We are looking for a volunteer to help in the Orkney Citizens Advice Bureau reception on a Monday, covering a 10am to 2pm shift. Reception is a great social option as you will always be paired with another volunteer and you have lots of interaction with the public. The main duties on reception are answering the phone, transferring calls or taking messages and making appointments. Basic computer skills are an advantage for this – we will of course show you how to use all our systems. Reception volunteers also greet clients who come to the office – mainly this is folk who already have an appointment booked but we get some walk ins that need appointments arranged. There are often other admin jobs to do as well such as scanning/copying/shredding and reception as and when you have the time.

Volunteering at CAB as an adviser is hugely rewarding. Each session is different. Clients come to us with issues as diverse as consumer issues through to housing problems and those simply needing to be signposted to another organisation. We are looking for people who love to work as part of our friendly team and have an open and enthusiastic manner. Advisers help clients reach informed decisions and may assist in drafting letters, making phone calls and filling in forms. Perhaps you’ve never considered being an advisor before and worry that you don’t know enough to give advice. The key message is that you don’t need to know anything – Citizens Advice give full training and you are expected to look up the information for every enquiry on our advice system. You don’t need to have lots of knowledge, you just need to be a good listener, be interested in helping people and be able to break down information and explain it to others. Enquiries and advice are recorded on to an online system, so you need some basic computer skills.