OCT 2026
Meet our Senior Practitioners! You may have spotted some new titles around Communicourt this year! Our Senior Practitioners (SPs) will be supporting both the service delivery managers and practitioners in terms of quality, skills development, training and projects. Their knowledge and experience will be vital in continuously improving how we do things at Communicourt, and I know they already have some great ideas. Read on to get to know them a little better…
Anna PLYMOUTH Hi everyone, you’ve probably all seen me in the WhatsApp chats by now but I’m Anna and I started at Communicourt almost 6 years ago (time flies and all that). Prior to being at Communicourt I studied Psychology at Swansea University – I then worked for the NHS on the 111 line and then as an analyst (very boring)! I grew up in Bristol, but I now live in Plymouth, Devon so I spend a lot of time after work on the beach. If you’re ever down this way give me a shout and I’ll show you around! As an SP, I’m most looking forward to getting to know more of my colleagues and helping everyone get to know each other too! One thing colleagues might not know about me: my Granddad became a magistrate after he retired and was the Chairman of the National Association of Prison Visitors (Princess Anne is patron and she still sends him a Christmas card every year!) Perhaps his stories explained why I ended up having an interest in the justice system myself!
Emma SOUTH LONDON Hi everyone, I’m Emma! I live in south London and have been at Communicourt for 4 years. Before CC, I went to the University of Birmingham to study social policy and after graduating, worked in Spain (Huelva and Madrid) for a couple of years teaching English in a primary school. I’m excited to be a Senior Practitioner, and what I’m most looking forward to is getting to know everyone in the company a bit more. Feel free to give me a call if you ever have a question! I’m also a mental health first aider so you can also give me a call if you’re feeling wobbly for whatever reason.
Patrick Kirwan NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE Background: I studied Speech & Language Sciences at Newcastle University, graduating as an SLT in 2014. When I joined Communicourt the following year, it was then in its baby-blue infancy: a group of twenty SLTs working almost exclusively with defendants in crown court trials – and, back then, we trained crown court judges too (not me, I was still wet behind the ears). The role: The Senior Practitioner role was only created this Spring, but one of its perks (apart from the grand title) is that it offers more opportunities for working as part of team than is typically the case in our job. We meet regularly as a group and work together on projects intended to refine and improve the intermediary service (more fun than it sounds). Something you might not know about me: I’m a Football Association referee (even less fun than it sounds).
Emily RUGBY I’m Emily! I live in Rugby and have been working as an intermediary for nearly six years, after completing my degree in Speech and Language Therapy. I’m really excited to get started in my new role as a Senior Practitioner and can’t wait to get to know people better and be able to offer extra support to intermediaries. I’ve also really enjoyed training the new cohorts and am looking forward to continuing this in the future. Something people may not know about me is that I absolutely love all things musicals! Whenever I’m staying in a hotel in London for work, I try to see at least one show. So, if anyone ever wants to chat about musicals, I’m definitely your person!
Aleks BIRMINGHAM Hi, my name is Aleksandra, although most people across Communicourt know me as ‘Aleks’, so please feel free to call me that too! I am based in Birmingham. I’ve been part of Communicourt for a very long time, so I’m really excited to put all that experience to good use in my new role as an SP, while also helping developing intermediaries grow into excellent professionals. I am looking forward to connecting with more of you and getting to know you better. A little something you might not know about me is that I’m a huge foodie and find a lot of joy in discovering and enjoying great food. I do, however, draw the line at shellfish and pretty much any seafood that isn’t fish 🥴!
Bradley MIDDLESBROUGH Hi everyone, I’m Bradley Dunn, and I’m based in Middlesbrough in the North East. I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. The aspect of my new role that I’m most looking forward to is supporting our new starters through their training and competencies. Outside of work, I’m a big fan of live music, with favourite gigs including Fatboy Slim, Mika, Vengaboys, and McFly!
Vicki SOUTH LONDON Hi, I’m Vicki and I’m based in South London. I have a background in Psychology and I previously worked for the witness service in a magistrates court and then in a mental health hospital as a health care assistant. I have been at Communicourt for 7.5 years and I have recently really enjoyed being involved in training (many of this year’s cohorts will remember me from some of their training sessions in glamorous Stevenage!). My fun fact is that I also did some work experience with the forensics department at the Met when I was in Year 10. It was an interesting experience, but staring at fingerprints on a computer screen for a few days was enough to make me realise I wanted to do something else with my career!
