We are all ready for Volunteers' Week, an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK – and it’s taking place from 1-7 June.We're kicking off Volunteers' Week by saying a BIG THANK YOU to all our amazing volunteers.
Citizens Advice Wiltshire thanks its volunteers for their vital support during cost-of-living crisis
Citizens Advice Wiltshire has received a huge number of enquiries from local people struggling to stay on top of household bills as the cost-of-living crisis continues to make life incredibly difficult. The national charity has helped a record 94,000 people with food bank referrals and access to emergency charitable grants in the first four months of this year. That’s a 178% increase on the same period in 2020.
Thanks to the tireless dedication of our volunteers and staff, Citizens Advice Wiltshire has continued to give essential advice and crisis support to help people find a way forward.
In the last year, Citizens Advice Wiltshire has helped almost 15,000 people with 46,400 problems, including debt advice, housing, benefits and employment issues - an increase of 4,000 issues on the previous 12 months.
Now, as part of Volunteers’ Week from June 1 to 7, Citizens Advice Wiltshire is taking the time to highlight the incredible work its volunteers do. And, thank them for their exceptional contribution to the charity and community at large.
Around 50 volunteers at Citizens Advice Wiltshire contribute around 400 hours each week.
Ross, who has been volunteering with Citizens Advice Wiltshire for the past 20 years said:
"I've been a volunteer with Citizens Advice for a long time... I decided to volunteer following my early retirement because I considered that I had knowledge and skills that I could transfer to this advice role. In so doing, I have acquired a lot of useful information to use in my own life.
"I am also committed to Citizens Advice Research and Campaigns aim to identify and modify policies and procedures that we find impact negatively upon clients' lives. So I have also been very active in that capacity."
Suzanne Wigmore, Chief Executive Officer at Citizens Advice Wiltshire said:
“We have an incredible team of volunteers who freely give their time and skills to ensure people in Wiltshire can get support in their time of need.
“I’m particularly proud of the immense dedication they’ve shown during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, when demand for our help is so high.
“Their dedication and commitment knows no bounds. We simply couldn’t do it without them.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about volunteering with Citizens Advice Wiltshire, we are currently looking for volunteers to join our team of Trustees - you can find more information here.
No experience is required, full training and support is provided for volunteer roles. For more information about the types of roles we offer visit our volunteering page.