Appropriate Adult

We as a Charity CCP was originally founded in 1989 by a local businessman in response to the growing number of homeless young people in Cheltenham. Recognising that people as young as 16 were sleeping rough around the town after having been thrown out of their family home, he purchased a building and opened a 10-bed hostel.

We have grown a lot since then and now aim to transform the lives of children, young people, families, and vulnerable adults by preventing homelessness, strengthening families and promoting independence. With a head office in Cheltenham, we currently employ 220 staff, backed up by a team of 160 volunteers, currently delivering services and projects in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, and Dorset.

We need you to help within: 

We provide Appropriate Adults to 10 -18 year olds whose parents cannot or will not attend whilst their children are held in police custody. 

The scheme also supports adults with mental health issues or learning difficulties. The Appropriate Adult is often the first meaningful support these vulnerable people have when they find themselves in contact with the Criminal Justice System.

We will ask of you to do the following:

Within the AA team we believe in the value and uniqueness of people, we welcome volunteers who have a range of skills and life experiences.

The Appropriate Adults role is to ensure legal rights are observed, provide non-judgmental moral support and monitor the welfare of the young person or vulnerable adult during police interview and whilst held in the cells. Once trained, each Appropriate Adult specifies times they are available to be included on the rota. When a request for an Appropriate Adult is received, the volunteer coordinator will contact the available volunteers to see who is free to attend.

This role would support those taken into the Gloucester custody suite. Call out can be late at night and due to the location of the Custody suite a driver with own transport is required for this role.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Code C, paragraph 1.7A states that, "the appropriate adult is expected, amongst other things, to:

· support, advise and assist them when, in accordance with this Code or any other Code of Practice, they are given or asked to provide information or participate in any procedure.

· observe whether the police are acting properly and fairly to respect their rights and entitlements, and inform an officer of the rank of inspector or above if they consider that they are not.

· assist them to communicate with the police whilst respecting their right to say nothing unless they want to as set out in the terms of the caution.

· help them to understand their rights and ensure that those rights are protected and respected.