Witness Service Court Volunteer - Medway Magistrates
Victim Support Witness Service
Meeting witnesses attending court to give evidence and providing practical and emotional support.
In these roles you’ll support victims and witnesses when they come to court by providing practical information and emotional support, helping them to feel confident when giving their evidence. You’ll need to be able to attend court once per week in your local area during normal court hours, usually 9am to 5pm. You’ll offer practical guidance around court processes and offer emotional support for witnesses as they wait to give evidence. You may also spend time with witnesses after they have given their evidence to help them process their experience.
Advice, Information & Support
Listening, Talking To Others, Teamwork, Basic IT skills - internet & email
As a volunteer, you’ll be friendly and understanding, and confident in supporting people through an anxious time. You’ll be empathetic, non-judgemental, and have good listening and communication skills. You’ll also be comfortable in supporting people from a wide variety of backgrounds. You may want to have a think about how much time you’re able to give to volunteering with us. In our court-based roles you’ll need to be able to attend court for one day a week, while our outreach roles are more flexible. We encourage you to volunteer for at least 12 months to help you to get the most out of the experience and provide some consistency for the victims and witnesses that we support. We also ask that you’re able to access the internet for communication and online training and have an active email account so we can contact you easily. You should be comfortable using online forms where we collect information to monitor and evaluate the services we provide. You’ll receive full training on any systems that you are asked to use while volunteering with us.
Working as a volunteer can bring many benefits, including improved wellbeing. You’ll also gain new skills and learn more about the criminal justice system in England and Wales. This is a brilliant opportunity to meet new people and help give something back to the community. As a Witness Service volunteer, you’ll be working alongside staff and other volunteers who want to help people who have either witnessed or experienced crime. You’ll be supporting them to give their best evidence in court, ensuring their voice is heard and making a positive impact on their lives.
1 day per week 9-5 - looking for Mon, Tues or Wed at the moment
ME4 4JZ
The Court House The Brook Chatham ME4 4JZ
N/A
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