Digital chat and messaging volunteer

What will you do?

  • complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role
  • talk to clients online using webchat, other chat services (such as facebook), and email to explore what problems they want help with
  • find information about the client’s problems and help them to understand their options
  • write a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken
  • look out for problems’ that are common, or are unfair, and write a short report about the problem or a letter to an elected official like an MP, AM or local councillor.

Some examples of what you could do:

  • find the information online that explains how to apply for Housing Benefit in a client’s local area and explain it to them
  • identify what steps a client can take to resolve their problem with a second hand car
  • help a client find and understand what steps they can take to deal with their rent arrears

What’s in it for you?

  • make a real difference to people’s lives
  • learn about a range of issues such as benefits, debt, employment and housing
  • build on valuable skills such as communication, digital skills and explaining complex information
  • increase your employability
  • work with a range of different people, independently and in a team.
  • have a positive impact in your community.

And we’ll reimburse expenses too.

What do you need to have?

You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:

  • be friendly and approachable
  • be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
  • have good listening skills
  • have excellent verbal and written communication skills and good spelling or willingness to use spell checker
  • have good maths and IT skills
  • be able to understand information and explain it to others
  • 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?

We can be flexible about the time spent and how often you volunteer so come and talk to us.

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, LGBT+ and non-binary people, and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities

Apply now