Side by Side Court Volunteer (Maidstone Combined Court with occasional site visits to HMP Elmley or HMP Rochester)

Volunteering as a Side by Side Project Volunteer

You’ll be offering much needed practical and emotional support, including providing information and guidance to families and/or friends who have a loved one going on trial or being sentenced. No two shifts will be the same, and the role will open your eyes to situations that you may never have encountered before.

Why volunteer with Pact?

Pact was founded more than 125 years ago by volunteers. True to our roots, volunteers continue to play a key role in helping us provide our services in courts, prisons and communities across England and Wales.

We hope that you make the decision to come join us and help us get one step closer to a society that understands justice as a process of restoration and healing for all.

At Pact we believe in the unique dignity of every human being. We are an inclusive, welcoming organisation, with a diverse workforce of people who share our core values. We welcome applications from people from all sectors of our diverse communities and all backgrounds, including people who have been affected by imprisonment (appointment to post may be subject to a risk assessment).

What happens next?

After you’ve filled in an application, we will invite you for an interview at the earliest convenient date for you and your prospective manager. This is an opportunity for us to find out a bit more about you and your motivations for volunteering and for you to find out more about Pact and the role you’ve applied for to make sure it’s what you expected! Where possible, we will conduct these interviews on site and in person, so you can get a feeling of the working environment and the commute.

If successful at interview, you will then be required to complete our background checks, which will include references. You will also be required to complete our mandatory online training (approx. 10-12 hours) before being able to start the role (please see the role profile for more information about the training).

Once all the checks and training have been completed, you will attend a shadowing day with the service manager, to show you exactly what to expect when you’re working in the courts. You will also have training at one of the local prisons to ensure you understand more about the intake process, booking visits, and other information that will be helpful to the families you support.

You will also be supported by your line manager throughout, who will be on-site once a week.

Suggested Involvement

Because of the recruitment process, which can take several weeks, Pact expects you will commit to volunteering with us for a minimum of 1 shift a week (half or full day) for at least 6 months from when you start.

For more information about this role, please download the full role profile on the right-hand side of this page.