.

Receptionist  – Shepherds Bush Market or Avonmore Library

Commitment: 4 hour shift (morning or afternoon)- 1-3 days a week- (at least 6 months commitment) 

Role description: you will be based at our outreach centre in Shepherds Bush Market or in Avonmore Library supporting a team of Citizens Advice staff and other volunteers providing a range of drop-in advice support services to local people. Our friendly team of supervisors and advisers will always there to support you. 

Your role will include:

  • Welcoming clients 
  • Triage of clients by asking basic information
  • Managing the queue of clients waiting to see an adviser
  • Signposting clients to other organisations where appropriate
  • Booking appointments for clients 
  • Scanning and processing documents
  • Helping the team however you can. 

Whatever skills and experience you have to offer, the only prerequisites are patience and empathy. In return, we can offer you training and support, as well as unlimited tea and biscuits. You will develop new skills, make new friends and be part of a great team.

 

General Volunteer (Help Hub) 

Commitment 4 – 24 hours per week – (at least 6 months)

Role Description You will be based at our outreach centres across Hammersmith & Fulham working with a team of Citizens Advice staff and other volunteers offering a range of support services to local people. 

Help Hub is an exciting outreach project funded by the National Lottery.  We offer weekly drop-in sessions at four locations across Hammersmith & Fulham to offer a range of free face-to-face services including 

  • Advice (delivered by certificated Citizens Advice advisers)
  • Digital Skills
  • Money Skills
  • Support with finding employment 
  • ESOL classes (English as a second language)
  • Relief from social isolation (tea, chat, games etc)

As a Help Hub volunteer, you can get involved with the project in a range of different ways. For instance, you may be best suited to teaching digital skills or you might prefer to get involved with welcoming clients and working out how we can best help them on the day.

We are looking for a wide range of skills and experience but whatever you have to offer, we probably have a role for you – even if it’s just making the tea and chatting to older residents who want some relief from social isolation. The only prerequisites are patience and empathy.

In return, we can offer you training and support as well as unlimited tea and biscuits.  You will develop new skills, make new friends and be part of a great team that won the national Citizens Advice Team of the Year award in 2020. 

Recruitment timetable Actively recruiting on a rolling basis

 

Library Support

Commitment minimum 1 day per week (or 2 half days)

Role Description We deliver the Avonmore Library service on North End Road. This is a self-serve library so professional library qualifications are not required. We are looking for people able to help us with some or all of the following:

  • Maintain an ordered library stock
  • Maintain our Information Hub of leaflets and fliers
  • Organise and run community events
  • Assist customers to use the self-serve library facilities
  • Assist customers wanting to learn digital skills

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • An organised approach, with the ability to follow instructions
  • Good attention to detail
  • Good customer service and communication skills, experience of customer facing roles is an advantage

Recruitment timetable a rolling programme of intakes across the year

 

Digital Champion 

Commitment 1-2 half days per week

Role Description We support residents who want to learn basic digital skills. Sessions can be done remotely or are held at Avonmore Library and in weekly Computer Clubs on local housing estates.  We mainly use www.learnmyway.com for those with limited digital skills but individual requirements and ability will vary according to the learners’ experience. Residents are taught using tablets and laptops provided or their own equipment.

  • Work with a of team of volunteers to provide 1-to-1 guidance in weekly sessions held at different locations around the borough
  • Assess resident’s initial needs
  • Suggest an appropriate learning plan using modules from Learn My Way or other online resources
  • Support learners in weekly sessions and/or ad hoc training requests

Key Skills, abilities and experience

  • Confident using basic computing functions such as setting up an email address, downloading apps, using Microsoft Office or Google Docs
  • Experience of using different operating systems (Android, IoS and Window) is helpful
  • Specific technical expertise is not required as most learners are at basic level
  • Experience of teaching / mentoring is an advantage but patience and empathy are essential

 Recruitment timetable Actively recruiting throughout the year

 

Money Skills Trainer

Commitment 3-4 half days per month

Role Description Would you be happy to deliver a session in front of a dozen people and talk to them about everyday money management skills? Training is provided both in-house and by national Citizens Advice and by shadowing experienced trainers.

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • Good presentation skills to audiences with a range of abilities and experiences
  • An ability to adapt delivery style to the needs of the learners
  • An organised approach to preparing for sessions
  • An interest in financial issues that affect the local community
  • An ability to act positively on feedback and constructive criticism

Recruitment timetable a rolling programme of intakes across the year

 

Campaigns Volunteer

Campaign work is our twin aim and is about collecting client evidence to challenge local policies or to input nationally to campaign work performed by Citizens Advice. It is particularly relevant to volunteers wanting to get involved with changing social policy and communications.

Commitment minimum 1 day per week

Role Description This role is to work alongside other staff and volunteers in the Campaigns team and will involve a mix of tasks from writing up evidence forms, preparing and interpreting data for external stakeholders, interviewing clients, involvement in campaign planning, media work and influencing decision makers. Our team will consist of a variety of skills and abilities so please outline which of the list below (or others you feel are relevant) you can add to the team. We do not expect you to have them all.

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • The ability to extract key information from case records and present in a style that clearly summarises the issue and demonstrates impact
  • The ability to interview clients sensitively to capture and effectively summarise their story
  • The ability to work independently, to deadlines and to have an organised approach to planning workload
  • Excellent communication skills, particularly in writing, with attention to detail.
  • The ability to communicate via and to a variety of media (social media, print media, etc)
  • A drive to achieve positive change

 Recruitment timetable Ad hoc recruitments depending on the size and workload of the current team

Data Analysts

Commitment 1 day per week

Role Description Working with the Chief Executive and management team you will support the analysis and presentation of data for funding bids, trustees, reports and to examine client and advice trends.

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • Experience and strong research, analysis and IT skills are preferred.
  • Advanced knowledge and experience of Excel is required.
  • An ability to work flexibly to achieve tight deadlines where additional hours may be required on or off site.
  • Excellent presentation skills to show complex information in a simple and engaging format.
  • An ability to work independently to a set of instructions or guidelines
  • An approach to developing systems and processes that help the organisation to work more effectively and efficiently.

Recruitment timetable Ad hoc recruitments depending on the size and workload of the current team

Finance

Commitment 1 day (or 2 half days) per week minimum

Role Description The role will be mainly data entry into our QuickBooks system and filing tasks, under the guidance of the Finance Manager.

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • Basic accounting knowledge to a book-keeping level is required.
  • Knowledge of Quick Books programme would be an advantage, but not essential.
  • Excellent accuracy and attention to detail
  • The ability to work independently
  • Good communication skills to keep the finance team updated of progress

Recruitment timetable Ad hoc recruitments as required

Office Assistant

Commitment minimum 1.5 days per week (or 3 half days)

Role Description A wide range of back office work to support the organisation such as archiving, assisting with volunteer applications, offering and booking training courses, working alongside advisers or Team Leaders with such tasks as letter writing, filing, note taking, etc. It could be supporting at events or minute taking or keeping our Information Hubs up to date.

Key Skills, Abilities and experience

  • The ability to work independently and to follow instructions – both verbal and written.
  • Good attention to detail
  • The ability to develop processes and procedures to increase the efficiency of key tasks
  • Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel
  • Good communication skills both verbal and written

Recruitment Timetable a rolling programme of intakes across the year

We would expect all of our volunteers to provide us with a minimum commitment of 50 days initially – if you were volunteering 2 days a week this would be 6 months or 5 days a week this would be 10 weeks.

Even if we are not recruiting to your chosen role, we welcome your application and will keep your details on file for 12 months and contact you when the next intake begins.

For some roles there will be a test or practical assessment as part of the recruitment process.

Unfortunately we do not pay travel expenses during the recruitment process. If selected, we pay out of pocket travel expenses for all attendance at training, induction and regular volunteering. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

There is general information about volunteering with the Citizens Advice service on www.citizensadvice.org.uk

We delete all information 12 months after receipt unless you have been successful in recruitment, in which case we gain your permission on what is retained and how it is used. Further information is in the volunteer application form.