Volunteer for LawCare
Could you be a volunteer for LawCare? Full training will be given for all roles.
From helpline caller to peer support volunteer – Karen
Seven years ago, as I was approaching qualification, I picked up the phone and called LawCare for the first time.
At the time, I had recently been prescribed antidepressants and was struggling with whether to disclose that to my employer and I worried about how I might be perceived.
What I remember most about that call is not receiving an answer or being told exactly what to do. It was being listened to – calmly, openly and without judgement.
After speaking to LawCare, I decided to tell my employer. Looking back, I’m very glad I did as around six months later, I called LawCare for a second time while going through what I now realise was a period of hypomania linked to side effects from the medication. Again, what helped was somebody taking the time to listen, helping me slow down and grounding me enough to get home safely. I was actually admitted to hospital a few days later as the side effects didn’t improve but because I had already opened that conversation with work, there was a foundation of understanding there when I needed support. It made an incredibly difficult period feel just that little bit less isolating.
Then, during Covid, I saw a call for junior volunteers on LinkedIn. My conversations with LawCare stayed with me so volunteering felt like a natural way to give something back.
Today, I volunteer as a peer supporter
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that support is not about solving someone’s problems. I am naturally a fixer and a problem-solver, and in my professional life that is often what is expected of me. But peer support is different.
Sometimes the most valuable thing you can offer another person is space – space to talk honestly, think out loud and sit with difficult feelings without immediately trying to make them disappear.
As peer supporters, we actively listen to whatever the caller wants to bring to the conversation. I sometimes draw on my own lived experience where it feels helpful, but I do not tell people what to do. Often, people already know what they need – they simply need the space to say it out loud.
I have also learned the value of silence. Early on, I felt pressure to fill every pause or offer a solution. Now I understand that silence can give somebody permission to reflect and continue in their own time.
I have been privileged to support two people through the peer support service so far. Not because I “fixed” anything, but because I was trusted enough to sit alongside somebody during a difficult moment in their life.
To me, that is the real impact of volunteering: being present for another person, listening without judgement and reminding them they are not alone.
Asking for help can feel incredibly difficult, particularly in professions like law where resilience and capability are often seen as non-negotiable. But reaching out is not weakness. In my experience, it is one of the strongest things a person can do.
Peer support matters because lived experience matters. There is something uniquely comforting about speaking to somebody who understands, even if the details of your experiences differ slightly.
Years ago, somebody answered the phone and listened when I needed it most. I will always be grateful for that.
Volunteering has given me the opportunity to do the same for somebody else.
Why I volunteer – Kunal
We all have a platform and have the choice of how we use it. I have always been passionate about using my platform in a positive and meaningful way. That is why I volunteer.
Before entering the legal profession, I volunteered as an Adviser at my local Citizens Advice Bureau. That experience was one of the catalysts for wanting to continue my volunteering work when entering the legal profession.
I started volunteering as a Peer Supporter with LawCare in 2018. Working with the outstanding team at LawCare has allowed me to give back and help those within the profession that need it.
We all need help, whether it be from family, friends, or colleagues. Sometimes, the help we want, and need, comes from someone who is detached from your lived experiences.
Everyone deserves to know that they can reach out to someone to share how they feel and know that they can be supported no matter what their background. LawCare provides everyone in our profession with that opportunity.
Whilst the legal profession is moving in the right direction, there is a long way to go before working practices, as well as the stigma surrounding mental health and its impact on us, are at the place they need to be.
By Kunal Bhalla, LawCare volunteer and Restructuring & Insolvency Associate at TLT LLP
Volunteering for LawCare as a peer supporter
Solicitor and LawCare peer supporter Steve Clarke talks about the role he plays supporting legal professionals through volunteering for LawCare.
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