Welcome Pack Jan 24

Welcome pack

www.communicourt.co.uk

Welcome

Congratulations on your new role, I am delighted you are joining the Communicourt team.

Our intermediaries provide support to people with communication difficulties who are facing legal proceedings. We believe everyone should have fair access to justice and we want to reach as many people as we can.

As you wait to start our Intermediary Development Programme, we wanted to share some more information with you about what to expect, and what goes on behind the scenes at Communicourt.

In this pack you'll find some information about the training process, some ideas for pre-reading (if you can't wait to get started!), our values as an organisation and a slice of life at Communicourt. From what inspired our intermediaries to get into the role, to LGBTQ+ intermediary voices, there's lots to explore!

The work of an intermediary can be both challenging and very rewarding.

Each day can bring a new experience, with a new service user in a brand new setting. This makes our community especially important. Connecting through WhatsApp, email, Teams, recognition and calls, you'll always have the support of your team leader, mentor and colleagues.

"We believe everyone should have fair access to justice, and we want to reach as many people as we can" We are an expanding company with fantastic opportunities for progression, and we're really excited for your journey to begin!

William Scrimshire Managing Director

Contents Our purpose

04

Our values

05

Your new role

10

Training programme

11

What we offer

12

Who is who

13

Volunteering

18

Learning and development

19

What our staff say

20

What is it like to work with an intermediary?

21

What to wear

22

Inside Communicourt

24

Bonus reading

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Our purpose We are the largest His Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS)

Managed and Approved Provider of court intermediaries in England and Wales. We are appointed by criminal and family courts to assist service users with communication difficulties, both before and during their proceedings.

Our role is impartial and our duty is to the court. We carry out detailed

assessments to understand any provisions or adaptations that can be made

to help someone participate in legal proceedings. We help them to understand their case, what their options are, and how to give their evidence.

The people we support have a wide range of communication differences and

difficulties, which may relate to a learning

disability, mental health condition, Autism, ADHD, brain injury or a stroke (among

other conditions). They can be any age,

from 10 years upwards, but the majority of our service users are 18-30 years old.

How we started Communicourt was founded in 2011 by Naomi Mason, who was working in the

courts as a Registered Intermediary. Naomi realised people facing legal

proceedings often needed as much communication support as the victim and witnesses in court. She was shocked by the number of defendants and

respondents with communication difficulties who were given no support to

understand or take part in their court cases. She wanted to redress the balance and started Communicourt from her living room with just one intermediary.

William Scrimshire, took over as Managing Director in 2020 and shares Naomi’s

passion for enabling fair access to justice. Communicourt now has more than 100 full time intermediaries working in family and criminal courts across England and Wales, and 20 colleagues working at Head Office in Birmingham. Communicourt

is also part of The RCI Group, an ethical family of businesses supporting people in moments of crisis.

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Our values Diversity is:

what makes each of us unique about recognising, respecting, and valuing differences based on ethnicity, gender, age, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, background, life experience and belief having an equal seat at the table and a voice within Communicourt feeling comfortable, whatever your differences being part of a community Knowing that the organisation won’t always get it right but committing to learning and improving

How do we show this? we listen we are open minded and non-judgmental we call out discrimination we make a conscious effort to have a diverse workforce we celebrate our own stories and the stories of others we recognise individuality and take a person-centred approach to supporting people we treat everyone equally we learn about people’s differences through CPD, blogs, Employee Forum, and Diversity Ambassadors to broaden our understanding we reflect and continuously strive to do better we encourage open conversations

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Our values Respect is:

being honest and transparent recognising that how people receive information is as important as how we deliver it setting our own boundaries and honouring other people’s boundaries everyone having the opportunity to change and develop listening and hearing being open to other ways of thinking, feeling and doing recognising that everyone has different priorities

