The document provides information about volunteer opportunities with Citizens Advice Arun & Chichester. It describes several roles including receptionists, administrators, gateway assessors, advisers, trustees, healthwatch champions, and those involved in research and campaigns. A volunteer story is also included that details how volunteering with Citizens Advice helped improve one person's job prospects and confidence.

1. Everyone has a skill…
What is yours?
Interested in
volunteering with
Citizens Advice?
Get involved –
volunteer with Citizens Advice
Make a difference in your community.
Improve your job prospects.
Meet new friends.
Develop your skills.
For more information and/or to request an application pack,
contact Debbie on 01243 866233, or visit your local
Citizens Advice centre.
www.arunchichestercab.org.uk
facebook.com/ArunchiCA
@ArunchiCA
Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice
Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice
Published March 2016
Citizens Advice Arun & Chichester is an operating name of Arun & Chichester Citizens Advice
Bureau. Arun & Chichester Citizens Advice Bureau is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered
Charity No. 1099640 Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN 617491
Registered Address: 14/16 Anchor Springs, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 6BP

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Contents
Our core service 2
Volunteers 3
What our volunteers do? 4
Receptionists 4
Administrators 4
Gateway Assessors 4
Advisers 5
Trustees 5
Healthwatch Champion 6
Research & Campaigns 6
Testimonials 7
Volunteer stories 8
We help people overcome their problems and
campaign on big issues when their voices need to be heard.
We value diversity, champion equality, and
challenge discrimination and harassment.
We’re here for everyone.
CITIZENS ADVICE
ARUN & CHICHESTER

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Did you know?
We offer free advice from
three advice centres (Bognor
Regis, Chichester and
Littlehampton) and seven
outreach services across
West Sussex (Midhurst,
Selsey, West Wittering,
Yapton, Arundel, Ford Prison
and Rustington).
Our core service
Last year, Citizens Advice Arun
& Chichester helped 13,631
clients on a wide range of
matters:*
We deal with enquiries
through various channels:
 face to face
 by phone
 by email
 by online - “Adviceguide”
The top five issues were*:
1 Benefits
3,465
2 Housing
1,940
3 Debt
1,636
4 Relationships
1,467
5 Employment
1,457
3,465
Housing
Volunteering at the Citizens
Advice was a life changing
experience for me. I was a
single Mum who had not been
in the working environment
for sometime, I had no career
path, my confidence in my
abilities was very low and
there was nothing of any use
from the last eight years of my
life to put on my CV. After
approaching the advice centre
as a client and seeing an
advertisement for helpers, I
ended up applying to be a
volunteer receptionist at the
Citizens Advice. At my
interview I was encouraged to
apply for the role of adviser
and I have not looked back
since. I gained my Citizens
Advice certificate in generalist
advice and this passported me
onto a law course at college. I
worked my way up at the
centre and am now employed
by them full-time. I have since
completed a law qualification.
I love my work and now feel
valuable and able to
contribute something really
worthwhile to society.
The atmosphere at the centre
is unique as everyone is there
because they love the work
and want to help clients. It is
wonderful to be part of such
an amazing and diverse team
of people.
Volunteer
9 *Annual figures taken from Annual Report 2014-2015 2

