Tony Blair's wife Cherie Booth launched a new legal guide for children going into care or facing other court proceedings.

Power Pack is an information pack designed by the University of Warwick for children and young people subject to law proceedings.

Supporting the guide at its high profile launch on Monday was Midlands reggae singer Pato Banton,(pictured) who spent part of his childhood in the care system, and Rosie Winterton MP Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department.

It has been produced by Dr Maureen Winn Oakley, an NSPCC researcher at the University of Warwick's Law School, along with the NSPCC, and the Rights of Children Group and 35 young people in the care of Birmingham Social Services.

The advice from the young people led to two versions of the packs, which are being funded by CAFCASS - the new guardian service that replaced the guardian ad litem service earlier this year.

One version of the pack is for children under 10 and has brightly coloured pictures and text in large print.

The other is for older children and young people and is more informative.

It guides them through their rights, difficult legal jargon, and also acts as an personal organiser to help them keep up with the dates of meetings with their guardians, lawyers, court dates, and contact details for all those involved in their case.

More than 20,000 copies of the packs are being made and they will be available to children and young people throughout England and Wales once a court application is made.

Dr Winn Oakley said: "Our research had found that young people often did not understand the legal process that they were involved in We hope this pack will be widely used by children and young people to help them through what is often a confusing and difficult experience."