Advice bureau needs more good listeners

Press, 27 August 1977, Page 10

Advice bureau needs more good listeners

No problems are too trivial and none are too grave for the staff of the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, who listen to them and then steer distressed, confused people to appropriate agencies for help. Requests for guidance, or simply for information, are snowballing.

The free, confidential advice service at 203 Gloucesi ter Street has become so I busy that the executive com'mittee has now turned to I the public for help by call- : ing for more voluntary interviewers. It has 50 allready and urgently needs 30 more. The recruitment campaign has been opened to find mature men and women who are primarily good listeners, willing to train and later to work for about four hours a week to suit their own commitments. Without a big staff increase the C.A.B. will not be able to meet the demands from social workers and community groups to set up suburban or regional services, as has already been done at the Bishopdale Community Centre. The C.A.B. is looking for mature personnel with experience of life, who know about its vicissitudes — friendly people who can relate to others and their problems. They do not need any specialised knowledge and it does not take long for those selected for training to learn from the detailed office filing system where to refer clients for help. Application forms are available to prospective interviewers at the office. TRAINING Trained social workers and educationalists help select and instruct interviewers and keep them up-to-date with society’s current needs and the development of community services. Mrs Gwen Samson, chairman of the Christchurch C.A.8.. and Miss Ruth Goodland, chairman of the selection committee, believe there is a large, untapped reservoir of women and retired men with time on their hands, who are willing to do

fl lowing requests for help or ? information: e'A man comes in accom- - ■ panied by small child- I •; ren. His wife has left I him for another man n; and has taken goods d ■ with her for which he s; (the husband) has paid, n ■ The children are very d upset, but he cannot | take time off work. i-1 What is he to do? 1 A newcomer to Christ1 church, a young man, e wants to join a club to e meet people. ■ A woman wants to know 1 how she can adopt a 3 baby. An elderly woman is being ’ harassed by a very 3 noisy family in the next 1 door fiat. She is terrified of them and is at 5 the end of her tether. 3 What can she do? " A widow on national superannuation rings to say _ her rent has been increased by a large f amount. She does not ‘ know how she can pay 1 it and knows she may ' be evicted. 5 A man has bought a faulty home appliance; the shop refuses to replace r 1 it or refund the cost. A visitor from overseas H wants to trace a relat- -; ive. >|A young girl telephones to >1 say she is pregnant and -1 wants to know where i| she can get advice. J “Who is my M.P.?” someone wants to know. ; All the inquirers were put in , I touch With agencies or | .1 professional advisers' i best qualified to help I > them. . The Citizens’ Advipe Bureau is open Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to t 7 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.

- some kind of community • service without committing ) themselves to a full-time - voluntary job. All are re- ) quired to do in-service train■ing one morning a month. ! “Many of the kind of men ■ and women we have in mind ) would already have skills that would be very useful in » this work,’’ Miss Goodland - said. > Staff never become in- , volved in cases, Mrs Samson > said. Interviewers finish i with a case after they have - taken information and have ; teferred the client to the ap--1 propriate agency or expert ■ adviser as required. They do i not counsel. i “It is a matter of listening I patiently and impartially to i people and helping them • help themselves,” she said. Interviewers and clients • remain anonymous. No • names or addresses are taken as cases are filed by ■ numbers. All information given is kept strictly con- ■ fidential. I “The underlying theme of ■ the bureau is to deal with • problems as soon as they i arise, before they fester or [ cause breakdowns,” Mrs i Samson said. C.A.B.s do not give finani cial help to any client nor : do they take over the function of services provided by other organisations or professions. They serve the 1 community and service agencies by providing a liaison between people with 1 needs and those who can meet them. Requests for help come from a wide range of people, from teenagers to nonagenarians, of both sexes. More than 50 cases are usually heard a day in personal calls or by telephone. REQUESTS A typical day’s case list may include any of the fol-