and Wales. In July 2020, the service was at 40% of the level of volunteers usually needed to support witnesses. During the January 2021 lockdown, this figure was at 25%. By the end of March 2021, this had reached 34% and we finished the financial year with plans in place for wellbeing conversations with inactive volunteers, to listen to concerns and provide reassurance on safety measures. Although the pandemic couldn’t have been predicted, it did highlight the vulnerabilities caused to our volunteer involvement by a lack of diversity. A notable 89% of our volunteers are aged 55 and over. This is understandable given the availability of this age group and the time commitments demanded by our roles, but going forward our key priorities will include a review of our current volunteer offer. This will form part of a wider commitment to ensure that our volunteering opportunities are accessible and attractive to a wide range of people. The pandemic pushed us to utilise online and digital tools to inform and support volunteers. For the first time, we ran national engagement sessions for volunteers, to ensure they felt updated and reassured about returning to court. We also replaced our annual series of face-to-face volunteer events with a combination of online events, both national and local. Another innovation was an accelerated reinvention of our training to an induction and learning pathway that blends online training with in-court shadowing and observations. 90% of witnesses reported that our volunteers and staff helped them to feel more confident about giving evidence which is testament to how well volunteers and their managers coped with such difficult circumstances. The support and reassurance I received was outstanding. All of my needs were met and they made me feel completely safe. They eased my anxiety and the service I received throughout was excellent. There is nothing they could have done better. —Witness 50 Our structure, governance and management