Sara Murphy, V-SAC Volunteer Coordinator in the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ), has been shortlisted for a Volunteer Ireland award in the category of 2018 Volunteer Manager of the Year. This is a tremendous achievement for Sara and V-SAC to be in the final 3 out of hundreds of nominations.

Sara’s profile and story can be seen by clicking the link below and the announcement of the overall winner will take place on 7th December:

 

Volunteer Manager of the Year 2018

V-SAC provided court accompaniment to 1,267 victims of crime, prosecution witness and their family/friends. The cases involved 35 Murder/Manslaughter/Attempted Murder, 123 Rape/Sexual Assault, 48 Assault, 76 Domestic Violence, 62 Other (incl. Human Trafficking, Criminal Damage, Theft, etc). These cases spanned Central Criminal Court, Circuit Courts and District Courts in a number of counties. V-SAC also supported victims in 57 pre-trial visits, 65 sentencing hearings, 10 retrials and 8 appeals.

V-SAC featured in a number of papers recently. The articles highlighted V-SAC’s free service available to victims of crime, prosecution witnesses and their family and friends while they attend court. V-SAC are expanding into the Eastern and Southeastern Circuit Courts. Click on the links below for the full newspaper articles and radio interviews given.

 

https://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/328962/victim-support-group-is-expanding-its-services-to-courts-in-the-south-east.html

https://www.irishlegal.com/article/victim-support-charity-expanding-court-accompaniment-services

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/court-help-for-victims-of-crime-expanded-861484.html

https://www.tipperarystar.ie/news/home/329017/victim-support-group-expanding-its-south-east-services.html

https://kclr96fm.com/volunteers-sought-carlow-kilkenny-accompany-victims-court/

https://www.newsgroup.ie/volunteers-sought-to-support-victims-of-crime/