Volunteer profile: Celia Evans

We’re looking for new volunteers to join our teams serving the East Riding, including our offices in Bridlington, Beverley and Goole. Meet Celia, whose association with Citizens Advice spans the past four decades…

Many volunteers have been associated with Citizens Advice for quite a few years – but this year Celia Evans marks four decades of supporting communities across Hull and the East Riding.

Celia’s association with the People’s Champion started in 1986 when she worked as a volunteer in Selby. She moved to a paid role in Goole with Boothferry Citizens Advice Bureau, which is now part of Citizens Advice Hull & East Riding – the organisation where Celia spent the rest of her career.

She worked in a variety of roles, including management, which took her through to retirement. Now she’s come full circle and is using her decades of experience in a voluntary capacity, mainly advising clients from home to fit in with her busy life.

Over the years, Celia has witnessed enormous change. She’s worked through multiple recessions, changes to the benefit system including the rise of Universal Credit, the explosion of digital services and the increasing complexity of clients’ lives. But her approach remains the same: objectivity, empathy, and a commitment to helping people reach a better place.

‘I believe in what we do’

“I believe in what we do,” Celia says. “There are so many people who don’t know what help exists – benefits, grants, options. Our advice is confidential, independent, impartial and free. We’re here to give clients their options, and they make the choices to help them move forward. If I didn’t find it satisfying, I wouldn’t still be doing it.

“The issues people face are often similar at their core, but everything is more complex now. Social media plays a part too; it affects people’s expectations and the pressures they feel.”

Now 72, Celia remains full of energy – juggling aerial yoga, grandchildren and volunteering. She says: “Staying mentally active is just as important. That’s one reason I keep advising: it keeps your brain working. Stopping completely is the worst thing you can do.”

The start of her retirement couldn’t have been more eventful – it happened “literally as lockdown began”.

“I’d expected meetings, meals out, goodbyes, but none of that happened. Because everything moved to telephone advice, and there was COVID funding, I ended up doing a few paid hours of phone advice even after retiring. Since then, my volunteering has mainly been remote. Sometimes I’ll come into the office if needed, but mostly I help from home.”

‘Give it a go – there’s always a team behind you’

Flexibility is key as Celia fits in family and her other volunteering commitments including with Home-Start, where she has volunteered for nearly 30 years. This work earned her a long-service award, and she was also recently honoured by Citizens Advice with a Special Mention Award highlighting her contribution since retirement.

She says: “It was a lovely surprise. I didn’t expect it at all – I didn’t even know about the awards because they’re quite new. It’s nice when someone thinks of you, but I don’t do it for recognition. It’s all about the clients.

“We couldn’t run the service without volunteers. There have been ups and downs with volunteer numbers, especially after COVID. There’s a lot of competition for volunteers, and funding is difficult. But the service has always relied on volunteers.”

Her message to anyone interested in volunteering with Citizens Advice? “Give it a go. There’s lots of training and support, and you’re never alone – there’s always a team behind you. If you can, come in for fuller blocks of time at first; you get much more out of it. The return is greater the more you put in.

“So many skills are transferable – listening, empathy, problem‑solving. You’re not there to tell people what to do, but to give them options and help them work through them. It’s incredibly rewarding.”

Find out more about volunteering with Citizens Advice Hull & East Riding here.