Can you help the Citizens Advice volunteering team?

The pandemic in 2020 resulted in the loss of over half the most experienced, long standing, volunteers who support the local Citizens Advice service. It wasn’t that they all developed Covid, it was the indirect consequence of lockdown. Some came to view lockdown as a natural end point for their time volunteering, others were unhappy or struggled volunteering from home.

Decisions had to be made quickly and a grant from the National Lottery enabled training and processes to be changed, and 55 additional volunteers were recruited.

Existing long-term trends were accelerated by Covid, and the nature of volunteering continues to change. They are now seeing fewer retired volunteers, due to the increased need to provide childcare for grandchildren, to continue to work, or other responsibilities. Nevertheless, there continues to be active recruitment and many students and younger volunteers have been attracted. Though they are an asset, the service is still feeling the loss of the knowledge and experience of those who left. The County service is operating at 77% volunteer capacity and continues to recruit and train volunteers.

The recruitment response includes a partnership with the University of Leicester offering work experience placements for second-year Law students.

Citizen’s Advice provides an essential service, and there is a link between social welfare advice and health and wellbeing. The right advice at the right time helps people manage their own lives, and promotes better mental and physical health.

Volunteering

If you are thinking of adding ‘making a difference within the community by volunteering’ to your New year Resolutions, you may want to add Citizens Advice to your list of possibilities. It could be very rewarding, as Mohamed said : “I am now coming to the near end of my training for Citizens Advice LeicesterShire and it has been an amazing experience so far. This opportunity has allowed me to develop various new skills, confidence and be commercially aware. This would have not been done without the outstanding support from the amazing staff that has enabled me to grow.”

The role is unpaid, though reasonable expenses are reimbursed. The benefits for volunteers include working as part of a supportive team, and helping others, especially the vulnerable, take steps to solve their problems. Gaining experience and new skills may provide the opportunity to move into other roles, for example an advisor.

As Mohamed indicated volunteers receive full training, though some of this is online, so computer skills and access to email and the internet are essential. Good communication skills – written, verbal and listening – are needed and it will be no surprise that for some roles ‘DBS’ checks may be required to protect the vulnerable. The training is an investment in new volunteers, so they are asked to commit to at least six months service after initial training.

The benefits volunteers deliver

Research by Citizens Advice has found that 91% of clients experience at least one negative outcome as a result of an unsolved social welfare problem, including impacts on mental health (82%) and worsening physical health (60%). Without an advice intervention, 44% clients required more support from health services, while 34% clients spent more time with clinicians discussing non-health issues. But when clients could access timely and appropriate support, 70% reported reduced stress, depression and anxiety, while 46% reported improvements to their physical health.

Citizens Advice LeicesterShire helps support the most vulnerable residents of Hinckley & Bosworth with over half of clients having disabilities or a long-term health condition. Many clients said that a mental health condition had impacted on their ability to manage money.

Local partnerships are important, for example one project places an advice worker in Hinckley food banks, to ensure that clients can access support with income maximisation and budgeting alongside food parcels.

Can you help an organisation that provides such an important service but has nearly a 25% shortfall in volunteer numbers? Anyone wishing to make an enquiry about volunteer roles, the email address is training.admin@citizensadviceleicestershire.org. The Citizens Advice  volunteer page is at https://citizensadviceleicestershire.org/volunteer.

How can Citizens Advice help you?

In addition to Cost of Living Support, free advice services include benefits, debt, housing, employment, relationships, immigration, discrimination, community care and more. There’s 

There are separate contact numbers for different services, and you’ll find a list on grobylinx. If you don’t have internet access ring 0808 2787854, 9am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday.