York & District Citizens Advice Bureau

Becoming a Volunteer

 

CAB Volunteers

Volunteering at York CAB

How to become a CAB volunteer

CAB Volunteers

The majority of people involved in the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) service give their time on a voluntary basis: volunteer advisers, trustee board members, administrators, social policy coordinators, IT support and press relations workers enable us to provide a service from more than 3,000 outlets in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of the 27,000 people who work across the Citizens Advice service, over 75% are volunteers.

This represents a huge commitment from individuals and local communities to providing information and advice to the public.

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Volunteering at York CAB

We welcome all potential volunteers and, as part of our non-discriminatory policy, encourage involvement from all sections of the community.

What York CAB Offers Volunteers

  • Free training, ongoing support and expenses
  • A nationally recognised certificate if you decide to become an adviser
  • Insurance cover
  • The chance to improve your employability: nearly a third of our volunteers who leave us go on into paid employment or full time education
What you will need to be a volunteer

Anyone with basic literacy, numeracy and IT skills and a non-judgemental attitude has the potential to become a CAB volunteer. You will also need to be:
  • A good listener
  • An interest in people and a willingness to help others
  • A team player
  • Reliable and able to commit to a certain number of hours each week depending on your role (see below)

Volunteer Opportunities

Adviser

To get the most out of becoming an adviser we ask that you are available to volunteer either a full day in the bureau or two half days. The training programme can take up to a year, so you will have to make a long term commitment to the bureau. The role may involve:

  • interviewing clients
  • giving them information
  • advising on options available
  • helping them negotiate with people such as creditors or service providers
  • drafting letters/filling in forms
  • making telephone calls on behalf of clients
  • referring them to other agencies
  • representing them in court and at tribunals.
Gateway Assessor

This role can be carried out by experience advisers or trainee advisers. It involves:
  • assessing clients’ problem(s)
  • identifying key information about the problem including time limits, key dates and any requirement for urgent advice or action
  • assessing and agreeing the appropriate level of service
  • giving assisted information
  • referring clients appropriately (both internally and externally)
  • signposting clients
  • recording information given during gateway assessment interviews onto our case recording system.
Receptionist

Our receptionists are the public face of the Citizens Advice service, meeting clients on a daily basis. For this post we ask people to be able to offer one regular session a week. The role includes:
  • greeting clients
  • overseeing the completion of the client registration form
  • entering client details on our computerised case recording system
  • providing information on service to clients
  • managing the waiting room
  • keeping records
  • providing essential liaison between gateway assessors, advisers and the advice session superviser.
Administrator

As a CAB volunteer administrator you would help to ensure the smooth running of the bureau including:
  • word processing
  • file management
  • arranging events
  • using databases and spreadsheets
  • answering emails and phone calls
  • updating local information.
You may be working with a number of different staff and volunteers in the bureau. Any general office skills or experience would be useful but not essential.

Social policy volunteer

As a social policy volunteer you will play an active role in researching and presenting the social policy work of the bureau.

This post is an exciting opportunity for anyone with an interest in social policy to make a difference. The post has flexibility for projects of personal interest to you, given our social policy agenda; this may be preparing a written report or gathering evidence for further research.

Trustee

This role involves:
  • managing and planning the bureau's overall strategic direction
  • acting as employer for paid staff
  • managing the bureau's finances
  • ensuring the bureau complies with the law
  • being responsible for premises, insurance and equipment.

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How to Become a Volunteer -

How To Apply
  1. Write or e-mail the bureau with your name and address to be sent an application pack. Alternatively you can download a copy of the application pack (see below application)
  2. Fill in the application form and return it to the bureau.
  3. You will then be invited to attend an interview at the bureau. References will then be taken up.
  4. The bureau will inform you if you have been successful in your application within a few days.
  5. If successful you will then be invited for an induction.

We wish you all the best in your application for a voluntary placement at York CAB, and look forward to meeting you in the future.

Please write to:

York & District Citizens' Advice Bureau,

3 Blossom Street, York, YO24 1AU

Or email us at: admin@yorkcab.org.uk

Or download a copy of the application pack here: Application pack

You can also download a copy of our volunteers' pack here: Volunteers' pack

For either of these packs you will require Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader it can be downloaded free at:
Adobe Acrobat Reader

Alternatively, if you are interested in volunteering at another bureau, please contact the manager at your nearest bureau.

For a full list of Citizens' Advice Bureaux go to http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/

You can also find more information at www.citizensadvice.org.uk

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