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Volunteer Application Form

Thank you for your interest in Volunteering with the Citizens Advice Copeland.

We will use this form to:

  • Shortlist suitable applications for interview
  • Understand more about your interests and availability so we can match you to a suitable role

The information you give us will be used to help Citizens Advice Copeland progress your interest or application in becoming a volunteer. This is our ‘legitimate interest’ under data protection law. Our legal basis for collection of special category data, including information about criminal convictions is consent. Your information will only be seen by colleagues involved in the recruitment process, and will be stored securely.

We will keep unsuccessful application information for 6 years.
We share your data with third parties in order to obtain references, obtain background checks from third-party providers or necessary criminal records checks from the Disclosure and Barring Service for certain roles.

If you are recruited as a volunteer, the information you give us will be used to help Citizens Advice Copeland support you within your volunteering role. This is our ‘legitimate interest’ under data protection law. This includes your application to volunteer with us, references, any other checks we have carried out, and other files that make up the volunteer record.
Our legal basis for collection of special category data, including information about criminal convictions is consent.

All volunteer information will be kept securely, and it will only be used by appropriate colleagues involved in supporting and managing volunteers, or dealing with issues such as quality, complaints or problems related to volunteers, this may include:

  • Contacting volunteers when necessary or contact next of kin incase of an emergency
  • Training records
  • Making changes to role, support or equipment to improve accessibility
  • Monitoring statistical details of our volunteers
  • Providing ongoing support and supervision, including appraisals, to volunteers
  • Monitoring the quality of advice given to clients
  • Addressing problems or complaints
  • Obtaining feedback about your volunteer experience

We take the security of your data seriously and have internal policies and controls in place to try to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by its employees, volunteers or trustees in the performance of their duties. We will not transfer your data to countries outside the European Economic Area.

You have legal rights over your data, including access to it, and the right to ask that it is corrected, restricted or deleted. There is more information on these rights on the Information Commissioner’s Office website: www.ico.org.uk

If you have any questions about the use of your data, please contact John Chapman on 01946 693321 or email advice@cacopeland.org 

If you are under 16 and would like to enquire about work experience with us please contact us on 01946 693321 or email advice@cacopeland.org

Before completing this form please read the statements below:

If you are not a UK or Irish citizen, it’s important you check you are permitted to volunteer or carry out ‘unpaid work’ in addition to your main reason for entering the country, to avoid jeopardising your visa status.  You can find more information on the NCVO website. 

We only ask about criminal convictions and criminal records after we’ve made a conditional offer of volunteering. This is to help make sure that volunteers are selected based on their skills and potential.

Having a criminal record is not in itself a barrier to volunteering. Please note that it is Citizens Advice policy not to recruit any individual who has an unspent conviction (for all roles) for a sexual offence against a vulnerable adult or child and our policy not to recruit any individual who has a spent, or unspent, conviction (for roles that require a Standard or Enhanced DBS check) for a sexual offence against a vulnerable adult or child. This is the case regardless of when the offence took place. Citizens Advice public liability insurance excludes this. Where an offer of volunteering is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, we will inform you of this.

If you wish to contact us to discuss your individual circumstances at an earlier stage, please contact Chloe Gill, Training, Volunteer and Recruitment Officer on 01946 693321 or email: chloe@cacopeland.org . There is no expectation or requirement for you to do so as we will provide you with a Criminal Record self-disclosure form to complete after a conditional offer of a volunteering role has been made. The self-disclosure form you will receive contains information about privacy notice and legal rights over your data in relation to convictions and criminal records data. 

We’ll use the information you provide in your application form in order for Citizens Advice Copeland to progress your application for  becoming a volunteer. This is done under our legitimate interests in potentially onboarding you as a volunteer and to contact you to further progress your application. Your information will be accessed by colleagues involved in the recruitment process and will be securely stored on our recruitment/personnel google drive for 1 year from the date that application was received.

If you’d like to exercise any of your individual rights under data protection legislation please contact Shelley Hewitson, Chief Officer on 01946 693321. 

Please include the reason you want to volunteer and what you hope to get from the experience as well as any skills or experience you have that could help you in this role.
For example, trustee, adviser, email adviser, form filling, fundraising, research and campaigns, promoting our services in the community [Please note that applicants must be 16 or over to provide advice to clients]
This may include other volunteering or paid work you have in other organisations such as a local housing association, local authority, government body, criminal or civil court, another organisation that provides advice. (If yes our volunteer and recruitment officer will be in contact to discuss it with you).
Many volunteers have used the service before but we are unable to offer volunteer roles to clients who are currently receiving advice, to ensure there is no conflict of interest. (If yes our volunteer and recruitment officer will be in contact to discuss it with you).
For example, our website, another website, word of mouth, through your local community, through your university and college, at a volunteering fair or event, through your own experience of accessing the Citizens Advice Copeland service, or other?
Entitlement to work or volunteer If you are from outside the EU / EEA, it’s important you check you are permitted to volunteer or carry out ‘unpaid work’ in addition to your main reason for entering the country, to avoid jeopardising your visa status. If you cannot find the answer clearly on your immigration documentation, contact the UK Border Agency (www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk)
Volunteer diversity monitoring information - The Citizens Advice service is committed to valuing diversity and promoting equality. We encourage and welcome applications from all people, whatever their background, who are interested in applying to be volunteers regardless of age, disability, gender re-assignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. In order to achieve these aims we need to know about the diversity of people who apply to be volunteers in the service. Please help us by providing the following information. All information will be treated confidentially and will be separated from your application form before your application is considered. If you prefer not to answer any of the questions, please leave them blank.
The Citizens Advice service believes that people are disabled by the barriers society places in their way and not by their own impairments. We believe everyone has a role to play in society and we want the service to benefit from the widest range of talent available.
As part of the recruitment procedure, we may collect and store sensitive personal data about you. We are required by law to obtain your consent to such data being recorded. It is our policy to store data relating to recruitment procedures for up to a year after the date on which it is submitted. Any information of this nature will be treated confidentially. Sensitive personal data is defined as information relating to any of the following: racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, health, sexuality or sex life, offences and/or convictions. For the purposes of the Act the Data Controller is Citizens Advice Copeland

What happens next?

Once we’ve reviewed your application, we’ll be in touch. If shortlisted we will invite you to an informal interview, either online or in-person, to get to know you better. We will ask you about any additional support needs you think we should know about in order to enable you to participate in an interview.

If you’re successful at the interview, we will ask if you can provide us with ID (ideally photo ID, but don’t worry if you haven’t got this, we can discuss other options as this isn’t a barrier to volunteering with us).

We will also ask you for the names and contact details of two people, who know you in a work related, academic or professional capacity. This could be an employer, teacher, tutor, a colleague, or former-colleague where you have worked or volunteered before. It could also be someone who knows you well (but not a member of your family).