Witness Service Outreach Volunteer - Worle / Taunton

• Meeting with witnesses via video call and phone, using online tools where needed.
• Showing witnesses around the court before the trial so they are familiar and at ease in the environment.
• Attending court on the day the witness gives evidence, accompanying them when giving evidence where permitted.
• Making contact with the witness post trial to debrief their experience and facilitate referrals to other agencies.
• Supporting witnesses at sentencing hearings at court where required

• It can take around 3 months to become fully accredited as a Witness Service Volunteer. The expectation is that you can volunteer for a minimum of 12 months after you’ve completed your training. If you are unsure if you can offer this please let us know and we can talk about more flexible options. We’ll ask you to offer a minimum of a day a week overall but this is a flexible role and your time volunteering can be fitted round times in each week when you are available.

What's in it for you?

• Contribute to the service’s aims of supporting witnesses.
• Training, accreditation and continued personal development and support in the role
• Use your skills and life experiences to help others
• The opportunity to take on additional internal roles such as a volunteer mentor
• Gain valuable experience and development of interpersonal skills.
• Have a positive impact in your community and on the lives of witnesses and their supporters
• Reimbursement of agreed out of pocket expenses

We are looking for volunteers who can support trials in Taunton / Worle / Bristol. 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 (Global Majority) and LGBTQIA+ communities.