Citizens Advice South West Surrey

Receptionist

What will you do?

• Complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role.
• Welcome all clients and other visitors to the Guildford and Ash offices.
• Manage our email inbox and add clients to our database.
• Answer the telephone and manage the post.
• Deal with clients who come in to the emergency drop-in.
• Help with the day-to-day running of the Citizens Advice service.

What's in it for you?

• Gain and build on the valuable skills and experience such as communication, IT skills and working in a team.

• Increase your employability.

• Contribute to the smooth running of the Citizens Advice service and make a real difference to people's lives.
• Work with a range of different people individually and in a team.
• We will reimburse expenses.

What do you need to have?

You don't need specific qualifications or skills but you will need to:

• Be friendly and approachable.
• Be non-judgemental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own.
• Have good IT skills.
• Be calm under pressure.
• 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.

How much time do you need to give?:

• Ideally we ask for 6 hours per week, which can be over 1 day or spread over 2 days, for at least 12 months.
• We can be flexible about the time spent and how often you volunteer so please get in touch.

Valuing Inclusion

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ people and people from BAME communities.

We help people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential advice, and by influencing policymakers.

We have a town centre location in Haydon Place, Guildford, offering a telephone,  and appointment service five days a week.

We use the information we gather carrying out this work to campaign for social justice, so that individuals do not suffer through a lack of knowledge or an inability to express them selves effectively.

We provide an increasingly vital front-line service for those in the greatest need in our local community.

The benefits of our work are not limited to improving our clients’ financial situation but also contribute to improving their health, reducing their stress and improving their confidence in dealing with their own problems.