Ex-offender paying back with court support charity

Ex-chief executive Carole Edwards and volunteer Kelly Peake are celebrating the CASS+ 20th anniversary

An ex-offender who now works with a charity offering support to people navigating the justice system, said volunteering had helped her "rebuild myself".

Kelly Peake volunteers with CASS+, a charity offering free advice and support through court in Devon and Cornwall.

She told BBC Radio Cornwall "I love volunteering" and it is about "just being of service to my community".

The charity has this week marked its 20th anniversary, providing a service that is not available in all parts of the country.

Ms Peake said: "When you're going through certain situations, you kind of feel like you're on your own, you don't realise there's support and help out there.

"I just felt like with my lived experience, that I'd be able to give back to the community."

The volunteer said CASS+ had played an important role in her life since she began volunteering.

She said: "It's not about the money, it's about getting up in the morning and just being of service to my community and feeling good.

"Maybe if you'd have told me this five years ago that I'm gonna be volunteering and you're not gonna get paid but you're gonna love it, I would have thought, 'no, that's not true', but I love volunteering, I absolutely love it."

Carole Edwards, past CEO and retiring Bid Writer, told BBC Radio Cornwall that the service was not available in all courts in the country which made it "unique".

She said in the beginning, it was "quite a challenge" to convince court partners that the service would not be "stepping on their toes".

She said: "Now if you fast forward 20 years, I think a lot of our court partners would say they would struggle not to have us there, they're referring clients to us."

Ms Edwards said although she had been with the charity since its beginning, it was time for a new chapter.

She said: "I'm really proud of what we've built and what CASS+ has achieved in 20 years - we're a bit of a force to be reckoned with.

"I'm really proud of the reputation that we've built as a charity, I'm really proud of the people that we've worked with and I'm really proud of the volunteers and our staff are second to none."