Welfare Benefits Adviser

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Recruiting Organization: Equal Lives

If you’re interested in social reform or are keen to help disabled people confront the systems that they’re held accountable to then we need you on our team! Advisers are good communicators and can easily empathise with a wide range of complex scenarios our clients are going through, we provide fantastic training to help you build these skills, but if this already sounds like you then you’re our kind of person! This can be an interesting, diverse role which will allow you to learn a great deal about the legal and advice systems in the UK.

Our volunteer Welfare Benefit Advisers offer advice to clients with disabilities and carers over the phone and in our outreach offices throughout Norfolk. They may help by completing benefit claim forms, explaining decisions, or helping our clients write letters to challenge benefit decisions.

This is a great opportunity for you to learn all about Welfare Benefits, from finding out about conditions of entitlement to challenging decisions clients disagree with. Whether you already have some knowledge and you want to make use of this to help others, or if you have no experience and are keen to learn, this role could provide you with an interesting and challenging volunteering opportunity.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Welfare Benefit Adviser role could involve assisting our clients with some/all of the following:

• Identifying benefits, they may be entitled to

• Assisting them to make claims, including support with form filling

• Offering advice around the appeal process

• Challenging decisions (mandatory reconsiderations)

• Offering information by telephone or email

• Signposting or referring clients on to other organisations where appropriate.

• Keeping accurate and up to date case notes

• Ongoing learning to ensure knowledge is kept up to date and accurate

Full training is available to provide you with the skills and knowledge required to carry out this

FURTHER INFO

This role can be carried out on site or remotely, we will supply you with a laptop, Equal Lives email address and mobile phone if you are working remotely and if working on site you will have your own Equal Lives email and access to a computer and work phone.

All volunteers are required to undertake our core training programme. This covers basic safeguarding and other key features such as data protection.

New volunteers will have an opportunity to 'shadow’ experienced volunteers and members of staff

Dependent on the candidate, there may be additional opportunities to participate in a variety of accredited training courses. Please ask a manager for further details.

Volunteers are required to adhere to the organisation’s policies and practice guidelines.

Reasonable expenses, including travel whilst undertaking this role will be reimbursed. This includes mileage (currently £0.45 p/mile) and parking costs.

Applications must include 2 satisfactory references from individuals who have known you in a professional or educational capacity for at least 12 months. Applicants must complete a Disclosure and Barring Service check before volunteering can commence.

Although you are required to do your training during office hours of 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday, we are flexible to how many hours you wish to volunteer for and how long, in terms of months, you want to volunteer with us for.

Stipend ProvidedFalse

Training Provided

Housing AvailableFalse

Language/Cultral Support AvailableFalse

Wheelchair Accessible

Fee RequiredFalse

Fee Amount: None

This opportunity is recurring