Form Filling Volunteer

 Volunteer role: Form Filling   

Responsible to: Forms Completion Service Co-ordinator

Time commitment: Up to three hours per form completed, flexible days and times available.  Attendance at volunteer quarterly support meetings. All our volunteer roles are from Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm. We are closed at weekends, public holidays and over the Christmas period.

Location: In the local community or in the Bromley office.  

Bromley Well: Age UK Bromley and Greenwich working in partnership with Bromley Well, supporting health, wellbeing, and independence. Bromley Well is an integrated service that provides support for Bromley residents to improve their general health, wellbeing, independence and to help prevent them from falling into crisis.

Forms Completion Service: Helping people in their own homes or community to complete forms such as: Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance and Housing Benefits Reduction forms. We provide you with full training and ongoing support.

Role Summary: Specialized volunteer support helping people in their own homes or in the community with form filling and signposting to community services.

What will I be involved in?

• Visiting clients in their own homes or in the community to complete forms and giving clients the time to talk about their situations, providing a listening ear whilst gathering the necessary information required. Shadowing of existing volunteer form fillers, gaining confidence and experience of completing forms with clients.
• Helping clients to self-identify areas of need and articulate this to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Providing our clients with any mandatory reconsiderations support where needed.
• Actively keep in regular contact with the form’s completion coordinator reporting any concerns, pass on requests for help or referral needs.
• Successfully complete online training courses for Age UK Bromley and Greenwich volunteers.
• Participate in quarterly volunteer meetings with the form’s completion coordinator, and any training on safeguarding adults and appropriate boundaries.
• At all times volunteer in accordance with the organisation’s policies regarding Health & Safety, Equality & Diversity, Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults and Confidentiality & Data Protection. Lone working.
• Represent the professional standards of Age UK Bromley and Greenwich and ensure that you wear your volunteer id badge whilst volunteering.

What skills and qualities will I need to have?

• Enjoys spending time with and talking with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
• Be a good listener and have empathy with older people, being approachable and welcoming.
• Interested in learning and developing new skills required for the role.
• Listens to the person’s tone of voice and expression, as well as their words.
• Have a non-judgmental approach. The listener may personally disagree with the client’s opinions or actions but attempts to understand the client’s point of view and shows that they still value the client.
• Being able to maintain client confidentiality, understand the importance of keeping within the parameters of the befriending role and have a good understanding of GDPR and Data Protection.

Benefits of getting involved:

• Being part of a team who are passionate about helping Bromley residents’ complete forms to achieve benefits that they are entitled to claim.
• Committed to supporting the forms completion service.
• Ongoing support and role training with feedback given.
• Opportunities for networking with other volunteers and being part of a wider volunteer team. Including attending an in-depth Forms Completion induction course.
• Awareness of Age UK Bromley and Greenwich social events, services, and projects

Other information: Prospective volunteers will complete a recruitment process and be required to provide details of two references and agree to submit details for and undertake an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check. All our volunteer roles are 18+, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Age UK Bromley & Greenwich will reimburse all expenditure reasonably incurred. Receipts to be provided with expenditure claims.