Volunteer for us

Become a Trustee with Citizens Advice Tendring

• Do you want to help the community where you study, live or work?

• Do you want to make sure you and your neighbours get the advice you need now and in the future?

• Do you want to utilise the skills you have gained from your working life?

Citizens Advice Tendring is a highly respected and trusted service, providing valuable advice and support to the local community. We are affiliated to the national Citizens Advice service but like all the local offices, we are an independent charity governed by a board of local Trustees.

We currently have vacancies for Trustees and are now seeking to recruit new members to our friendly and enthusiastic board. We are recruiting a new Treasurer so a Finance background would be desirable. We are also looking to fill vacancies for Trustees with mixed business skills and experience including IT, Fundraising, Marketing, Operations Management and Strategy, and we invite applications from across the local community. You would help set the strategic direction of the organisation, supporting the staff and volunteers to deliver and develop our services into the future.

We aspire to having a diverse trustee board that reflects our clients and communities, with a wide range of experiences and local understanding. Your skills will include an understanding of managing resources and forward planning - experience that might, for example, come from running a small business, community or school group or involvement in another charity.

Trustee roles are unpaid, but we do pay reasonable travel expenses. In terms of your time, you would as a minimum need to be available for daytime board meetings (usually in Clacton) about every 6 weeks, plus occasional events and meetings such as our AGM, planning and strategic sessions.

If you want to know more about any aspect of the role before you apply, then one of our current trustees will be happy to have an informal discussion to help you decide if this is the role for you. If you would like to request an informal chat with one of our trustees, please email hr@cabtendring.org.uk.

So, if you’re looking for a rewarding and challenging volunteer role, and you are interested in this vacancy please visit our website https://cabtendring.org/volunteer-for-us, you will find further details about this vacancy and information on how to apply.

What will you do?

● complete an introduction for your role.

● maintain an awareness of how the local Citizens Advice is operating.

● read papers for board meetings and attend an average of 6 daytime (weekday) meetings per year.

● have an opportunity to work on specific projects with other trustees or staff within the local Citizens Advice to further the strategic objectives of the local Citizens Advice.

● take an active discussion during board meetings and work with other trustees to:

- set policy and strategy direction, set targets and evaluate the performance of Citizens Advice Tendring (CAT).

- monitor the financial position of CAT ensuring that it operates within its means and objectives.

- ensure that all the finances and supporting financial control systems of CAT are in order including that full financial records are kept for all transactions, that money is only spent for the purpose given, and that proper financial controls are in place to safeguard the organisation’s resources.

- monitor the financial position of CAT ensuring that it operates within its means and objectives, ensuring that there are clear lines of accountability for day to day financial management.

- seek the views of all sections of the community and monitor how well the service meets the needs of the local community.

- ensure that the service plans for the recruitment and turnover of staff and volunteers.

- review its own work and how effectively it operates including action for improvement.

What’s in it for you?

● make a positive impact for people in your local area by ensuring that Citizens Advice Tendring is sustainable and meeting the needs of the community.

● meet people and build relationships with trustees, staff and other volunteers.

● build on your governance, leadership and strategy skills.

● increase your employability.

And we’ll reimburse expenses too.

What do you need to have?

You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:

● understand and accept the responsibilities and liabilities as trustees.

● be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own.

● have good listening, verbal and written communication skills.

● be able to exercise good independent judgment.

● have good numeracy skills to understand accounts with the support of the treasurer.

● be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection.

● be willing to undertake some training in your role.

How much time do you need to give?

Trustee boards usually meet in the daytime and you’ll likely need to give 2-3 hours to meet every 6 weeks or so. In addition, once a year we hold a strategy development day and you may need to attend other meetings if you’re involved in specific projects or meet with volunteers and staff. We can be flexible about the time spent and how often you volunteer so come and talk to us.

Valuing inclusion

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds, and we welcome applications from people representing the whole community and from diverse backgrounds and experience.

If you are interested in becoming a trustee and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.

Contact details

If you want to know more about any aspect of the role before you apply, then one of our current trustees will be happy to have an informal discussion to help you decide if this is the role for you. If you would like to request an informal chat with one of our trustees, please email hr@cabtendring.org.uk