How do we show this? we respond to each other we are considerate of other’s time we understand that everybody sees things differently we recognise people’s skills and experiences are different to our own we know that some people may be better at things than we are we make the best decision at the time with the information available we recognise that sometimes we are the decision maker and sometimes we are not we empower people with personal experience or particular expertise at all levels of the organisation we listen to other people’s opinions even if we don’t agree with them we trust each other to act in everyone’s best interests

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Our values

Collaboration is: being patient with each other working towards a shared goal sharing our knowledge, skills, resources and ideas with each other going the extra mile when you can, to get a difficult job done supporting and coaching others, so that we all learn together working together to solve a problem listening to each other being aware of and utilising each other’s strengths asking for help when we need it

How do we show this? we give each other time we share information and resources we turn up prepared and on time we go the extra mile to make sure our colleagues are fully prepared we do what we say we are going to do we are open and honest about what we can’t do we support legal professionals to develop their skills we make efforts to build rapport with everyone we work with we understand the boundaries and limitations of our role, and work within them we find opportunities to peer review each other's work we provide constructive feedback

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Our values Innovation is: experimenting with different ways of doing things being willing to get it wrong learning from our experiences reacting to the individual and changing needs of the people we work with reflecting on what works and what doesn’t embracing change creative problem solving sometimes keeping it simple

How do we show this? we try things even when they might not always work we learn from mistakes we reflect - and build on those reflections we have another go we adapt what we do for the person we are working with we do not have a set way of doing things we make time and space for creativity we share our good ideas, and look out for fresh ideas from others we are always learning through CPD and peer-support – and seek to implement our learning.

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Our values Courage is: being honest with each other asking for help knowing when to challenge admitting you don’t always know the answer going outside your comfort zone, even when you feel nervous sharing your story setting boundaries and sticking to them apologising when you make mistakes saying no sometimes saying when you are uncomfortable raising your concerns standing up for what you feel is right

How do we show this? we give and accept constructive feedback we ask questions we seek support and ask for help we give support to colleagues who are facing difficult situations we take accountability for our actions we say sorry when we get it wrong we listen and respect each other’s boundaries we challenge when we don’t think something is right we consider the most appropriate way to raise our concerns we trust our own skills and abilities

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Your new role

When you start your new role, you will be part of a cohort of new colleagues. You will work through our Intermediary Training Programme, which takes 6-9 months and is accredited by NCFE.

Your training plan After your initial two week intensive onsite training in Birmingham, you will be working in the courts and fully supported by your Team Leader and colleagues.

Our work is dictated and timetabled by the courts and many of our appointments are requested at the last minute. This means you may be required to travel extensively at short notice to meet the needs of the service.

You may also be required to stay in hotels on occasion or, in very rare cases, travel on a Sunday or Bank Holiday Monday to attend a court hearing scheduled for the following day.

Communicourt is committed to colleague wellbeing and the Bookings Team checks diaries to make sure the workload is fairly distributed. So, if you are assigned to a case that involves lots of travel or hotel stays, the Bookings Team will prioritise you for a lighter caseload in subsequent weeks. We also provide a disturbance allowance to offset the impact of overnight stays.

Wellbeing and support During your training (and beyond) the Communicourt team work hard to support your wellbeing. You will have regular clinical supervisions with your Team Leader, and your Mentor will also be on hand when you need support or advice. Although you are working independently, you are never on your own. You are part of a wide network of peers who can offer advice and assistance when you need it.

During your first week of training, you will be given a laptop, company mobile phone and a Pleo card for you to use for travel and subsistence expenses.

Your working week averages at 40 hours including travel, and your working day begins when you leave your home. All intermediaries work those hours flexibly from 6am until 10pm, according to the needs of the service and travel arrangements. When you are not based in court or working on site, you will be working from home.

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Our training programme Initial training

Month 1

Our programme begins with 8 days at our Birmingham Training Centre. After this, you will begin your work as a court intermediary.

