Celebrating our volunteers, this week and always

*PLEASE BE AWARE THIS IS AN OLDER POST AND THERE MAY BE A MORE UP TO DATE POST, OR UPDATED INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ *

1-7 June 2021 is Volunteers’ Week, and at Citizens Advice Wigan Borough we’d like to take the opportunity to recognise the efforts that our volunteers contribute to our work. As a charity, we rely on volunteer support in many different areas, and in the past year particularly, we’re incredibly grateful for the time our volunteers give us.

Our volunteers make a huge difference to our clients and the community we work in - we could not support as many local residents as we do without them. From admin support to advice work to trustees, our volunteers are an integral part of our charity. Their diverse experiences and backgrounds are a fantastic complement to our community and we’d like to say thank you to each and every one of them!

In this blog post, we’re celebrating some of our volunteer voices from across the service.

I started volunteering with CAWB to gain experience of office administration. This was on reception at first and then doing data entry and admin. The best thing about it is the lovely team of people I have worked alongside. I started in 2013 and volunteered regularly until the covid pandemic started. I hope to resume in the near future.

Phillip

Because of my qualifications and former experience as a lawyer in Egypt, I was looking for a way to improve my English language and gaining more new skills to help me in the field in the UK, as well as spending some quality time away from work and busy life.

Also, donating my time to help people in hardships or difficult circumstances is a well rewarded charity, which was my initial motivation. In my former career, I was given many awards, however when I was awarded Volunteer of the Year in 2018 by CAWB, it was and still is the award I'm most proud of.

Mohammed

I started volunteering to use some of my time usefully, along with skills after retiring. My favourite things about volunteering with CAWB are the variety and overcoming the challenges of the clients.

Derek

I wanted to volunteer for CAWB firstly to learn more about my local community and the issues they face. I wanted to be able to use my skills and knowledge to hopefully make a difference, create positive change and share these kinds of stories. As a recent graduate, I also wanted to gain experience in a field that I am interested in pursuing a career in.

My favourite thing about volunteering in the communications team is being able to read and share client stories on how Citizens Advice has helped them and the difference the charity has made in the community.

I began volunteering in the communications team a couple months ago. I have enjoyed learning about how charities use social media and growing my knowledge of charity communications whilst meeting other volunteers and Citizens Advice employees.

Kate

Interested in volunteering with us? Check out some of the roles available.