Volunteer application form

Thank you for your interest in Volunteering with the Citizens Advice Rural Cambs.

We will use this form to:

Shortlist suitable applications for interview
Understand more about your interests and availability so we can match you to a suitable role

Before completing this form please read the last section at the bottom of this page “Policies“.

For more information, or if you’d like to complete this form in an alternative format please contact Citizens Advice Rural Cambs on recruitment@ruralcambscab.org.uk.

About You

Name (required)

What pronouns do you use to describe yourself?

Email address (required)

Phone number (required)

Area of residence (town/city) (required)

Preferred method of contact (required)EmailPhone

What motivated you to apply to volunteer with Citizens Advice?
Please include the reason you want to volunteer and what you hope to get from the experience as well as any skills or experience you have that could help you in this role. (required)

Your Preferences and Availability

Are you interested in any particular type of volunteer role(s)?
For example, Giving information and advice face to face, phone, email or webchat, fundraising, customer service/reception, admin, IT, research and campaigns, media.
[Please note that applicants must be 16 or over to provide advice to clients]. (required)

When are you usually free to volunteer your time? Tick any and all that apply

Morning:

Afternoon:

My availability may vary week to week

How many hours per week, or days per week would you like to volunteer for? (required)

Are there any times that you’re unlikely to be available, e.g. school holidays?

Additional Information

Are there any dates and times when you are unavailable for an interview?

Are you aware of any circumstances that could be a conflict of interest?
This may include other volunteering or paid work you have in other organisations such as a local housing association, local authority, government body, criminal or civil court, another organisation that provides advice. (required)YesNo

Are you a current client of Citizens Advice?
Many volunteers have used the service before but we are unable to offer volunteer roles to clients who are currently receiving advice, to ensure there is no conflict of interest. (required)YesNo

If yes to any of the above, our Recruitment Team will be in contact to discuss it with you.

How did you hear about this opportunity?
For example, local Citizens Advice website, another website, word of mouth, through your local community, through your university and college, at a volunteering fair or event, through your own experience of accessing the Citizens Advice service, or other? (required)

Declaration

All the information I have provided above is accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Confirm that you have read and accept our Privacy Policy

If you are under 16, please also ask your parent or legal guardian to fill in the information below.
I understand the volunteer role and possible time commitment and give permission for (enter volunteer’s name) to undertake this role if successful.
Relationship to applicant:

Please leave this field empty.

What happens next?

Once we’ve reviewed your application, we’ll be in touch. If shortlisted we will invite you to an informal interview, either online or in-person, to get to know you better. We will ask you about any additional support needs you think we should know about in order to enable you to participate in an interview.

If you’re successful at the interview, we will ask if you can provide us with ID (ideally photo ID, but don’t worry if you haven’t got this, we can discuss other options as this isn’t a barrier to volunteering with us).

We will also ask you for the names and contact details of two people, who know you in a work related, academic or professional capacity. This could be an employer, teacher, tutor, a colleague, or former-colleague where you have worked or volunteered before. It could also be someone who knows you well (but not a member of your family).

If you’d like to discuss who can be a referee at an earlier stage please get in touch with us at recruitment@ruralcambscab.org.uk.

There is no expectation or requirement for you to do so.

Policies

Entitlement to work or volunteer

If you are not a UK or Irish citizen, it’s important you check you are permitted to volunteer or carry out ‘unpaid work’ in addition to your main reason for entering the country, to avoid jeopardising your visa status. You can find more information on the NCVO website.

Our policy on convictions

We only ask about criminal convictions and criminal records after we’ve made a conditional offer of volunteering. This is to help make sure that volunteers are selected based on their skills and potential.

Having a criminal record is not in itself a barrier to volunteering. Please note that it is Citizens Advice policy not to recruit any individual who has an unspent conviction (for all roles) for a sexual offence against a vulnerable adult or child and our policy not to recruit any individual who has a spent, or unspent, conviction (for roles that require a Standard or Enhanced DBS check) for a sexual offence against a vulnerable adult or child. This is the case regardless of when the offence took place. Citizens Advice public liability insurance excludes this. Where an offer of volunteering is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, we will inform you of this.

If you wish to contact us to discuss your individual circumstances at an earlier stage, please contact Rachel Allen, Recruitment Co-ordinator and Trainer, on rachela@ruralcambscab.org.uk.

There is no expectation or requirement for you to do so as we will provide you with a Criminal Record self-disclosure form to complete after a conditional offer of a volunteering role has been made. The self-disclosure form you will receive contains information about privacy notice and legal rights over your data in relation to convictions and criminal records data.

Privacy Notice

We’ll use the information you provide in your application form in order for Citizens Advice Rural Cambs to progress your application for becoming a volunteer. This is done under our legitimate interests in potentially onboarding you as a volunteer and to contact you to further progress your application.

Your information will be accessed by colleagues involved in the recruitment process and will be securely stored on our Microsoft cloud for the necessary period.

If you’d like to exercise any of your individual rights under data protection legislation please contact Rachel Allen on recruitment@ruralcambscab.org.uk.

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