page_title: Support Through Court
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Support Through Court / History
caption_attribution_description: This is a photo of listed building number 1264258.
context_page_description: Support Through Court is a UK legal charity that supports people who have to represent themselves in court. The aim is to "reduce the disadvantage of people facing the civil and family justice system without a lawyer, enabling them to access justice" and believe that "no one should face court alone".
  Support Through Court does not offer legal advice, but provides support to clients in a variety of other ways including: explaining how the court system works, helping to fill in court forms and papers, and accompanying clients to their hearings.
context_section_description: The PSU was founded in 2001, led by Diana Copisarow OBE, Michael Naish and Mark Sheldon CBE. Whilst volunteering at the Old bailey for the Witness Service, Lady Copisarow supported an unrepresented litigant through contested divorce proceedings at the Royal Courts. The litigant's experience was horrendous as she faced the confusion of the court system, uncertainty about appearing before a judge, and the general emotions of litigation. These experiences drove Lady Copisarow, Michael Naish and Mark Sheldon CBE to establish the PSU to meet the human, non-legal, needs of people attending court alone and without legal representation.  The PSU grew rapidly from 2007 onwards.
  Following changes to legal aid in 2012, the PSU had a rise in demand for its services and now operates from 23 courts in 17 different cities across England and Wales.
  In 2014 the PSU won the Guardian's 'Small Charity, Big Difference' Award.
  In February 2017 the PSU reached the milestone of having helped on over 200,000 occasions.
  In October 2019 the PSU was rebranded to Support Through Court to convey more effectively the services offered to litigants in persons.
  In February 2020 Support Through Court launched its National Helpline to offer individuals who cannot commute to an office an alternative method of accessing its services.
  In April 2020 Support Through Court won the SME News' 'Best Legal Support Volunteers 2020, England and Wales' Award.
caption: The Personal Support Unit was founded in 2001 at the Royal Courts of Justice
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