Volunteer Roles

Time committed to volunteering with us depends upon the role that you choose to undertake with us. We have explained the commitments in the Volunteer Roles section above.

If you cannot meet the required commitment for the roles you have expressed an interest in, we may suggest other roles to you.

The short answer is no, we do not currently offer the SQE or formal Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). While we cannot provide the formal “sign-off” for your SQE, the experience you gain here is arguably the best preparation a future lawyer can get. By volunteering with us, you will develop the exact transferable skills that law firms look for such as legal research, direct work with clients, applying the law to helping clients solve their problems, and if you become an adviser, case management skills. Many of our former volunteers find that their time with us gives them a significant edge during training contract interviews because they can talk about real-world problem solving rather than just theory.

It will depend on which role you are interested in. Some roles require specific skills, for example we want our Data Analysts to have experience in Microsoft Excel as this is the format most of our service delivery data is in.

For other roles we do not ask for specific skills as we will develop these through training and support. For all roles we are looking at attitudes as well as skills, we require you to be open-minded, non-judgemental, and be able to listen, learn and work in a team

We reimburse volunteers for reasonable ‘out-of- pocket’ expenses for travelling locally to our offices via the most cost efficient method, or other venue where you assist us (Congestion charge is not included). Lunch will only be reimbursed when a volunteer attends full day external training events where lunch is not provided.

Volunteers need to be 18 years or over and aged under 80 for insurance purposes.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer work experience placements.

We really welcome people who have accessed the Citizens Advice service because of the insight you have as well as your potential skills and experience. We do usually suggest a little time between having used the service and becoming a volunteer. So you may want to wait for a few months before applying.

If you are receiving certain state benefits you might have a responsibility to inform the relevant agency before you start volunteering. Volunteering with us will not affect Universal Credit or New Style JSA provided you:

• Take reasonable steps to find a job (e.g. answering advertisements, signing up with any agency, and taking other steps required by the Job Centre)
• Can be available for work for 40 hours each week
• Inform the Job Centre / work coach that you are volunteering
• Can take up work or attend interview within 48 hours.
• We can help you by providing a standard letter stating that you:
• Don’t get paid, only reimbursed actual out-of-pocket expenses
• Can be contacted whilst volunteering at CAHF if a job opportunity becomes available
• Can be available at a certain period of notice to start work or attend an interview (must be less than 48 hours).

You can read more here.

If you’re in receipt of other benefits (Employment Support Allowance, Income Support & Carers Allowance) you are able to volunteer as many hours as you wish, provided you continue to keep to the entitlement rules for that benefit. You can read more here. We can help you by providing a standard letter confirming:

• Numbers of hours volunteering undertaken with CAHF
• Hours spent volunteering at the bureau are unpaid
• Flexibility of volunteering i.e. it cannot be regarded as the same as paid work.

There are some benefits that are not affected by volunteering and where the relevant agencies do not need to be informed that the person is volunteering. These include: State Retirement Pension, Council Tax Reduction, Housing Benefit, Statutory Maternity pay, Maternity Allowance, War Widow’s Pension and Widow’s Pension.

We do not currently ask for a DBS check unless your role is likely to involve working alone with children or vulnerable adults, but this may alter depending on changes in local or national policy.

CAHF normal working hours are 9.30am – 5.00pm Monday-Friday, and volunteer opportunities will usually be limited to these hours. In limited roles and circumstances, we may ask for help with evening or weekend sessions that we run and Trustee Board meetings usually take place after 6pm. Therefore, for those unavailable on weekdays, the range of volunteer opportunities will be limited.