Initial training competencies covering knowledge of trial process, company policies, and courts and the law

Month 2

Start reflections for court competencies

Communication training

(Non Speech and Language Therapy graduates only) This is a 4 day course which takes place at our Birmingham Training Centre

Month 3

Focus on completing court competencies and assessment training

Month 4

Work with mentors and buddies to prepare for evaluations

Month 5

Competencies 1 and 2 signed off. Once completed, you will attend the next scheduled assessment training (3 days).

Month 6-9

Completion of assessment competencies and target setting meeting

All competencies completed, you will now work with your team leader to further develop your skills and work your way up our pay scale. Soon you will also be eligible to apply for some of our senior roles, too.

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What we offer

Excellent opportunities for career progression - many of our intermediaries go on to one of our leadership roles

Staff benefits package including retail discounts and healthcare services Many opportunities for Continuous Professional Development (CPD), including Team Days (travel reimbursed and food provided), Twilight Training sessions (online), Booster Sessions (online, for new

intermediaries), the Knowledge Hub (online resource bank)and Book Club (online)

Regular supervision sessions, with meaningful target-setting to support your development

Opportunity to complete Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy (RCSLT) competencies (SLT graduates only)

Involvement in varied projects, including participation in the Communicourt podcast, and working groups which steer the development of our practice as an organisation

External training opportunities e.g. Leadership Skills Development Rest days or overtime for intermediaries who exceed their working hours Contribute to our culture. You can join a range of groups, including the Employee Forum (amplifying and actioning staff views), Diversity Ambassadors and the Neurodiversity Network

Free access to a GP helpline and counselling services. You can speak to a GP online or get mental health support Other healthcare benefits including: - up to £60 on sight tests, glasses, and contact lenses - up to £60 for dental work(private or NHS) - up to £50 for chiropody

- up to £160 for professional therapy

- up to £200 on specialist consultations and tests - up to £80 for health screening

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Who is who?

Senior leadership team Billy Scrimshire

Lucy Osmond

Managing Director Billy is Communicourt's managing director. He is responsible for the company as a whole.

Lead Practitioner Lucy has oversight of our intermediary service. She's also our 'expert advisor' on all things intermediary and communication.

Sarah Smith

John Moroney

Chief of Staff Sarah leads the Bookings Team and works to improve processes within the organisation.

Head of Finance and Commercial John oversees the Finance Team and makes sure all of our processes are accurate and fit for purpose.

Kelly Harrison

Sharon Murphy

Head of Communications and Marketing Kelly leads on internal and external communications and marketing activity, including website, social media, podcasts and the Access Brief.

Head of Talent and Development Sharon leads on the attraction and recruitment of talent and she also develops our existing staff, through engagement and training.

Deputy Lead Practitioner Jodie Burden Assistant Lead Practitioner Jodie supports Lucy in overseeing the intermediary service, and deputises for Lucy when needed.

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Finance team (Birmingham office) Lyndsay Trentham Finance Supervisor

Pam Evans Finance Coordinator

Kayleigh Salt Finance Coordinator

Ramanjot Kaur Finance Coordinator

Jess Green Finance Coordinator

Susan Mahay Client Relationship Manager

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Team Leaders

Jo Wilson Team Leader

Liz Moss Team Leader

Patrick Kirwan Team Leader

Victoria Cobb Team Leader

Rachel Hipgrave

Team Leader

Tanya Crumpler

Team Leader

Eleanor Steel

Rebecca Tolan

Victoria Petrides

Florence RobertsBowman

Team Leader

Team Leader

Team Leader

Team Leader

Charlotte Martindale Team Leader

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Mentors

Chloe Price

Elisha Dockerty

Mentor

Mentor

Georgina Bradley Mentor

Mollie Cager Mentor

Myah Whimpanny Mentor

Lia Swadkins Mentor

Alex Thomson

Rachel Preston

Mentor

Mentor

Heather Boyne

Josh Firkins

Mentor

Mentor

Georgia Palaiochoriti Mentor

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Paid volunteering work All Communicourt staff are entitled to up to two paid days every 12 months to spend time working as a volunteer or on a charity project. Here are some of the things our team have been up to...

