Does/has anyone work/ed as a voluntray adviser for CAB?

[beatie]

I'm curious as to how long the training takes and how much time the training takes up? The website says 6-12 months and sometimes longer.

Also, how many years did/will you do it for? What sort of qualifications do you need or do they prefer? What is the role like?

Freckle does. Worth bumping to see if she's around.

Thank you. I'll keep bumping or else try and CAT her if no-one else responds.

I used to about five years ago.
They were incredibly short staffed and i was thrown in a bit at the deep end before finishing the full training, but it was about 4 hours a week learning the database at the CAB I was based at, with a couple of training days at another site before [supposedly] starting to work with supervision after six months or so IIRC.
I don't think they need qualifications in particular, more committment and empathy. I found it rewarding and frustrating in equal measures, you learn a lot about the misery of the benefit system very fast.

One of my mum's friends used to work for the CAB as an Adviser and she gave it up, saying she found it too sad and traumatic hearing about other people's pitiful lives.

But this woman is quite dramatic and OTT about every element of her life - she cried buckets when she traced her family tree (?!?) so I'm curious to hear the experiences of others.

How much of the 'job' do you take home with you?

There are always upsetting cases, and sometimes they're hard to shake off. But there are also great ones, where you really manage to help people sort out some horrendous situations - so it works both ways. And then there's the occasional abusive t*sser, but on the whole it's interesting work - I don't know how much things have changed though, I realise it was 6 years ago now that I did my training, and it was a very haphazard, disorganised,small town branch (which has since, unsurprisingly, closed down).

Training can take 6 months depending on how much time you have to devote to it. I started training in May 2004 and qualified in September 2004. There are a set number of training packs to work your way through - some more interesting than others.

Once you have finished the training packs, you have to attend a 5 day course (spread over about 3 weeks - 2 days one week, one day the next and 3 days the next). There are ongoing training courses to attend once you have qualified to keep you up to date with various subjects.

The work is very interesting. You just never know what sort of problem is going to walk through the door or what is going to be on the other end of the phone. For example, today I had an elderly couple who had been persuaded to draft enduring powers of attorney by their solicitor, but they didn't really know what they were for; I had one chap telephone to find out how you arrange for the queen to send a telegram for a platinum wedding anniversary; a single working mother whose working tax credits had been messed up (get a lot of those).

They usually like you to commit to working one day a week (10am to 4pm, although arriving earlier than that is helpful to catch up with various things). However, I work 2 days, leaving at 2pm because I have the school run and I also don't work during school holidays.

Whereabouts are you? The type of work you do can vary depending on the size of bureau you work for and how it is run.

Thanks. I'm in the South East - south coast region.