Volunteers needed to support those forced to represent themselves in court

Volunteers are being sought to support those who can't afford legal representation in court.

The Personal Support Unit (PSU) helps those who are forced to represent themselves at courts across the UK in what can be a confusing and stressful process.

The charity is opening a new office at the West London Family Court in Feltham, where it plans to assist those involved in divorce hearings, child custody proceedings and other cases.

It aims to recruit 20-30 volunteers, who will receive training and need not have any legal experience, before launching the service in mid-October.

Klara Slater, PSU's West London Family Court coordinator, said: "This service is so important, particularly following recent government cuts to legal aid which has led to a huge rise in the number of people without legal representation in court, known as litigants in person.

'80% of cases involve someone with no legal representation'

"In over 80% of family law cases there is at least one person who for whatever reason is not represented by a lawyer.

"Our volunteers are there to support those people in all kinds of ways, from sitting and talking through cases with them in a comforting manner to helping them fill in legal forms and prepare witness statements."

Successful applicants will receive a one-day induction and on-the-job training from more experienced advisors, and their expenses will be covered.

The only requirement is that they have a good level of spoken and written English and can commit to volunteering on two days each month over the next year.

'Compassion, common sense and good people skills needed'

Ms Slater said existing volunteers ranged from retired barristers to those who had never walked through a set of court doors before, and the most important attributes were "compassion, common sense and good people skills".

The PSU service will run from Tuesday to Thursday every week, between 9.30am and 4.30pm each day, at the West London Family Court in Dukes Green Avenue, Feltham.

The court's catchment area covers the boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston, Merton and Richmond.

For more information about volunteering, and to apply online, visit the Charity Job website.