Perth CAB – Voluntary Roles
1. Generalist Adviser Provides advice to members of the public on a wide range of topics including benefits, employment, debt, and housing.
Comprehensive training is provided using a combination of classroom-based training, e-learning, self-study and shadowing/mentoring with an experienced adviser. Training usually takes 6 – 9 months if volunteering for 1 day per week. No previous experience required.
2. Specialist Adviser Generalist advisers have the opportunity to specialise in specific areas of work. Generalist training must be completed first plus a few months working as a generalist adviser to gain some experience.
3. Outreach Adviser Outreach advisers provide a generalist advice service at community venues throughout Perth and Kinross. As this may involve working without close support advisers usually work in the bureau for a while before staffing outreach advice surgeries.
4. Telephone Adviser Telephone advisers are generalists who work solely or mainly on the telephone rather than face-to-face. Telephone advice requires slightly different skills. This may also be a suitable role for any adviser with mobility difficulties.
5. Email Adviser The email advice service is a generalist advice service which may provide on-going casework and support to a client who cannot access the bureau in person, or it may provide initial advice to a client who is then referred on to another level of service, or it may provide initial, basic advice which enables the client to continue alone. Email advisers may work in the bureau or at home after training. This may be a suitable role for any adviser with mobility difficulties, although we encourage home-working advisers to attend training when possible so that they still feel included in the CAB team.
6. Gateway Adviser This is a pilot project which we hope will increase the bureau’s capacity thus allowing us to meet the increasing demand for advice. The Gateway adviser conducts a short interview with the client to ascertain the nature and complexity of the enquiry. If the issue is very straightforward then the adviser will answer the query but for longer or more complex enquiries the Gateway Adviser will refer the client appropriately to another internal or external source of advice. Options include an emergency interview with an adviser if the matter is urgent or a later appointment with a generalist or specialist adviser. The client may also be offered a telephone interview at a pre-arranged time or a written reply to their enquiry.
7. Admin Volunteer Volunteers undertake a wide range of administrative roles in the bureau including updating reference books, maintaining and updating a Local Information System, transferring paper-based local information to a database, updating supplies of leaflets or undertaking general office duties such as photo-copying or laminating documents. Some of this work is regular while other tasks arise periodically such as preparing documents for the AGM.
8. IT Volunteer Volunteers help to maintain and update the bureau’s ICT network including routine maintenance of hardware and regular updating of software packages as well as “troubleshooting” minor faults. Volunteers may also help to provide training for volunteer advisers.
9. Tutors Volunteers may help to deliver in-house training and to support volunteers working in the bureau. Many CAB training courses are provided centrally for local delivery and there are a range of training materials available electronically which can be adapted for local use. Occasionally we develop our own training materials to meet identified training needs.
10. Interpreters There are several well-established minority ethnic communities in Perth and Kinross plus large numbers of migrant workers visit Scotland each year, for example to work on the fruit farms. Perth CAB offers advice on a range of issues including immigration, benefits and employment rights. As language can be a barrier the bureau uses volunteer interpreters to help deliver services and we also welcome people who speak other languages to train as advisers who can then work directly with these communities. We are currently working with the Minority Ethnic Access Development (MEAD) to improve access to advice services by minority ethnic communities.
11. Financial Inclusion Volunteer
Volunteers may help to deliver a variety of workshops in secondary schools within Perthshire. The purpose of the workshops is to empower young people to deal with financial situations and extend their knowledge on basic rights and responsibilities in relation to independent living skills. Volunteers may also help with the development of additional workshops .
November 2013