Citizens Advice South 果冻传媒shire Volunteering Programme
About
This year we had the opportunity to start a new collaboration with Citizens Advice South 果冻传媒shire. While students often volunteer with local Citizens Advice, this was the first time we鈥檝e worked together to create opportunities specifically for 果冻传媒 Law School (WLS) students.
Citizens Advice provides a vital service to members of the public. Their network of independent charities offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. People rely on this service because it is independent and totally impartial. Citizens Advice believes no one should have to face problems without good quality, independent advice.
About CASW Volunteering Programme
The CASW clinic is designed to give you practical experience of supporting members of the public with a wide range of everyday legal and social welfare issues.
Working as volunteer general advisers with Citizens Advice South 果冻传媒shire, students receive training and supervision while developing skills in client interviewing, legal research, problem-solving, communication and professional record keeping.
This clinic also enables students to make a meaningful contribution to the local community by helping clients understand their options and take appropriate action to address their concerns.
What's Involved?
Students will usually volunteer throughout Terms 1 and 2 on a regular basis. They are expected to be available for their weekly volunteering session in Leamington during term time.
Students are expected to spend no more than 5 hours a week volunteering for CA South 果冻传媒shire (one volunteering session a week).
You will receive initial training and you will be supported by the Volunteering Coordinator who will oversee your volunteer journey.
As a volunteer for 果冻传媒 LinC you are able to claim Core Skills Points towards the 果冻传媒 Award.
Reflections from previous Law School students who have volunteered for CASW: CA Volunteer Experience- Esther & Annie
Hi, we鈥檙e Esther & Annie, two aspiring 果冻传媒 University students who are looking to build a foundational understanding of socio-legal topics through real world experience. We鈥檝e found the volunteer role to be rewarding for a number of reasons. Primarily, knowing that your advice can help both improve and change people鈥檚 lives is a feeling that is irreplaceable. You never know what to expect when you pick up a call. That's what makes the role so interesting.鈥�
One of the challenges that I have faced has been in advising knowledgeable parents on the support available to their children with special requirementsin spite of cookie-cutter education systems. It seems an impossible task at first. However, with the support of our invaluable supervisors, I have almost alwaysbeen able to provide a new insight or two into their situation, assisting the client in knowing what to do next.鈥�
For me, I had a medical negligence case that left me with food for thought on how common this type of negligence was. When it came to advising about the process behind getting legal help, it opened my eyes to the complexities and intricacies when it came to laws surrounding medical negligence, something I was never aware of prior.鈥�
We can confidently say that we have ended every call, learning a bit more about a policy or legal issue, it's a role that constantly keeps us learning and for that we are grateful for this experience. This is a position that will leave a positive mark on you and is something that we would recommend to anyone who wants to gain real life insight into the issues that affect the nation today by hearing about the cases and stories that help form them.
Over the period of time from October 2025-June 2026 the students have helped nearly 400 clients who have contacted the adviceline, offering them all full advice at the point of contact. This includes a multitude of issues with the top issues being benefits, housing, relationship & family, employment, charitable support and legal.
Based at the Leamington Spa office of Citizens Advice, students will act as volunteer general advisers.
The role of a volunteer adviser is integral to the service delivery of the charity and completing the training will enable the volunteer to truly be able to assist those people who come to us for help with their concerns, circumstances and enquiries. This is an opportunity for students to gain valuable skills and experience, whilst making a meaningful contribution to the local community.
What will you do?
- Complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role.
- Talk to clients over the phone who call via Adviceline, meet them face to face at a drop in or by appointment, and assist via email to explore what problems they鈥檝e come for help with.
- Research information regarding clients鈥� problems and help them to understand their options.
- Support clients to take action to resolve their problems. This might include drafting or writing letters, making phone calls, or referring the client to another organisation.
- Write a summary of the clients鈥� problems and what action you鈥檝e taken.
- Look out for problems鈥� that are common, or are unfair, to assist CASW and Citizens Advice nationally to campaign for changes in policies and practices.
Some examples of what you could do:
- Advise someone who is separating from their partner on their rights and responsibilities and make an appointment for them to have a free initial consultation with a family lawyer.
- Explore what benefits a client is entitled to and assist in completing a benefit application form.
- Help a client who has problems with their landlord to understand their housing rights.
Further information about the CASW Volunteering Programme
"I have gained invaluable insight into what Citizens Advice does as a service, as well as seen the impact they have on people鈥檚 lives. I have learned how to deal with problem-solving on the spot and communication with people who are facing extremely difficult problems. I have learnt so much from the existing volunteers who work there, just from hearing their calls and listening to them. I am happy that I shadowed calls for the first two to three weeks and then was able to confidently take my first calls" (CASW Volunteer)
"The training鈥痺as very comprehensive and I felt like I learned a lot in one day. I liked the fact that we got to practice writing up case-notes and received feedback for it, that was very helpful in establishing what the quality of our work should look like. Shadowing calls was also useful鈥痑nd made it seem less daunting as our mentor was very kind in taking us through鈥痚ach step bit by bit. The settling down into taking calls was very gradual and I enjoyed the experience a lot" (CASW Volunteer).