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Learning and development Team Days We hold four mandatory Team Days per year. These events are important opportunities to meet with colleagues in person, come together as an organisation and share learning. Team Days take place on Saturdays and are held in Birmingham. All expenses for travel and (necessary) hotels are covered The structure of each Team Day varies, but typically includes group activities, lunch, a LOVE Awards presentation and a talk from a guest speaker. Previous speakers have included Louise Tickle (journalist and member of The Transparency Project) and Andi Brierly (a care leaver with lived experience of the Criminal Justice System).

Twilight Training Evening training sessions are held remotely, approximately four times per year.

They are mandatory for all new intermediaries, but all intermediaries are strongly encouraged to attend and contribute. These sessions are part of our Continued Professional Development and are typically led by our colleagues.

Recent sessions have focussed on simplifying criminal court concepts, adaptations and recommendations for service users with vision, hearing or mobility difficulties, and strategies to assist service users with expressive difficulties.

Remote Activities A number of other activities take place remotely, typically on weekdays between 6-8pm (when intermediaries are not in court). These include: Group Reflection Sessions (mandatory meetings with your team to connect, share important updates and share learning on topics of your choice - typically these sessions last 45-60 minutes and are held bimonthly) Book(ish) Club (an optional monthly session, where Communicourters discuss a book, podcast, video or resource voted on communally.

Yoga classes (optional free sessions, currently held around once a month)

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What do our staff say?

In our recent Staff Survey, we asked colleagues what motivates them at work:

"Making the court process more accessible for the people we work with" "Knowing I am making a difference"

"Having a purpose, a need to help people" "Training and development"

"Constant development"

"Personal flexibility and independence"

"To make a positive impact on a person's life" "There is a feeling of unity within the company, which is lovely considering the majority are remote workers.

"Working with friendly barristers and solicitors that appreciate the job you are doing" "Helping the service user to participate effectively"

"Being part of a successful business" "Making a difference, feeling values, and being listened to" "Utilising my degree" "Opportunities to progress to roles with more responsibility" "Helping others and delivering a high quality service"

"Intermediaries live Communicourt's values everyday, going into court, assisting service users, working with other legal representatives and having the courage to stand up in court and advocate for changes to ensure service users are able to participate to the best they can."

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What is it like ... to work with an intermediary?

We spoke to a service user who was assisted by a Communicourt intermediary during legal proceedings.

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Dress code Deciding what to wear for your first court appointments can be a bit daunting.

Here are some guidelines and examples that may help. While undertaking professional duties, you are representing Communicourt. As such, we ask that you dress professionally. However, we also note that every person is different and want our intermediaries to feel comfortable. If you are unsure about the appropriateness of attire, please reach out to your team leader or mentor, who will be happy to help and advise.

At court Criminal court (magistrates or Crown) is the most formal setting we work in. In this setting, we recommend wearing a shirt, smart trousers, a smart skirt or smart dress, with a blazer or suit jacket. You may choose to wear a tie, but some intermediaries do not (some wear a tie to gain confidence from making a more formal impression).

Keep in mind that court heating systems are notoriously bad. Some courts will be very cold, others very hot. You may wish to wear layered clothing to combat this!

Please wear formal shoes (e.g., brogues or smart pump shoes), but remember, you might be running around a court building all day, so make sure you are wearing comfortable footwear! Some intermediaries favour heels, particularly at Crown court, which they find to be confidence-boosting, however others favour flat shoes for comfort and practicality.

Clothing to avoid: Jeans, trainers, jogging bottoms, cropped tops, low-cut necklines, t-shirts, hoodies.

In family court, at conferences at solicitors offices and during assessments, the setting is likely to be slightly less formal than at a criminal trial. Here you may wish to wear a smart top and trousers/skirt. Keep in mind that this is still a professional setting, so casual clothing (like jeans and trainers) should be avoided.

