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[our aims] [foreward by the chair] [the national picture] [an overview of thurrock citizens advice bureau]
[staff & volunteers 2007/2008] [volunteering and the citizens advice] [the schedule]
[debt advice] [welfare benefits and tax credits advice] [advice on housing issues] [advice on employment issues]
Annual Report 2007/2008:
Volunteering and the Citizens Advice
Levels of volunteering in the UK have remained unchanged since 2001. 73% of adults volunteer at least once in a 12 month period, 48% of the population volunteer at least once a month. Levels of formal volunteering,7 which would include volunteering at a local Citizens Advice Bureau, have risen from 39% in 2001 to 45% in 2007.8
Overall volunteer numbers at Citizens Advice Bureaux have remained at approximately 21,000 for the last five years. In 2006/07, 12,500 volunteers were providing advice to clients.9
Volunteers at the Citizens Advice Bureaux are trained extensively. A typical training course to become an advisor is approximately 240 hours, and teaches valuable skills to the individual - in terms of advising clients and understanding people's rights and the law, IT literacy, negotiation, and communication. Each year, the service recruits more than 4,000 volunteers to enter the generalist adviser training programme.
Volunteering: What's in it for the volunteer?
Regular volunteers are generally positive about their volunteering experiences. 95% feel their efforts are appreciated while 91% agreed that they were given the chance to engage in activities that they liked. The main benefits cited by volunteers are getting satisfaction from seeing the results of their work, enjoyment and personal achievement.10
TimeBank also cites health benefits and boosting of career options as individual benefits of volunteering.11
Health benefits of volunteering have been researched in various studies. The Institute of Volunteering Research provides examples of health improvements associated with altruistic behaviour including faster recovery from health problems, reduced stress, a boosted immune and nervous system and reduced heart rate and blood pressure. These effects can be most noticeable in older volunteers, where there is the potential to reduce the risk of disability and mortality, and have a longer life expectancy than non-volunteers.12
Volunteering as a means of boosting career options has been researched in a study commissioned by TimeBank. The results indicated that 94% of employers believe that volunteering can add to skills and 73% would employ a candidate with volunteering experience over one without.11
Evidence from Citizens Advice Bureaux shows one in three volunteers goes on to paid employment (75% of bureaux volunteers are below 65 years old). In addition, 6% leave for further education.9 Law students who train and volunteer as CAB advisers can apply for a reduction of up to six months on their training contracts.
Community benefits of volunteering
Through volunteering, people build relationships, networks and bonds of trust. Volunteering is therefore widely recognised as having an impact on the 'health' of a community. It raises aspirations, encourages community participation and is part of the Government's vision for strong, active and empowered communities.
There are a total of 21,000 volunteers working in bureaux. Their activity is valued at in excess of £90m.13
The contribution of volunteering to Government targets and social policy
The Prime Minister's cross-cutting priority to enable a thriving third sector appears in the Service Transformation Agreement and sets out a target for increasing participation in regular volunteering. There is also a target for increasing youth participation in voluntary activity.
Citizens Advice's active involvement in V makes a contribution to achieving these targets. Citizens Advice Bureaux also contribute to the Department for Work and Pensions' strategic objective to "maximise employment opportunity for all". As a volunteer-led service, Citizens Advice directly contributes to getting more people into paid work. Between 2004 and 2007, 3,500 volunteers left bureaux for paid employment.
Measuring the Value of Volunteering at Thurrock CAB
Using the salaries of equivalent roles from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2006 a value for the financial contribution to the local economy of our volunteers who give their time freely to train and advise. This amounts to £97,755 for this year and includes all volunteers who help us with such things as reception duties, pre-debt advice checks, administration, benefits form filling and IT.
Volunteers at Thurrock CAB are invited to complete an annual survey, which provides valuable feedback on the benefits and challenges of working in the bureau. The most recent survey conducted in April 2007 found that 93% of our volunteers felt they had developed their workplace skills significantly since joining the bureau. Respondents pointed to communication and IT skills as being the most improved.
60% of respondents indicated that if they were to leave the bureau, they would hope to do so for paid employment. Of those, 100% reported feeling more confident in the workplace and more confident about the prospect of being interviewed elsewhere than they did before working for the bureau.
7 Formal volunteering is defined here as giving unpaid help through groups, clubs or organisations to benefit other people or the environment. (http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/citizenshipsurveyaprjun2007)
8 Citizenship Survey (England & Wales), Communities and Local Government, Q1 2007. Available at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/citizenshipsurveyaprjun2007
9 Bureau Characteristics Analysis, Citizens Advice, 2007. Available at: http://www.cablink.org.uk/bureau_characteristics_analysis_2006-10.pdf
10 Helping out: a national survey of volunteering and charitable giving, Office of the Third Sector, 2007. Available at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/Research_and_statistics/third_sector_research/helping_out.aspx
11 What can volunteering do for you?, TimeBank, date unknown. Available at: http://www.timebank.org.uk/aboutgiving/benefits_vol.htm
12 Volunteering Works: Volunteering and Social Policy, Institute for Volunteering Research & Volunteering England, 2007. Available at: http://www.volunteering.org.uk/Final_Volunteering_Works.pdf
13 Bureau Characteristics Analysis 2006/07, Citizens Advice, October 2007. Available at: http://www.cablink.org.uk/bureau_characteristics_analysis_2006-11.pdf
Thurrock CAB Annual Report 2007/2008
 Download the full annual report 2007/2008 (PDF 274kB)
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