Volunteer for LawCare

Could you be a volunteer for LawCare? Full training will be given for all roles. LawCare couldn’t do its vital work in helping lawyers without its volunteers.

Volunteer stories

LawCare support services

LawCare’s volunteers have all worked in law, understand the issues we help with, and want to make the legal profession a happy and comfortable place to work.

Our support service offers a safe place to talk without judgement to trained volunteers who have first-hand experience of working in the law. We understand life in the law.

LawCare has eight members of staff and is mainly funded through grants from the professional and regulatory bodies which oversee the legal professions in the UK. LawCare does not have a central office and all staff and volunteers work from home.

How LawCare Works

The confidential helpline and online chat are operated from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. each weekday with volunteers answering calls and chats. Users of the service are offered:

confidential and non-judgemental support
information about any relevant issue (often via LawCare’s website)
signposting to other specialist organisations or professional help (such as a benevolent association, a GP or counsellor)
where appropriate, the assistance of a LawCare peer supporter.

The service is free, confidential, and available to any member of the legal community in the UK, their staff, and concerned family members. LawCare also offers support by email.

Who can be a LawCare Volunteer?

LawCare Helpline Volunteers should be keen and enthusiastic with a good understanding of LawCare’s vision and values and a desire to help others. While full training is given, any existing knowledge or training in counselling skills may be invaluable.

Volunteers must have worked in the UK legal profession in some capacity for a minimum of two years and have a good understanding of it, although they need not now be practising.
Volunteers may find themselves speaking to people who are going through a traumatic time and we recognise that this can be extremely difficult. The wellbeing of our volunteers is important to us. For this reason we ask that anyone applying to become a LawCare volunteer who has experience of addiction, a mental health issue or other crisis has been in remission or recovery for a minimum of two years.
If you have had cause to contact LawCare’s support service for help for any reason in the last two years we may want to discuss this with you prior to you applying.

We don’t always need every type of volunteer, so please be aware that there is no guarantee when you apply that we will have a role for you at the end of the process. It’s also possible we may ask whether you would consider taking on a different volunteer role than the one you applied for if we have a particular need in that area.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality and anonymity are essential for effective assistance for those in our profession who need our help, and we expect volunteers to honour this need for confidentiality in those they support. All volunteers are required to sign an agreement stating that they will abide by this requirement and have read our relevant policies.

Supporting you

Supporting others is very rewarding but it can also be challenging and draining. With this in mind LawCare provides several levels of ongoing support to those who volunteer for us.

All volunteers are provided with printed materials and resources to give them guidance on undertaking their role. These can also be accessed via a Dropbox.
Volunteers receive a monthly email newsletter updating them on developments, opportunities and procedures relating to their role as a LawCare volunteer.
There will be the opportunity to debrief with a member of LawCare’s staff after every helpline or online chat shift or peer support assignment.
There is the option to attend monthly group supervision sessions with a supervising counsellor to discuss issues raised and matters arising from volunteering for LawCare. We require all helpline and online chat volunteers to attend a minimum of three sessions per year, spread throughout the year and peer supporters are also welcome to attend as needed.
If necessary we can arrange a one-to-one session with LawCare’s supervising counsellor for you.
If you prefer to speak to someone independent of LawCare you can call our EAP and speak to a trained counsellor.

What do Helpline Volunteers do?

Helpline volunteers take a regular weekday shift answering LawCare’s helpline. Shifts are 8.45am-1.00pm and 12.45pm-5.00pm.

Helpline volunteers need to be able to be in a private space where they can answer the phone and take notes.

Helpline volunteers can expect to receive 1-2 calls per shift and can go about their usual business between calls provided they are able to drop everything should the phone ring and devote up to an hour talking to each caller.
What do Online Chat Volunteers do?

Online chat volunteers take a regular weekday shift answering online chats on their own computer or laptop. Shifts are 9.00am-12.00pm, 11.30am-2.30pm and 2.00pm-5.00pm.

The volunteer needs to be in a private space where no one else will be able to see their screen. They must be at that screen for the whole shift.

They can undertake their normal work during the shift provided it is something they can drop entirely when an online chat is received so that they can focus on the caller. Online chats last an average of 45 minutes and online chat volunteers should have a good general understanding of IT systems and be comfortable communicating via online chat.

Quick and accurate typing abilities and good spelling and grammar are also a real advantage.
What do Peer Supporters do?

Occasionally a caller to the LawCare helpline needs ongoing one-to-one support. When this happens LawCare staff may assign them a peer supporter. The peer supporter should phone the person as required (for example, weekly) reporting back to LawCare regularly on their progress. No case will be referred to a peer supporter without prior discussion and agreement.

Peer supporters will usually only be helping one person at a time, sometimes over a period of several months. Peer supporters who have themselves experienced mental health or wellbeing issues in their working life are particularly welcome, and we try to match up callers to peer supporters with similar lived experience.

Since the peer support role is more ad hoc than other volunteer roles how much time you commit is largely up to you. However, if you haven’t offered to support a caller for a year or more we may consider removing you from our list.
Can I volunteer in more than one capacity?

