Welfare Benefits Advisor

Hours:

21 hours per week. 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:

£30 – 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 a Welfare Benefits Advisor 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.
• Providing support via home visits, over the phone and in community settings.

We are looking for:

• Experience of giving information & advice.
• Experience of welfare benefits advice work and completing benefit forms.
• Good understanding of the welfare benefits system for older people.
• Access to a car is required.