​In 2006 I was in 6th year at school and started looking around for something to do over the summer before I went to university to study law.  I looked at the Volunteer Scotland website, keyed in the details of the kind of areas I was interested in volunteering for and that’s how I found out about volunteering for the Witness Service so registered my interest in this through the Volunteer Centre in North Lanarkshire.  The website was really easy to use, I liked the lists about the areas you can volunteer in and the type of activities you can do.  I’ve used the JobCentre website and found this one much easier to use.  I’ve recommended the Volunteer Scotland website to a number of friends since then and encouraged them to use volunteering to try various things out and speak to their local Volunteer Centre as I’ve found them very helpful.

My volunteering has had a big impact on me.  It’s given me the opportunity to meet all kinds of people and has really helped me improve my people skills.  I work with people over a huge range of age and experience.  You can meet people who are very anxious and distressed and I’ve learned to communicate with them and help them.

The volunteers here are all great as well, we have a laugh and get on very well and we do a secret Santa and all that.

A typical day as a volunteer will be to check the referrals we’ve had from the Procurator Fiscals or Victim Support and look at what kind of support might be required.  We often have to support child witnesses and this involves sitting in court with them, so they have a friendly face, or we sit with them if they are giving evidence via a CCTV link.  Because we are the only other person in a room with CCTV, we can pickup if a child is getting distressed and needs a break we can signal to the judge to make it happen. Sometimes witnesses are intimated or upset and we give them emotional support.

This is good experience for my studies.  I get day-to-day knowledge of how the court works and its legal aspects.  The fact I’ve got a lot of experience dealing with such a wide range of people has already helped when I’ve applied for part-time jobs and am hoping that the fact I know quite a few Procurator Fiscals and solicitors will stand me in good stead when I’m looking for an internship!

After I’d been volunteering for a while Moira asked me if I’d be interested in registering to do an MV Award.  Because I was volunteering in Hamilton, this was dealt with by the Volunteer Centre in South Lanarkshire.  I looked at their website and got more information about it and I signed up – the whole process was very easy and there was no extra hassle involved. I got presented with my 200 certificate at a ceremony organised by the Volunteer Centre in South Lanarkshire in October 2008.   I really enjoyed the event and was really surprised at the variety of volunteering young people were getting involved in.  It had a real feel good factor about it. We use the Volunteer Centre premises for training sometimes as well.  I like the way you can get any additional information and support from them on the website.

Witness Service treats their volunteers very well.  There are regular social events and staff meetings we attend.  There is an initial 5-day training programme and ongoing support from the Coordinator.  You can also receive certificates of 5 or 10 years for service.  We also get opportunities to take more specialist training, like dealing with people with addictions, or with witnesses to more serious crimes that go to the high court, like cases of abuse.  We also receive a regular magazine form Victim Support.  It’s a good organisation and I feel valued as a volunteer.  I don’t think the nature of the work would lend itself to rely solely on paid staff – sometimes I finish at 11.30am and sometimes I’m here until 3pm – it just depends on the court schedule.  There’s a very good relationship between the paid staff and the volunteers – I feel we’re all part of the same organisation and we work well together