Victim support organisation V-SAC (Victim Support at Court) has appealed for volunteers.

V-SAC now has a permanent presence in the victim support area on the third floor in Dublin’s Criminal  Courts  of  Justice  (CCJ) as well as Tallaght and Blanchardstown District  Courts. 

V-SAC  has  also expanded  into  the  Eastern  and  Southern  Circuit  Courts  over  the  past two years and plans to roll out a fully-serviced  national  organisation  by  2022.

The award-nominated body is  funded  annually  by  the  Department  of  Justice  and  works  closely  with  An  Garda  Síochána,  Courts  Service,  the  Office  of  the  Director  of  Public  Prosecutions  and  other  related crime victims’ organisations in the justice system.

In   2018,  V-SAC  provided  court  accompaniment and supports  5,427  times to 1,365  people  and  saw a 27%  increase in people  availing of its services over a two-year period.

Injured parties

In 2019, V-SAC agreed a process with court presenters whereby volunteers check in with them daily to see if any cases with injured parties require support. 

In the District Courts alone, this expansion saw volunteers provide support 497 times to 399 people by the end of October.

Awareness campaign

The organisation has also embarked on an  awareness campaign for its work by  staff,  board  members  and  sixty trained volunteers and remains the only voluntary service  in  Ireland  dedicated solely to court accompaniment.

Volunteers include retired people with previous experience of criminal defence work who are familiar with court proceedings. However, full training is given as well as psychological support for volunteers.

Those interested in the work should visit www.vsac.ie or contact info@vsac.ie