Going through court can be complex and intimidating. We spoke to Mark, who used our services, about how he felt about the support he received. How did you feel before meeting with Support Through Court? I hadn’t heard of your service before, not until I was submitting an application to go to court. I found the process confusing. It didn’t come with a lot of guidance, so I began Googling to find out what to do. Whilst I was searching, I found Support Through Court. I understood I could have a call and someone would help me find out what to do next, which was when I arranged the appointment. I spoke to a volunteer at that point. What sort of help did you get? It was a couple of different things. The volunteer explained to me more around the type of form I needed to make my claim. I was going to get a 15 minute hearing, which they were able to talk through with me. He gave me some information about what to do and how to prepare for that session. He helped me think about preparing myself and presenting my point of view – what I wanted to do and what I believed to be the appropriate course of action. How did this help? The volunteer definitely helped to reassure me. I didn’t find going to court straightforward. Once the claim was raised and I was facing this big scary process, I felt I didn’t understand as much as I should understand. It’s not the fault of the court but I wasn’t confident about what I was faced with. Being able to talk to somebody was really reassuring. It was good to know a bit more about what I could do next, thinking about positive actions going forward. Facing the legal system as a litigant in person can be intimidating. This service is vital in helping individuals who are not legal experts to get the help they need to access the justice system. |