Lloyds TSB - improving equality and diversity in our workforce
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation - volunteer recruitment hotline
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - encouraging user involvement in social policy campaigns
Equality and diversity
Black and ethnic minority workers have been under-represented in bureau management roles. With a grant from Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales we developed 'Aspiring Managers', a training course to encourage more diverse representation in management.
Participation in the pilot course increased the confidence of black and minority ethnic staff to consider themselves for management roles. The course has now been incorporated into our ongoing training scheme.
Volunteering
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation helped us to pilot our volunteer hotline, a central number for people interested in volunteering with their local Citizens Advice Bureau.
We now receive over 3,400 calls a year and, together with targeted promotional activity, this project has greatly increased the number of black and minority ethnic and younger volunteers within the Citizens Advice service.
Campaigns
Influencing policy-makers is as important to us as the provision of information and advice.
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation helped us to enhance skills in social policy campaigning in six Citizens Advice Bureaux in the South West. This enabled bureaux to focus more on social policy work; skilling up their trustee boards and a provided a national resource which was disseminated to help recruit social policy volunteers.
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