Yes, and many of our helpline and online chat volunteers are also peer supporters. How many types of volunteering you would like to do largely depends on how much time you have available and when.

If you choose to be an online chat volunteer and a helpline volunteer, however, bear in mind you could be doing two shifts per week – we don’t schedule both at the same time.
Expectations and Next Steps
There is no obligation to apply to be a LawCare volunteer if you feel it’s not for you, and you can withdraw from the application process at any point, and step down as a volunteer whenever you like. However there is a cost to LawCare associated with training a volunteer so once trained we hope that you would continue in the role for a period of three years including your initial six month probationary period.

See the LawCare Volunteers Agreement for more information.

If you would like to be a volunteer, the process is as follows:

You fill in our application form

We will email you to confirm receipt and arrange to meet with you for an informal chat, generally online via Zoom or Teams. You’ll meet two members of LawCare staff and will have the opportunity to ask questions.

If we feel your skills and experience fit a volunteer need we currently have we will then take up references.

If the references are satisfactory we will arrange training for you.

If your performance at practice session in the training is satisfactory you’ll initially be taken on for a six-month probationary period.
Training for Helpline Volunteers
1) We’ll ask you to attend the Essential Helpline Skills Part 1 course given by Helplines Partnership. This is a one-day (6 hour) course and you can choose to attend online or at a venue near you. LawCare will cover all your expenses and all costs involved. The training covers

What a helpline is and how they help service users

The structure of a call

How a caller’s circumstances can make both access and communication difficult

What is meant by active listening skills

When to use questions effectively during the call

Reflecting back and paraphrasing

The importance of providing options

How to end different types of calls

How to look after yourself after a call

2) You’ll attend a two-hour online training session given by LawCare staff. This covers:

What the LawCare helpline offers and what it doesn’t offer

LawCare’s structure and policies

The four stages of a call

Useful phrases and questions

Providing information and signposting

Peer support and counselling

3) Following the training you will have a call from a LawCare staff member to go through some recent cases as a “practice run” and to set you up on the Call Handling virtual call centre system.

4) You’ll be sent our Helpline Volunteers Manual, Signposting Guide, and other resources.

5) Helpline calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. We will listen to your first few helpline calls to satisfy ourselves that you have understood what is required. We may give you feedback on them.

6) We need to ensure that callers to LawCare’s helpline receive the best possible service and not everyone is well suited to helpline work or finds it easy. For this reason you will initially be taken on for a six-month probationary period. At the end of that time we will let you know whether we wish you to continue but we may opt to thank you for your time and ask you to step down. You may also choose not to continue if you prefer not to.
Training for Online Chat Volunteers
1) We’ll ask you to attend a one-day (six hour) online training session given by our training partners.

Language of Live Chat covers:

The benefits and challenges of webchat

Active listening skills and questioning techniques

Structure of a webchat including summarising and ending

The impact of tone and language

Making assumptions

Managing boundaries.

2) You’ll attend two-hour online training given by LawCare staff. This training covers:

What LawCare offers and what it doesn’t offer

LawCare’s structure and policies

The four stages of a chat

Templates, useful questions, and useful phrases

Linking to information and signposting

Peer support and counselling

3) Following the training you will have a call from a LawCare staff member to set you up on the Call Handling system and do some test chats with you. If your performance on the test chats is not satisfactory we may choose not to progress you to volunteering in the live environment.

4) You’ll be sent our Online Chat Volunteers Manual, Signposting Guide, anonymised transcripts of chats, and other resources.

5) We need to ensure that users of LawCare’s online chat service receive the best possible support. For this reason you will initially be taken on for a six-month probationary period. At the end of that time we will let you know whether we wish you to continue but we may opt to thank you for your time and ask you to step down. You may also choose not to continue if you prefer not to.
Training for Peer Supporters
1) You’ll attend a two-hour online training session given by LawCare staff. This covers:

What peer support offers and how it helps

Active listening skills

Asking the right questions

Empathy

2) You’ll be sent our Peer Supporters Manual and other resources.

Ready to apply?

Please read the information on this page above and think about whether you fit the criteria we are looking for and which role(s) you would like to apply for.
Please note that we are not currently looking for new peer supporters with the exception of those who have experience of going through the disciplinary process, or who have counselling training and may be able to assist callers with more challenging issues.

The more experience you have of working in a UK legal workplace, the better, but we do ask that you have minimum of two years’ experience of working in the legal sector.

While we love hearing from people who have benefited from our support service and want to pay it forward by helping others, if you have had cause to contact LawCare for help for any reason in the last two years we may want to discuss this with you prior to you applying to ensure that you are ready to support callers.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness or have been affected by an addiction we ask that you are two years symptom-free or sober/clean before you apply.

If you have been through a regulatory investigation or disciplinary process your experience of coping with this could be very valuable to our service users, but we will need information about it from you to satisfy ourselves that you are ready to help those going through this particularly distressing experience.

Fill in this form and we will get back to you within a week to confirm receipt.

Still have questions? Email us

What to expect when you call LawCare's helpline

LawCare volunteer Lauren explains how the helpline supports people in the legal sector with their mental health and what to expect when you call.