Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire volunteer Sue Kimmons explains why she signed up to help the service

With Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire running a recruitment drive to bring in more volunteers, Sue Kimmons tells us why she signed up...

My volunteering journey started as the first news started to break about covid. I thought maybe I could help out for a short while until all the fuss had died down, little did we all know then what would ensue.

Having decided to retire early I had time on my hands and wanted to help out locally for my community. Initially I signed up as an NHS Responder; helping people with shopping, collecting medication while we were locked down, so many of the calls for help were to check in on people just to make sure they were ok and coping.

It soon became apparent these phone calls were a life line to people, I started to research into other volunteering organisations to see how I could carry on after this Covid thing had stopped.

RVS was my next role, the neighbourhood befriending service whereby five clients were allocated to me to phone once a week, just to chat to and make sure they were ok. I made some lovely friendships with these elderly folk.

Once lockdown eased, I was able to visit them in their homes. I baked Easter biscuits, Christmas goodies, but just with a cheery smile and time to listen to them it made them feel less isolated. I am very proud to have helped one gentleman whose wife was in a care home; he was struggling without being unable to see her so we would chat about their memories and help ease the pain.

These two organisations were very rewarding in being able to listen to people and check in to make sure they were coping, but I wanted to do more in-depth activities to really make a difference. I chose Citizens Advice.

The training is extensive, a three-month online course covers all the basics. The diverse questions that you are presented with could never really be covered in a classroom/zoom learning experience. But it certainly teaches you where to find information and how to listen and collate the individual challenges everyone has.

I still to this day learn new information on everything from parental rights for a prisoner wanting to see his children to coping with the cost-of-living crises or preventing a family being evicted after a landlord did not follow due process.

On a personal level, I find volunteering to be so rewarding. We recently moved to South Lincolnshire only knowing a handful of people, I ventured into the local office to ask if they might need some help.

I was immediately welcomed into the Citizens Advice family again, having only taken a few weeks off to move.

The office vibe is one of hard work, often very challenging, unfortunately the frequency of calls of a suicidal nature are on the increase. These calls will of course have an impact on the volunteer, but my colleagues and supervisor are always there to talk through the events. But we are a team of like-minded people, we have social events whether it’s an inclusive all staff get together or a few of us going out, it’s a wonderful way to make friends.

If you are interested in volunteering for Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire, visit www.citizensadvicesouthlincs.org.uk