4. Volunteers
Citizens Advice Arun &
Chichester is fortunate to
have the support of around
150 volunteers, without
whose expertise, energy and
commitment the advice
centre could not operate.
They help our clients to
understand their rights and
responsibilities and empower
them to take control of their
own situations by giving
them the advice and
information they need in
order to make informed
choices and decisions.
Many of our volunteers go
into paid employment as a
consequence of the training
and support they receive as a
volunteer, and some of that
employment stays within
Citizens Advice Arun &
Chichester. Out of the 33
paid staff, 14 of those started
as a volunteer for Citizens
Advice Arun & Chichester*.
*Annual figures taken from
Annual Report 2014-2015
80%
of our
workforce
are
volunteers*
47,476
the hours of
volunteering*
9 in 10 gain a ‘practical skill’
through volunteering
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755,694
the estimated
value of the
hours
donated by
our
volunteers
33
of our
volunteers
left for paid
employment*
Volunteer stories
I began volunteering at
Citizens Advice 18 months ago
after a long absence from
employment due to illness.
Not only had I not worked for
a long time but I spent a long
time in isolation in my home.
This had left me nervous
about interacting with people
in general, socially inhibited
and really quite lonely. I
wanted to return to work but I
had no confidence. One of my
friends was already a
volunteer receptionist at
Citizens Advice, who was
moving on to gateway
assessor training who
suggested that I might want to
apply. After some thought, I
managed to complete the
application and I was
surprised when I was ask to
attend an interview, and even
more surprised when I was
accepted for the position. I
admit I was quite worried and
concerned once I had agreed
to attend induction, but
everyone was so friendly and
helpful that I was put at ease.
I started as a receptionists
and I found I enjoyed helping
others. I decided that I would
like to be able to help people
more, so with some
trepidation asked to be put
forward for assessor training;
this lasted about four months
and was quite intense. Once
certificated as an assessor this
was followed, quite quickly, by
an adviser course for six
months, so I was busy, but I
did this as I found that I
enjoyed learning. This
experience gave me the
confidence to apply for an
access course to Higher
Education which I completed
and so I am starting a BA at
university. I now work part
time for a local charity, and I
volunteer one day a week at
Citizens Advice as a trainee
adviser. My life now has a
purpose and direction, I now
find it easy to interact with
people from all walks of life
and I feel personally fulfilled.
Volunteer

5. What our volunteers do?
Gateway Assessors
(training approximately 7
weeks)
They assess people’s needs,
either face-to-face or over the
phone, and identify the most
appropriate course of action
(i.e. self-help information,
referral to a specialist
organisation or an
appointment with a Citizens
Advice adviser. A gateway
assessor would:
 greet clients and explain
the gateway assessment
process
 explore the client’s
problem(s) and situation
 identify the next step that
needs to be taken
 summarise the content of
the interview for the client
and explain what happens
next
 update the database,
completing the gateway
assessment screens.
Here we describe what some
of those roles involve. Please
note, not all volunteer roles
will be available in every
advice centre.
Receptionists
Receptionists are the first port
of call to an effective and high-
quality advice service. We
train our receptionists in
customer service and
administration tasks.
Administrators
Administrators provide
valuable help throughout the
advice centre by:
 word processing
 file management
 arranging events
 using databases and
spreadsheets
 answering emails and
phone calls
 updating local information
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I volunteer with Citizens Advice
as I enjoy meeting people, it
taps into my previous
experience as a dual registered
nurse helping others, it provides
me with an essential structural
element to my week, and mixing
with colleagues and clients
helps me psychologically as I
live alone.
Testimonials
I see so much of what
is unfair, unjust and
unlucky and
influencing change
makes me feel
powerful rather than
powerless.
Gateway Assessor
Research & Campaigns
Co-ordinator
I get satisfaction from
signposting clients to
sources of information
to help with their
problem or query on
the internet, which
they were not aware of.

6. Research and Campaigns
By using evidence routinely
collected from the clients, you
could help bring about
changes in local and national
policies and services which
can benefit everyone - even
those who have never used a
Citizens Advice centre. A
campaigner would:
 complete and collate
evidence forms recording
clients problems
 identify and raise relevant
issues in the centre
 train staff and volunteers
in identifying issues and
completing evidence forms
 conduct research and write
reports
 liaise with other bureaux
and agencies
Healthwatch Champion
We are part of Healthwatch
West Sussex. We encourage
clients to share their
experiences of health and
social care to help us improve
these services.
A Healthwatch Champion
would:
 be part of a team raising
awareness within the
centres of Healthwatch
 issues
 ring back clients who have
a story to tell
 collate information
 ensure records are up to
date
 attend Healthwatch
meetings
Advisers
(training 6 months following
Gateway Assessors)
Advisers are given free
training, both formal and on-
the-job. An adviser would:
 interview clients
 help them negotiate with
people such as creditors or
service providers
 draft letters
 make phone calls on their
behalf
 refer them to other
agencies
Note for Law Students: If you
train as a Citizens Advice
adviser, you may get up to six
months off your solicitor
training contracts!
Trustees
Every Citizens Advice is a
registered charity, and has its
own board of trustees. Some
trustee roles require specific
skills but centres welcome
people of all ages,
backgrounds and experience
to their trustee boards.
Trustees work closely with the
CEO on the business
development of the
organisation.
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