Citizens Advice

[LockJawTrouble]

Greetings! I didn’t know how to find out more, so here I am hoping to find some answers. All input is greatly appreciated.
I am looking for some advice. I am interested in volunteering for Citizens advice. I was at a get together few weeks ago, got talking to some people & heard a detailed experience ( not positive at all) from a previous volunteer.
The ex- volunteer seemed like a very sensible & a genuine person.
I am interested in finding out more about being a volunteer, without getting involved with all the drama ( if any ) that goes on in CA.
Please share your personal experiences.
Thank you

I work for a CAB but in a paid role. Most of the people working there are volunteers. The training seems very good and most of the volunteers seem very committed. There is good support from a few paid workers. I'm not sure what you mean by the drama that goes off, but we do get a bit of drama and the police have had to be called on occasions due to domestic violence issues and angry people kicking off. Most of the volunteers in our bureau seem happy enough and well supported.

Just to add also , most of the people in the few paid positions started off as volunteers !

Thank you for your input. I meant drama in terms of internal office affairs. I was told that the volunteers are taken for granted & generally paid staff try to wriggle their way out of things, if they can.
I have looked at the reviews on glass door & they go along with what I have heard. Is it a possibility that it’s just one office which is a difficult place to be?

That sort of thing is normally office specific LockJaw. Have you tried looking at reviews of other offices (and could you travel to another office to volunteer if they are drama free)?

Whats the AIBU ?

Just go for it, you'll probably learn loads

Oh you explained about the drama, I was about to ask as confused (RTFT). It's not some cunning conspiracy to treat volunteers as slaves.

Do you mean you're worried you won't get the support you need if you can't detangle a query?

I’ve worked in more than one CAB, they were all like soap operas with the amount of staff scandals and gossip! However I was never part of this and found them interesting places to work (I was paid staff).

I volunteered for the CAB about 15 years ago and then ended up with a paid job and stayed there for ten years. I know things have moved on a lot since I worked there but the training and support was very good, and it was always interesting. Each CAB (or group of them) is an individual charity, and we didn't suffer with too much drama but I know it was different in some other areas.

I'm a CAB volunteer. Each CAB is very different in the way it operates and presumably how good training is.

I volunteer.

The training is quite intense, but you learn A LOT!

Be prepared for friends-of-friends to ping you for legal advice at 3am! (From experience😃).

There are numerous different roles: I work mainly on the telephones.

For all the other workers, did you move from Petra to Casebook on Monday, like we did?

I volunteered for a month. It was unpleasant. The paid staff were pretty condescending to the volunteers. The other volunteers were nice though.

It felt a bit like a closed shop really and the non-advisors would be quite rude and dismissive of the public.

AllRoads- We have been using casebook since June, much better than Petra !

Many years ago I used to be paid staff in a CAB regional office.

I could honestly write a book about the dramas, gossip and scandals that went on, it was a very entertaining place to work.

I don't know anything about volunteers as we were all paid staff where I worked.

I used to volunteer for CAB whilst doing my LPC to become a Solicitor. I stil do the odd days now.

I much prefer casebook!

I haven’t encountered any internal politics. I found the training boring and like being taught to suck eggs but then I am in a different position.

I also found it frustrating that if I just knew something I had to look it up on their system to justify it.

Some of the advice the volunteers give out is very poor but well meaning.

Overall I’ve had a good experience there.

I when I wanted to volunteer I just went on my county’s website.

I started as a volunteer and ended up with a paid position, I can honestly say it's the best thing I have ever done
Volunteers were never treated differently from paid staff and I've never met such a lovely supportive bunch of people
I was made redundant unfortunately but still go in and help out as a volunteer till I get something else

I volunteered for the CAB when my daughter was two. I totally lost all self confidence when I left my job and the CAB I volunteered for gave me back that confidence. I would have stayed there forever if it was paid.

One thing I will say is that CABs are all individual charities and there can be a vast difference in how positive the experience is for volunteers which very much depends on how effective the manager is and whether they have a proper volunteer training scheme in place. I was very lucky with my CAB. Ask them what their turnover of volunteers is. If it's high run for the hills.