Raise provides benefits and debt advice to tenants of Registered Social Landlords. Their service is free to all clients at the point they need them most.  Raise also provide training to help people manage their money better.

They now provide a ‘telephone triage’ service – which means when they speak to customers on the phone, on the very first call they can assess each person’s needs to ensure they receive the right support at the right time.

Raise are looking for ‘New Horizon volunteers’ to support this service and help them to help more people who need their advice.

How can you help?

• Be the initial point of contact for people requesting help and support from services
• Receive telephone calls and obtaining answers to set questions (a script)
• Input information into a computer system
• Support advisors with basic admin tasks

 

What support will I be given?

• You will have a dedicated Volunteer & Training Coordinator to support you on every step of your ‘Learning Journey’ with Raise.
• Raise will build a personalised pathway for you to follow that will enable you to build the skills & confidence that you need to help realise your personal goals – whether those be to continue as a volunteer or to pursue further education or employment.

What’s in it for you?

• Contribute to the organisation’s aims of giving money and debt advice to housing tenants
• Excellent training for the tasks you will undertake in this role
• Build skills and life experiences to help you help others
• Gain valuable work skills to help you in future employment
• Benefit from back to work and training support
• Have a positive impact in your community and on the lives of the people you help
• Meet new people and make new friends – grow your personal network to discover new opportunities!

 

What are Raise looking for in a New Horizons Volunteer?

Here are some the qualities you will need as a New Horizons Volunteer for Raise:

• Be friendly, caring and supportive
• Be non-judgemental and impartial
• Be a good listener and keen to help others
• Be committed to keeping client information confidential
• Be willing to use computers and telephones to communicate with our clients
• Be willing to follow our organisation’s policies and practices
• Empathy in relation to people who may face additional challenges in their lives e.g. physical disabilities or mental health needs.
• Be understanding of equal opportunities

What sort of people volunteer for Raise?

• Anyone interested in taking their first steps towards developing a future career in advice, guidance, admin and customer service.
• People who want to make a difference to the lives of others seeking a way out of debt or to access quality welfare rights advice.
• People with a genuine passion for helping others.
• Anyone who just wants to join a friendly team of like-minded people working towards a common goal –  helping to alleviate poverty and inequalities  in communities and in doing so enabling people to take control of their lives

How much time should you offer?

• That’s entirely flexible and will vary depending on your personal circumstances. But typically, our volunteers like to choose one day a week to work (Monday to Friday) –  a morning or afternoon to begin with – and then scale their level of involvement accordingly to meet their needs.

How to apply

• If you are interested or would like to know more about how Raise can support you to become a volunteer, please contact their Volunteer and Training Co-ordinator Philip Blocksidge at Raise
• To do this, please request an application form, by emailing: Enable@raiseadvice.org.uk
• Upon receipt of your application, Raise will invite you in for an informal interview, which is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions that you may have about being a New Horizons Volunteer
• Raise welcome applications from all backgrounds and particularly welcome people with physical or mental health conditions and people from Black, Asian Minority Ethnic and LGBT+ communities. We welcome people with no or few qualifications who want to gain experience and learn work related skills.