Organisation Name:
Older Citizens Advocacy York (OCAY)
Organisation's Cause(s):
Mentoring & Advocacy
Older Adults
Location of voluntary activity:
We have a meeting room and office at The Priory Street Centre, 15 Priory Street, York YO1 6ET where our volunteer advocates can meet clients. Contact can also be done over the phone from our office or meeting room.
Once a volunteer has gained experience and confidence they may also do occasional home visits if appropriate, to support house-bound clients.
When are volunteers needed: We are very flexible to suit you, and do not require a set number of hours.
Our office and meeting room is usually available between 09:30 - and 16:00, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, as well as Friday mornings.
Type of Voluntary Activity:
Admin / Office Support
Advice / Information / Support
Advocating
Role description:
OCAY provides Advocacy and support to over 50’s in York. Our advocates give people a voice and help them to address their issues.
Tasks:
- To support our team with answering calls and conducting initial triage calls with clients.
- To help with updating case information on our advocacy database.
- To support with reporting using our advocacy database and excel.
- To support our Volunteer Advocates with general admin tasks as required.
- To help with our newsletters, social media and updating our website.
- To support our team with a variety of general admin tasks.
Skills and behaviours needed for the role:
Key Skills:
- Good communication and interpersonal skills
- Good listening skills
- Good understanding of importance of confidentiality
- Writing skills
- Basic IT skills: use of Email, Word, and Excel.
Will there be a DBS check? Yes
Driving Licence required? No
Volunteer's own vehicle required? No
Suitable for:
Ongoing Volunteering
Work Experience
What will the volunteer gain/benefit from:
Being a volunteer with OCAY provides a great opportunity to use existing skills or learn some new ones.
- All volunteers complete a set of training modules as part of their induction to learn about advocacy, our database and about the tasks needed by the role.
- We provide plenty of support to get you started.
- Ongoing support, training, and development is available. We offer training and support on specialist areas such as information about specific benefits. We also have occasional guest speakers on other topics such as safeguarding and mental health.
- We provide supervision every 6 months as well as catch ups as required.
- Out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed.
How to get involved:
If you are interested, please complete our application form and email to info@ocay.org.uk
Applications Forms are also available from our website.
If you want more information please call us on 01904 676200.
Web link: Click here
Closing date: 31-07-2026