Chloe I have a psychology background and previously worked on an acute adult mental health ward. I enjoy helping others, sharing experiences and engaging with other colleagues as part of my SP role! One thing colleagues may not know about me is that I love to travel and try to cram in as many trips as my bank account will allow 🙂
NOTICES MEET THE SPS DROP-INS
PEER SUPPORT DROP-INS
Want to say hello, ask a question or just put
Our new remote drop-ins are a relaxed,
faces to names? Our Senior Practitioners are
confidential space to debrief, offload, swap
hosting informal online drop-ins on Teams –
strategies and celebrate the wins with
come along to either (or both!).
colleagues who understand the role.
Tuesday 20th October · 6–7pm Join on Microsoft Teams
Fortnightly on Teams – log 45 mins on your timesheet
Meeting ID: 346 884 272 391 840 6
Facilitated by an SP, overseen by an SDM
Passcode: dJ2eo6st
No need to attend every session – join whenever it suits
Wednesday 28th October · 6–7pm Join on Microsoft Teams Meeting ID: 395 780 132 439 755 7 Passcode: PF6Yv6P8
To attend, email Liz at elizabeth.moss@communicourt.co.uk
COMMS TEAM CHANGES Following Rory’s farewell last month, internal communications have now been taken over by Chris Jacob and Lucy Woodier, who are overseeing the communications@communicourt.co.uk inbox. If you have news, photos or ideas for future newsletters, they’re the people to contact!
Chris Jacob
Lucy Woodier
Chris is RCI Group Communications Manager and will be supporting you for all things comms! Do say hello 🙂
Lucy is RCI Brand and Content Manager and works closely across all businesses. Say hello when you get a moment!
RE-INTRODUCING OUR FINANCE TEAM Pam FINANCE TEAM Hi, I’m Pam in the Finance team. I have been with the company for 8 years and have loved every minute of it. I’ve been through lots of changes over the years and miraculously still enjoy my role – this is helped by having a great team to work alongside. I really should be thinking of retirement but can’t bear the thought of it! As a team we try to keep on top of invoicing and most things financial, including expenses, timesheets, bank reconciliation, accounts receivable and more. Part of my role includes debt collection, which can be challenging at times, but if I get results it’s okay by me. We often have to chase for expenses and timesheets, as without these we cannot successfully complete invoices – and we only have until the 2nd day of each month to complete the work for the previous month. Not completing these in a timely manner can then impact the end of month accounts, so if we pester you for them, it’s always for a very good reason!
TRAINING & RECRUITMENT We’ve been busy interviewing for a November cohort and have 8 intermediaries starting their training on 9th November. We’re going to start recruiting again for January, so watch this space!
Congratulations to Noor Etienne-Richards who has completed her competencies! Well done Noor!
COMMUNICOURT UPDATES New starters will soon get a sneak peek of the intermediary role before they even begin training, thanks to some star turns from our very own colleagues…
LIGHTS, CAMERA, INTERMEDIARIES! We had a lot of fun earlier this month coming together to film some new content for our initial training programme. We hired one of the court rooms at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham and spent the day filming scenes such as a Ground Rules Hearing, an intermediary assisting in evidence and an intermediary assisting a service user in real-time, followed by a couple of well-deserved drinks at the Pitcher & Piano after. These videos will be shown to new starters as part of their welcome to Communicourt, so they have a flavour of the role before they start training. This will help to streamline and improve training and get new starters even more confident with those core intermediary skills right from the start. The videographer said, “I’m used to a good shoot, but this one was really great, a lot of fun and I think we got some ace material as well” and Liz, Tegan and I were blown away with everyone’s enthusiasm and commitment to their acting roles. A big thank you to Amy, Brad, Emma, Milosz, Nina, Keira, Emily, Gina, Michael and Anna for attending and playing a role, and also to Joseph, Vicki, Matt and Noor for creating the scripts.
OUT & ABOUT UNIT FAMILY LAW CONFERENCE This month, Beth, Bradley and Amy attended the UNIT Family Law Conference supported by Tegan. Beth was part of the ‘Vulnerability, Neurodiversity and Compassion’ panel and spoke about how Communicourt can support service users and what barristers and legal professionals can do to make their clients’ time easier when going through the court system.
UPCOMING EVENTS Look out for the team at these upcoming events – if you’re attending too, come and say hello!
14TH OCTOBER
21ST OCTOBER
6TH NOVEMBER
Local Family Justice Board Conference
Custody Conference 2026
YRES Conference
Milton Keynes
London
Northampton
Got news, photos or a shout-out for next month? Send it to communications@communicourt.co.uk!