AN URGENT appeal has been made for more volunteers to join the team at Musselburgh Citizens Advice Bureau after it was reduced to a restricted service for general advice last Friday.

Claire Grehan, volunteer support officer, said sometimes there could be three or four volunteer advisers on duty but the busy High Street office was down to just one that day. The restricted service was only for general advice, which makes up about a quarter of the total bureau work, but paid staff were still available for case work and outreach services as normal.

Claire said: “I think a lot of people don’t know that CAB is a volunteer-based charity, so we do rely on volunteers to be on reception, to become general advisers and also some of them do administrative work as well.”

She said that volunteers were often people who were retired but wanted to keep mentally active, those who were between jobs and wanted to build new skills, and law students looking for experience.

Claire, who also handles financial capability issues at the CAB, started out as a volunteer adviser.

She said: “We always need volunteers, who are the lifeblood of the CAB.

“We have about 30 [volunteers] at the moment and 12 members of staff.

“We put a lot into advisers and helping them but not everyone makes it at the other end.

“As volunteers they can also take holidays whenever they want or attend appointments but it is important that we get a certain level of commitment.”

She added: “General advisers deal with everything from the dog next door barking too loudly to entitlement to benefits.

“They also deal with dismissal cases, as well as helping people to make phone calls and write letters.

“Around 35 per cent of the cases will be about benefits and about 20 per cent on debt followed by employment, housing, customer and local issues.”

The CAB’s other volunteer support officer, Magdalena Szulc, who also began as a volunteer, agreed with her colleague.

She said: “We need people who can commit for six to seven hours’ volunteering each week and the training programme, which can take six to eight months.

“They also need good listening skills, to work well in teams, be open-minded, don’t judge people or their circumstances and enjoy helping people.”

She interviews the recruits, who, after initial training, get to ‘shadow’ a general adviser before going it alone with support from the session supervisor.

Musselburgh resident Andrew Aitken decided to become a volunteer adviser a year and a half ago as, even although he works, he found he had some free time on his hands.

He said: “It is interesting and is good if you can be of some use to people.

“I’m at the CAB for half a day twice a week.”

The next adviser training programme starts on Thursday, October 4.

Anyone interested in getting involved should pick up an application form from the CAB, which is located on High Street.

Alternatively, email info@musselburghcab.casonline.org.uk, phone 0131 653 2748 or go to the Musselburgh CAB’s website musselburghcab.org.uk