Citizens Advice Witness Service Outreach Volunteer

We are currently looking for outreach volunteers in the areas covering Portsmouth, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Basingstoke and Winchester courts.

What will you do?

• Prepare and support vulnerable adults (and children) who are due to attend court to give evidence. They can meet witnesses away from the court environment at an agreed safe place (or by phone or video call, if preferred). Assess their needs and provide support to help reduce their anxiety and enable them to give their best evidence.
• Together with the witness and where appropriate their carer / support worker / parent / guardian, develop a tailored plan of preparation and support.
• Meet further, according to their needs, to help prepare the witnesses and manage their expectation about the process of the trial, the verdict and the sentence.
• Invite the witness to have a pre-trial visit and explain how this may help, liaise this visit with the court based staff.
• Assist the court based Witness Service volunteer in providing support on the day, accompanying the witness into the courtroom when permitted and as appropriate.
• Ensuring that witnesses continue to receive our assistance after court if they need it, for example: offering a debrief session after the trial, support at the sentencing hearing and with follow up contact in one/two weeks to see how they are.

The Outreach Team Leader will match witnesses according to location and where the volunteer can get to.

N.B. this role would not be suitable for those seeking a short-term opportunity. We are looking for volunteers who can support at least one trial per month and this requires some flexibility around the trial date in case the day/time the witness you are supporting is required changes.

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from people with physical or mental health conditions, and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) and LGBT+ communities. We are committed to offering a welcoming and inclusive environment to witnesses, staff, and volunteers.

Skills

What’s in it for you?

• Contribute to service’s aims of supporting witnesses within a dynamic team.
• Training, accreditation and continued development and support in the role.
• Gain valuable experience and development of interpersonal skills.
• Have a positive impact in your community and on people’s lives, the witnesses and their supporters.

And we’ll reimburse agreed expenses too.