Staff, Recruitment and Training
The Bureau uses approximately 190 volunteer hours, 15 specialist hours and 74 management hours per week for advice and administration. The Bureau is at present seeking to diversify its staff, with the recruitment of younger people and those from minority ethnic communities a priority.
Trainee Advisers complete our Certificate Training Programme. They are trained within the Bureau, where Personal Training Records are maintained. They also receive training at central venues. They receive very comprehensive training, to ensure the best possible service to clients.
| Are you interested in Advising? |
| We are a registered charity staffed by volunteers. If you would like the opportunity to help the community in a friendly and stimulating environment for around seven hours a week the Citizens Advice Bureau may be for you. Our advisers offer free impartial and confidential advice on all sorts of problems including benefits, debt, housing, consumer, family matters, immigration and legal issues. Working with us can also be valuable experience for anyone considering returning to paid employment at a later date or if you have just completed college. The Citizens Advice Bureau provides comprehensive training and pays all out-of-pocket expenses. |
| Interested? Call us on 01474 566496 and arrange to come in for a chat. |
Advisers have these basic qualities: -
1) Good at Listening
2) Open Mindedness
3) Ablility to work with clients to achieve results.
4) Ability to read and explain complex information.
5) Basic Maths
6) Team Skills
7) Commitment to working voluntarily for a set number of hours per week.
8) Support for Equal Opportunities
22 million adults are involved in formal volunteering each year.
10 million people volunteer each week.
Formal volunteers put in some 90 million hours of voluntary work each week.
The economic value of formal volunteering has been estimated at over £40 billion per year.
One survey found that volunteering was the second greatest source of individual joy, behind dancing.
Six out of ten volunteers said volunteering gave them an opportunity to learn new skills.
Half of all volunteers get involved because they are asked to help.
90% of the population agree with the notion that a society with volunteers shows that it is a caring society.
Eight out of ten people feel that volunteers offer something different that cannot be provided by the state.
(Statistics taken from Aryelle M (1996), The Social Psychology of Leisure and Davis Smith J (1998), The 1997 National Survey of Volunteering.)