At Communicourt If you are attending a Team Day or Communicourt training, things are more relaxed. It’s important that you feel comfortable at training. You are welcome to wear smart jeans and a jumper, for example, but avoid tracksuits or ripped jeans. Aim for ‘smart casual’.

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Clothing examples Criminal court

Family court, conferences, assessments

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Inside

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Inside Communicourt Although we work remotely, the Communicourt team is a connected and supportive community. We connect through WhatsApp groups and other channels to foster a diverse and vibrant network of intermediaries and admin staff.

From a social recognition wall where we celebrate the achievements of colleagues, to remote yoga classes and book clubs, there's a lot that brings us together! Here's a little snapshot of Communicourt behind the scenes...

From the recognition wall...

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LOVE Awards At our quarterly Team Days, we celebrate the Living Our Values Everyday (LOVE) Awards. We receive dozens of nominations each quarter, submitted by staff, highlighting the work their colleagues do to uphold each of our values.

SOME OF OUR PREVIOUS WINNERS: Our Courage award went to Rebecca Steele for her work with an unrepresented service user at an employment tribunal. Rebecca made it really clear what our role was, and what it was not, and ensured she researched both aspects thoroughly.

This was important as intermediaries are not often involved in employment tribunals.

As a result it was clear to the judge that it would be useful for the service user to have legal representation at the next hearing. This was all the more impressive because it was Rebecca’s first experience of a full Ground Rules Hearing and she had no barrister to fall back on!

Our Respect award goes to Carla Millington for her commitment to supporting a service user. We had a last minute booking for a hearing and the solicitors were quite upset and urgently needed an intermediary. Carla dropped everything to travel to the court and put the service user first.

The Booking team read the report out to her over the phone while she was travelling, so she was fully prepared when she arrived.

The Diversity award went to Victoria Petrides, who stepped up to lead diversity work at Communicourt. She didn't have to take it on, and she has approached it with such enthusiasm and is already doing sterling work to get the Diversity Ambassadors set up.

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Our Innovation award goes to Chantelle Broughton for a hearing she attended with an unpresented service user. She was in a prehearing conference with a service user and the guardian's barrister. The service user wanted to convey to the court that he wanted another fact finding to happen, as he thought it was unfair due to his communication difficulties.

Chantelle assisted by asking the service user prompt questions to understand why he wished for this to happen, and they wrote down every answer down on a post it note.

Then when in court the service user put these post it notes in front of him. When the judge asked him why he thought the previous fact finding was unfair the service user used these notes to tell the judge all the reasons he struggled.

The guardian's barrister commended Chantelle for this strategy and stated that during the fact finding hearing he was almost mute and struggled to express himself, and today was "like a new person".

Our Collaboration award goes to Lauren Ford for her work in the Bookings Team.

Lauren joined Communicourt in December and has taken the role in her stride. She has worked tirelessly to make sure the team are up to date with KPIs. She has worked collaboratively to help put structures in place to help the team to streamline processes such as final listings, response times to specific admin in boxes, admin meetings etc.. and has worked closely with team members to train them up on the next development area such as referrals.

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From the Communicourt blog The Communicourt blog (in the News and Views section of our website) is a space to share Communicourt updates, to raise awareness of key issues impacting our work and service uses, and to give information that will improve the practice of legal professionals working with people who have communication differences and difficulties. All Communicourt staff, at all levels of experience, are encouraged to contribute blogs, if they would like to do so.

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From the Communicourt blog

What inspired me...

... to become an intermediary

GEORGINA'S STORY My younger brother has autism and I have been his ‘intermediary’ since I was five years old.

Autism is a type of developmental disorder that affects how a person communicates and interacts with the world. For my brother, this world felt like living in a simulation. He didn’t start speaking until he was over four years old.

My mother has always told me that I continually found a way to ‘understand’ my brother despite his difficulties.

At university I studied psychology and learning about the misconceptions that the public had about autism led me to writing a university paper entitled ‘Autism and Police Interviewing’. The paper explored the different language and social communication difficulties which autistic people can experience. These difficulties can make it challenging to obtain relevant information from them in a standard police interview. I found that the more I looked into autism, the angrier it made me that autistic people were being unfairly criminalised and punished for their atypical understanding in police interviews and in court.

