Information & Advice Advisor / Officer

Hours:                  21 – 35 hours. All hours to be worked between 9 – 5 Monday – Friday. We will consider full days or shorter days to meet personal commitments.

Contract:            Permanent

 Responsible to:  Information & Advice Manager

Location:            White House Community Centre, Hampton and at community locations / homes across the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Some home working is also possible in line with Hybrid Working Policy.

Salary:                 £28 – 32,000 FTE DOE plus 5% pension contribution pension contribution. Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Blue Light card and Age UK discount schemes.

Work as part of a team giving great support to local older people

Age UK Richmond upon Thames is a local independent charity supporting older people across the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. We provide a wide range of useful and well utilised local services in Richmond upon Thames designed to improve wellbeing and enhance independence – including information & advice; a wide range of social & wellbeing centres and sessions; support after hospital discharge; digital skills development; Dementia Friendly Richmond; mental health peer support and home services such as handyperson, housekeeping and gardening. Partnership is a core part of our work – we work in close collaboration with other voluntary sector partners and wider organisations to maximise our impact and reach. Our friendly and committed team of 50 staff and 100+ volunteers support over 4,000 local older people each year.

Our Information & Advice service is a central part of our organisation. Our small team of staff supported by excellent volunteers provide free and confidential Information & Advice to older people across the borough on a range of topics. The main area of support is to claim welfare benefits and other forms of financial support – but also includes a range of other topics such as accessing care & support; independent living; sorting out paperwork and housing. 

We currently have an excellent opportunity for an Information & Advice Advisor / Officer to join the team.  The role will include:

·        Providing welfare benefits & financial advice, including advising older people on the financial support available, making applications on their behalf and following through applications to result.

·        Providing Information & Advice on other topics older people require support with.

·        Working across the areas of our Information & Advice service areas as needed – including our first contact helpline, welfare benefits and Advice Extra.

·        Providing support via home visits, over the phone and in community settings.

We are looking for:

-        Excellent administration, IT and communication skills with a real will to work with and support older people.

-        A proactive, flexible and positive approach with a close eye for detail and good basic numeracy skills.

-        Experience in working with older or vulnerable people or in a health, social care or voluntary organisation role desirable.

-        Experience of working in an Information & advice role, in particular welfare benefits advice work highly desirable.

Access to a car is required.

Click apply to be taken to our website for full information and how to apply.  We will interview as and when suitable applications are received.