VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
We are recruiting!
Citizens Advice Hillingdon relies on a dedicated team of volunteers who play a vital role in supporting our community. As part of a national network of around 21,600 Citizens Advice volunteers, they help ensure free, confidential, and impartial advice reaches those who need it most. However, like many organisations, we have seen a decline in volunteer numbers since the pandemic and urgently need more people to join us.
Volunteering with us is a rewarding opportunity to make a real impact, gain valuable skills and be part of a supportive team. We welcome people from all backgrounds, including skilled volunteers and corporate teams looking to share their expertise in areas such as IT, marketing, finance, research, and governance.
With a variety of volunteer roles available, there’s something to suit different skills, experience and interests - all while working alongside like-minded colleagues. As we have restructured the services we provide to a more project focused model, a new set of volunteer positions have become available. Right now, we urgently need:
Adviceline Volunteer,
Research and Campaigns Volunteer,
Language Champion Volunteers who speak other languages in addition to English and
Frontline Project Support Volunteer (Administrative) to support our welfare benefits advice service for people in Hillingdon affected by cancer.
Whether you can commit to a few hours a week or offer specialist support on a project basis, your contribution will help us continue delivering vital services to those who need them most. Get involved and make a difference!
VOLUNTEER ROLES
If you are interested in any of the roles below, please get in touch with us so we can send a full role specification to you. We are also happy to have a chat.
ADVICELINE VOLUNTEER (Employment Project)
About the role: The role entails giving information and advice to the Hillingdon Community via our Adviceline. You will join a team of volunteers and paid members of staff and be supported by an experienced supervisor. Adviceline acts as the first port of call for many of our clients and a lifeline for those in crisis situations. You will deal with a range of issues including benefits, debt, housing, energy, relationships and much more. Full training and coaching will be provided as part of the role. All relevant equipment is provided.
You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:
Demonstrate that you understand and support the aims and policies of the Citizens Advice service and have good listening skills.
Be friendly and approachable and be able to work effectively in a team.
Have good verbal and written communication skills and good IT skills.
Be prepared to follow a training programme.
Ability to speak a language other than English would be an advantage.
Location: Remote, with possibility of occasional visit/volunteer from office in the future.
Commitment: A minimum commitment to volunteering one day per week. Flexibility on start and finish time can be discussed.
Training commitment is essential to this role.
Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
If you are interested in volunteering with us and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.
FRONTLINE SUPPORT VOLUNTEER - ADMINISTRATIVE (Macmillan Project)
Role Purpose: To act as the first point of contact for the Macmillan Project and provide administrative support to ensure smooth project delivery.
Key Responsibilities:
Check and respond to project emails and voicemails.
Support with referrals to project advisors, ensuring eligibility criteria are met.
Upload key information onto Excel spreadsheets and the Citizens Advice database.
Contribute to project communications, including mailouts and newsletters.
Support at project promotion events as needed.
Feed into research and campaigns, ensuring client voices are heard.
You don’t need any particular qualifications or experience to train as a frontline support volunteer but you will need to:
Demonstrate that you understand and support the aims and policies of the Citizens Advice service.
Have good listening skills, be able to work in a team.
Have good communication skills and be able to read and write English and do basic calculations.
Enjoy helping people, be supportive to clients and colleagues.
Ability to speak a language other than English would be an advantage.
Be confident using information technology.
Location: Remote, with possibility of occasional visit/volunteer from office in the future.
Commitment: 1 full days or 2 half days per week.
Training commitment is essential to this role.
Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
If you are interested in volunteering with us and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.
RESEARCH AND CAMPAIGNS VOLUNTEER Key Responsibilities:
Identify common or unfair problems that clients come for help about.
Help volunteers and staff in the local Citizens Advice Bureau to understand the cause of the problem, how it affects clients and what change would solve the problem (by talking to them, or writing a summary).
Help to organise a campaign with the aim of raising awareness of the problem. This might involve creating materials, such as newsletters, or presentations, or writing something for social media or newspaper, which could be used to explain the problems to others (such as local councillors, or members of the public).
Help to organise a campaign with the aim of getting the organisation (person or elected body such as MP, AM or local councillor) that is causing the problem, to change the way they do things. This could mean meeting with the organisation, person or elected body, writing to them or holding an event.
Help national Citizens Advice carry out research about how certain issues affect clients in your local area. This might involve doing a survey with clients to find out how a change in a benefit is affecting them.
You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:
Demonstrate that you understand and support the aims and purpose of the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Have good organisational, verbal and written communication skills.
Be confident using IT and in your ability to communicate to a wide range of audiences.
Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
If you are interested in volunteering with us and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.
LANGUAGE CHAMPION VOLUNTEERS (Employment Project)
About the role: The role of a volunteer interpreter is essential to bridging the gap between our advice and support services and those that need our help the most.
We are looking for Volunteer Interpreters and Translators with fluency in the following languages:
Arabic
Amharic
BSL
Dari
Sorani
Mandarin
Portuguese
Polish
Pashto
Somali
Tamil
Tigrinya / Tigre / Bilen
If you speak any other languages fluently, we encourage you to still apply.
You don’t need any particular qualifications or experience to train as a language champion but you will need to:
Have good communication skills and be able to read and write English and at least one other language (one of the mentioned above preferred).
Demonstrate that you understand and support the aims and policies of the Citizens Advice service.
Have good listening skills, be able to work in a team.
Enjoy helping people, be supportive to clients and colleagues.
Be confident using information technology.
Location: Remote with occasional work at outreach venues across Hillingdon
Training commitment: 1 full day per month
Training commitment is essential to this role.
Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
If you are interested in volunteering with us and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.
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