Working as a First Contact Team Officer at Family Fund

Family Fund’s First Contact Team respond to all queries from families, providing vital information and guidance over the phone and emails. We spoke to Emma, one of the First Contact Team Officers, to find out more about her role.

What do you do in your role?

Our team is the first point of contact for families. We deal with email and telephone queries: It is very varied! For instance, we check application progress, we deal with change of requests, we help families register on the application portal so they can track the status of their application themselves, etc.

Volumes of calls, emails, webchat are very high at the moment: My team and I receive almost 6,000 pieces of contact per week.

What is a typical day like in the First Contact Team?

We work on a rota basis so have different jobs to do daily. We either answer calls, reply to emails or are available on our new Webchat.

I particularly support the team with queries about the Family Fund Motability Scheme (FFMS). FFMS helps families raising a disabled or seriously ill child under three years old to meet their mobility needs through a car-leasing package.

I also advise my colleagues on ways to signpost our families to other charities and organisations that may also be able to help them with further information, advice and support.

What do you enjoy about your role?

Two days are never the same, there is always something different. I like helping people, and being able to offer support as soon as possible to families. I really enjoy the variety of the role. 

“It’s good to know that you are helping families and making a real difference. I enjoy signposting families to other organisations too – it’s good to come off a call and know you have done your best to support that family.”

What do you enjoy about Family Fund?

The way our values are displayed every day is very important to me.

If you need support, there is always someone in the team you can go to. You really feel connected to the rest of the organisation. And if you’ve had a tricky call there is always someone on hand to chat to. It’s good to feel so supported and connected.