EXETER CAB | My article for the newsletter

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A new volunteer

As an elected member of Exeter City Council, I’m used to being contacted by residents on a wide range of issues.

The casework could range from things that the City Council look after (rubbish and dog poo are the most common), some that are really covered by the remit of Devon County Council (my favourite is 20 mph zones, I’m becoming an expert) and trying to get buses from by ward of Cowick to pass by the nearest GP surgery.

But now and again, I would get the unusually case, something not covered by the obvious responsibilities of councils, political parties or agencies.

My first port of call in those days would always be Exeter CAB.

About a year ago, I started getting interested in the effects of the current raft of Welfare Reforms (I prefer the term Welfare Cuts) that are starting the remove the safety net that is covered by Social Security.

I attended some briefings  put on for us local politicians– the threat caused by the removal of legal aid in man of these cases, and the implications of the benefits changes – and these were always provided by Exeter CAB.

Alongside this, Exeter City Council produced risk assessments of the dangers – both to us as a council, and to individual residents – that needed to be managed

Then in early 2013 I random tweet from a friend activated something latent within me and I’ve become an active campaigner in this field – Bedroom Tax, Universal Credit, etc.

Cut to September 2013 and the chance to volunteer with Exeter CAB.

A trade fair was organised, where prospective volunteers could find out about the range of roles required to keep the bureau running – information guides being the first point of contact for many of our clients; gateway assessors (my choice) to provide guidance, deciding if the next step is to signpost to assisted information or refer to an more in-depth interview; and the more specialist advisers.

Since then it’s been a busy series to observations of experienced gateway assessment, training sessions oversee by Devon Welfare Rights Unit, in-house work on IT systems and casework recording and just last week, a skills session.

Within a few weeks, I’m to be let loos on my first (supervised) interview of a client. It feels scary and refreshing at the same time.

But it will allow me to use the theoretical knowledge I’ve gained over the past 2 months to real practical use.

See the article in the December issue of Exeter CAB newletter