Citizens Advice: North East Derbyshire

Citizens Advice: North East Derbyshire logo

We provide Free, Confidential, Impartial Advice Across North East Derbyshire and Bolsover Districts. Based in Clay Cross (near Chesterfield)

Volunteer Telephone Adviser

This opportunity is ongoing, with no end date.

At North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau we can give free, confidential, impartial and independent advice and information on a wide range of subjects.

What will you do, based in Clay Cross Chesterfield?

  • complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role

  • talk to clients over the phone, video call or face to face to explore what problems they’ve come for help with

  • find information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options

  • support clients to take action to resolve their problems. This might include drafting or writing letters, making phone calls, or referring the client to another organisation

  • write a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken

  • look out for problems’ that are common, or are unfair, and write a short report about the problem or a letter to an elected official like an MP, AM or local councillor

Other roles

If you don’t want to undertake the full training involved to be a full adviser there may be other suitable rolls such as;

  • form filling -helping clients to complete questionnaires to claim disability benefits such as PIP)

  • budgeting - helping clients to look at their income and expenditure and find ways to help them save money)

  • social media -help us to promote our service and awareness of help available (option to work remotely)

  • research and campaigns (option to work remotely)

Overview of Project

At North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice we can give free, confidential, impartial and independent advice and information on a wide range of subjects.

This Role Involves

Completing an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role Talking to clients over the phone or video call to explore what problems they’ve come for help with Finding information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options Support clients to take action to resolve their problems. This might include drafting or writing letters, making phone calls, or referring the client to another organisation Writing a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken Looking out for problems’ that are common, or are unfair, and write a short report about the problem or a letter to an elected official like an MP, AM or local councillor Some examples of what you could do: Help clients with debts work out a reasonable amount to pay back, and make a phone call to an organisation they owe money to. Explore what benefits a client is entitled to and help them to complete a benefit application form. Help a client who has problems with their landlord to understand their housing rights.

Location

Clay Cross / Chesterfield

Skills/Experience Required

You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to: Be friendly and approachable Be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own Have good listening skills Have excellent verbal and written communication skills Have good maths and IT skills Be able to understand information and explain it to others Be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection Be willing to undertake training in your role

Benefits to Others

Make a real difference to people’s lives Have a positive impact in your community.

Benefits to the Volunteer

Make a real difference to people’s lives Learn about a range of issues such as benefits, debt, employment and housing. Build on valuable skills such as communication, listening and problem solving, and increase your employability Work with a range of different people, independently and in a team. have a positive impact in your community. If you're training to be a solicitor and you train and volunteer as a local Citizens Advice adviser, you may be able to get up to six months off your solicitor training contract. See Solicitors Regulation Authority for more information.

Role Duration

No duration

Time Commitment (hours Per week/month/year, etc)

5 hours per week ideally

Training Information

You will receive training as part of this role

Expenses Information

Covered

DBS required?

No
  • Area of InterestElder Care, Financial Instability, Homelessness, Housing, Human Rights, Mental health, Social Isolation, Social Justice
  • Academic Course RelevanceEducation, Health and Social Care, Law, Marketing, Psychology, Research
  • Roles suitable for Hallam StaffThis role is suitable for Hallam Staff

Employability skills

  • Campaigning 0
  • Communication and Listening 0
  • Critical Thinking 0
  • Cultural Awareness 0
  • Initiative 0
  • Innovation and Creativity 0
  • Leadership 0
  • Marketing and PR 0
  • Organisation 0
  • Problem Solving 0
  • Reflection 0
  • Team Work 0
  • Time Management 0
  • Research 0
  • People Skills 0