However, it was not until my third year at university that I learnt about intermediaries and their role. It was clear to me that my brother would need an intermediary if he ever found himself in trouble. Although my brother is not a child, I knew that his autistic characteristics and atypical understanding would mean he would struggle in cross-examination, and I knew he would not understand how the court system works.

One of my close friends from university started working for Communicourt after we graduated, and I learned about all the wonderful things she was doing to make a difference to many vulnerable people in the legal system. I decided to take a leap of faith – and the rest is history.

Now I work with people with communications difficulties just like my brother every day, using many of the skills I developed in childhood. I am proud of the difference that I am making, and that I get to be a part of what is one of the most stressful and demanding moments in their lives. I am proud of the work that Communicourt do every day, and above all, I am proud of what my brother has been teaching me all my life.

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From the Accessing Justice podcast Each year our intermediaries work to produce Accessing Justice podcast episodes exploring our role and the needs of court users with communication difficulties, often interviewing experts from relevant fields. In 2022-23 the theme was 'Hidden Disabilities'.

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From the staff blog (Communicate)

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) 17th May is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia (IDAHOBIT). IDAHOBIT is an annual worldwide celebration of sexual and gender diversities and this year the theme is "TOGETHER ALWAYS: UNITED IN DIVERSITY." This day is all about amplifying LGBTQ+ voices, to celebrate diversity and to recognise the challenges which LGBTQ+ people still face around the world, and closer to home.

This year, some of our LGBTQ+ colleagues have shared their experiences and stories of intermediary life. At the end of the blog, you’ll also find some resources for learning more about LGBTQ+ issues and struggles around the world, recommended by the IDAHOBIT team.

COMMUNICOURT LGBTQ+ VOICES: SOPHIE B Tell us a bit about you: I am the stereotypical gay girlie that lives with her partner (Kirsty) and her dog (Willow). I am OBSESSED with football and anyone that doesn’t support Aston Villa clearly has no footballing taste. Fun fact: I am a black belt in martial arts and so is half my family. Most families bond eating a hearty meal at the kitchen table, mine bonded by grappling each other and fighting with wooden sticks and swords.

My better half and I have been together 10 years and engaged since January. All our time is currently consumed by wedding planning. I’m most looking forward to the cake testing and the sun tan! (getting married in Malta ).

😊

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Tell us about your intermediary journey: I have been an intermediary for just over 2 years! I was a complete and utter nervous wreck when I joined. I love the job. I love meeting new people and hearing people’s stories. I like knowing that we play a role in what is most likely one of the most significant moments in a person’s life. Most importantly, I like knowing that as an intermediary you have helped make that significant moment just that wee bit less daunting for an individual.

Does your identity impact your role?

It doesn’t impact my role per se, because I never openly identify as gay with any service user. And I never would, unless they had specifically said something that I could ascertain meant they were accepting. I’ve never in my two years experienced this type of certainty yet. I have never told a service user that I was gay. I have told barristers in conversations but never when service users are present. This is because it makes no odds to me whether I have a rapport with a service user’s barrister. I don’t care if a barrister has homophobic thoughts, I don’t need a barrister to like me. But the job of an intermediary is a lot easier if your service user likes you, if they trust you and if you feel relatable to them.

I suppose, if anything, it impacts my authenticity, but me being my authentic self is of no benefit to the service user, particularly if that service user is homophobic.

To be relatable, I have even gone as far as saying I have a boyfriend at home! Which at the time I have came home to Kirsty and laughed about, but in hindsight that’s a bit sad. It’s the norm though unfortunately, to create a persona that others wont be offended by.

What would you tell other LGBTQ+ people who are interested in the role?

