Dalkeith & District Citizens Advice Bureau
Charity registered in Scotland SC000593
The aims of the CAB service are as follows:-
To ensure that individuals do not suffer through lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities or the services available to them, or through an inability to express their needs effectively and equally.
To exercise a responsible influence on the development of social policies and services, both locally and nationally.
Current opportunities
Volunteer Advisers are needed to help our Bureau provide advice to members of the public on a wide variety of issues such as benefits, debt, housing, employment, energy and consumer problems. Advice can be provided by telephone, email, or face-to-face. Full training will be given to equip you to fulfil the adviser role. You don’t need to know “everything about anything” to be one of our Advisers – the advice we give is held in our extensive knowledge database. The main thing we ask of our Advisers is that they are able to listen to people in an understanding and non-judgemental manner. Volunteer advisers are asked to be able to commit to 4 hours per week, on a mutually agreed basis. These hours could be on a single day, or spread throughout the week.
Dalkeith CAB requires someone for general admin. This entails scanning, laminating, updating appointment diaries
Knowledge of word/TEAMS/Excel would be useful but training provided.
Training will supplied to enable the successful candidate to run reports and update internal systems & taking meeting minutes.
There is no front facing client work involved with this post so would suit someone returning to work after time away.
Dalkeith CAB requires further people to help is complete forms for clients.
The forms are of various sizes and complexity.
We are looking for a volunteer who has empathy
Many of our clients are vulnerable/ have literacy issues and need support to complete these forms
Forms include: Adult Disability, Blue Badges, Attendance Allowance, Bus Pass
Forms can take up to 2 hours to complete at times so we are looking for a time commitment of 3 hours per session. Some volunteers do morethan 1 session per week but its up to the individual
Dalkeith CAB seeks a Treasurer to join its Board of Trustees to support effective stewardship of resources for our charity, which provides free, confidential, impartial advice on benefits, debt, housing, employment and other issues.
Experience in bookkeeping and financial management, preferably with some knowledge of charity finance is essential. But most important is a commitment to working with colleagues toward our vision of a fairer society for all.
The Treasurer will also be a Trustee/Director on the Board and will be required to provide strategic leadership and support. Commitment to the CAB vision and values is a must. Experience of the third sector and/or advice-giving is an
advantage. The Board meets bi-monthly (currently via video) and Trustees are asked to commit 4-6 hours per month to the charity. Training is provided and out-of-pocket expenses are reimbursed. Trustees ideally should live, work or have a similar connection with Midlothian.
Meetings are generally remote via videoconferencing.