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Citizens Advice across Oxfordshire has continued giving advice to those in need throughout the coronavirus pandemic thanks to the tireless dedication of its staff and volunteers.
The team quickly rallied to ensure as many people as possible could be helped as services saw unprecedented demand. Often this has meant a shift to providing support via phone and web chat. Advice provided over the telephone increased from 36% to 63% in the last year.
As part of Volunteers’ Week, which runs from 1 to 7 June, Citizens Advice across Oxfordshire wants to thank their 500 volunteers for their exceptional contribution to the service and local community.
In the last year, Citizens Advice across Oxfordshirehas helped over 27,000 people withproblems, such as debt, housing, benefit and employment issues.
Kevin, Volunteer Adviser at Citizens Advice Oxford said:
“Volunteering with Citizens Advice is an immensely rewarding experience and I get a real sense of satisfaction from the way I am able to provide help and support to people who have issues and problems which they cannot resolve on their own. It is also important that we deal with a wide range of subjects as so many of our clients need help with multiple issues often interrelated. From a volunteer perspective our ability to provide help across such a range of issue is very rewarding. I very much enjoy the work I do.”
Tim, Adviceline Volunteer at Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire said:
“I’m proud to be a volunteer this year at Citizens Advice because the ability to effectively move people forward who are often less fortunate than most has helped me understand what an important role this charity plays across so many communities and how lucky most of us really are in these challenging times.”
Pat Coomber-Wood, Chief Officer at Citizens Advice North Oxfordshire said:
“Our wonderful team of volunteers dedicate their time and skills to ensure that people in Oxfordshire can get support in their time of need. I’m particularly proud of the immense dedication they’ve shown during this pandemic – with many working from living rooms and kitchens to keep the service running. Their dedication and commitment knows no bounds. We simply couldn’t do it without them.”