Thursday 5th July 2018
As part of the Citizens Advice Exeter and The Express and Echo weekly advice column we focus on volunteering.
I read recently about the difference that your volunteers make, and might be interested in helping. What are you after, and what training will I get?
Volunteering is an excellent way to gain new skills, whilst also giving something back to the local community.
Last year, our volunteers helped over 25000 local people with more than 41000 individual problems, and gave an astounding 35,048 hours of time worth more than £600,000.
We offer a range of different roles, from working on Reception, conducting initial assessments with clients, through to providing more detailed advice to clients, or representing our charity at events. We do ask that our volunteers provide a regular commitment, normally weekly, so that we can plan our services around volunteer availability.
Whatever the role, full training is provided in line with the national Citizens Advice standard, and we always have a supervisor present to provide support and help. The time required for training differs depending on the role, but this would be fully explained before you start volunteering with us. A willingness to work within the aims and principles of our service is essential, as is the ability to deal with often complex situations.
We want everyone who can to volunteer, and are keen to receive enquiries from across the local community. We pay travel expenses too, so that our volunteers are not out of pocket.
For more information about the roles on offer, and to register an interest, visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/support-us/
Look out for our column next week when we focus on workplace disputes.
The information contained in these articles does not constitute advice. Citizens Advice Exeter and The Express and Echo accept no liability for the information published. Citizens Advice Exeter is unable to respond to individual requests for advice through these columns. Copyright Citizens Advice. For the most up-to-date information, please visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk