From the corridors of the Royal Courts of Justice#
Support Through Court began in 2001 as the Personal Support Unit, when Diana Copisarow set up a volunteer service in the corridors of the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It opened in Cardiff in 2012, took its present name in 2019, and added a national helpline in 2020 and an online service in 2023. Its mission is simple: no one should face court alone. It says more than 1,500 volunteers, many of them students from partner universities, supported people on over 51,000 occasions last year.
What its volunteers do, and do not do#
Volunteers listen, help you work out your next steps, find reliable legal information, explain procedure, help you fill in court forms and organise your papers, talk through what to say, and can go into a hearing with you. They are not legally trained, and the charity is clear that it cannot give legal advice or represent you; a volunteer beside you in court cannot speak for you.
Its list of cases includes, on the family side, child arrangements, divorce, non-molestation and occupation orders and special guardianship. It does not help with criminal cases, appeals, adoption, public law cases about children, the Court of Protection or the Office of the Public Guardian, and it says the list can change.
Booking help#
Book an appointment by choosing a location: Birmingham, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Leeds, Liverpool, London (civil cases at the Royal Courts of Justice, family cases at the Central Family Court), Manchester, Sheffield or Southend, or the online service for anyone in England and Wales who cannot reach an office, by phone or video. Some offices take walk-ins but cannot promise to see everyone; Cardiff is by appointment and offers appointments in Welsh. Tell it early if you need reasonable adjustments. There is also a national helpline by phone and email; its hours differ between two of its pages, so check before you call.
Where a court and a name meet#
Support Through Court publishes nothing about names, and most name changes never go near a court: an adult's deed poll needs nobody's permission. A child's name is the exception. GOV.UK says a child's change needs the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or a court order, and that you must try to reach agreement first. Without it, a parent applies to the family court on form C100 for a specific issue order, or a parent who objects can ask the court to stop a change.
That is family court work of the kind Support Through Court helps people face alone, though its list does not mention names specifically, so ask when you book. The handbook's pages take you through the stages:
- The C100 application for a child's name: the mediation meeting, the form and the fee.
- Specific issue orders: what the order decides, and how long it usually takes.
- How a court decides a child's name: the welfare test judges apply.
For legal advice itself, GOV.UK's legal aid checker and free clinics such as those listed by LawWorks are the next places to look.
This page describes what Support Through Court publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. The charity has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