I would tell other LGBTQ+ people that Communicourt internally is the best company I have worked for in terms of diversity and inclusivity. Hands down! (and no Billy has not paid me to say that!). Blogs like this are just one example of how accepting and supportive Communicourt is! It is freeing to be able to be authentic and to be asked to write about being gay and having a fiancé (that word makes me cringe, but I had to squeeze it in).

There is a camaraderie amongst our LGBTQ+ colleagues that I love and feel a genuine part of.

Having such a spotlight on the LGBTQ+ community just ensures you feel seen and appreciated. I am sure there were lots of other LGBTQ+ folks in many jobs I have worked in, but I wouldn’t know because these kinds of discussions sadly never took place and the want and drive to highlight injustices just wasn’t there. I think the fact that our company is so inclusive balances out the fact that you may feel the need to be more reserved in the professional court environment. You have to take the good with the bad! It’s progress for sure and I am all for that.

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COMMUNICOURT LGBTQ+ VOICES: TESS Tell us a bit about you: I identify as a bisexual woman. I'm bilingual (English & French) and on the way to becoming trilingual (Spanish)! I'm also an obsessed traveller - I have visited close to 30 counties and more trips are booked!

My ideal day is a wander through charity and bookshops. I’m very active, especially in the outdoors. Our family recently got a vizsla puppy who takes over my blank days from home! I’m a speech and language therapy graduate passionate about working in the justice system, mental health, prisons, and with the homeless.

Tell us about your intermediary journey: I graduated in speech and language therapy in 2021 and worked in a mental health hospital for 6 months before taking almost a year mental health break.

I’ve known and been interested in working for Communicourt since my 1st year at university and three years later here I am!

Does your identity impact your role?

Not really. I might approach rapport building in a different way if I’ve read or seen that a service user has particular views. When I did my training at Communicourt, the rainbow lanyard was the only one on offer. Even through rainbow symbolism is seen almost everywhere, I still found that I was hesitant to wear it before meeting service users to avoid any potentially negative interactions from the onset.

What would you tell other LGBTQ+ people who are interested in the role?

In my experience, everyone at Communicourt has been super welcoming and easy to chat to.

I remember in my training and first team day; I felt a lot more comfortable openly using he & she pronouns when talking about relationships (compared to meeting new people in everyday life) and was never made to feel like there was judgement or negativity towards that. Being a part of the Diversity Ambassador group has helped me to see that the company is very open and diverse, and introduced me to other queer intermediaries!

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Social Media TWITTER: @COMMUNICOURT

INSTAGRAM: @COMMUNICOURT_LTD

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Extra reading Can't wait to get stuck in? Here's a reading (and listening) list full of information and ideas that might be helpful in the intermediary role. This reading is completely optional, and included purely for your own interest.

The Advocate's Gateway Toolkits A collection of guides developed for legal professionals working with court users identified as vulnerable under Practice Direction 33A. Law & Guidance Podcast (episode on intermediaries) Featuring Dr Penny Cooper, who was at the forefront of the implementation of intermediary schemes in England and Wales.

Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System (Criminal Justice Joint Inspections, 2021 ) Law Pod (episode on Interim Care Orders for Newborns) A podcast hosted by family law barristers. This episode will introduce some of the terminology and situations you may encounter in care proceedings (which will be introduced and explained at your initial training).

Avoiding Ableist Language: Suggestions for Autism Researchers (BottemaBeutel et al, 2021) A discussion around ableist language and how to avoid it, when writing about and researching autism.

Autism & Trauma - A Neurodiversity-affirming Guide for Parents & Professionals A brilliant resource from Spectrum Gaming, including particularly helpful guidance on working with someone experiencing a 'meltdown'.

Interact-ABI-lity (Communication Lab, University of Sydney) Free online training for professionals working with someone who has a brain injury. The full course takes around 2 hours, but there are smaller modules you can dip into.

Impact of DLD on Mock Jury Perceptions (RCSLT Sound Waves) Podcast unpicking recent findings from research exploring the impact of Developmental Language Disorder on how juries perceive defendants.

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