What is Victim Support?

Victim Support has been operating in New Zealand since the early 1980s, starting with several small voluntary groups and transforming into an official national group by 1991.

These days the organisation provides practical and emotional support to more than 30,000 people each year who are affected by crime, trauma and suicide — roughly the same number of people as the population of Pukekohe, Blenheim or Timaru.

The number of people needing support is rising, says chief executive Kevin Tso. “We hope this series helps people understand that Victim Support is a place where anyone who is affected by a crime, trauma or suicide can go for help — and find someone compassionate to talk to, someone to help you find safety from harm, or someone who can give well-informed advice and information to remove some of the stress and uncertainty that follows a harmful incident.

Victim Support currently has 622 volunteers and 90 frontline staff working across 60 locations and providing nationwide coverage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It is not a government agency and though it receives some funding, it generally relies on donations to provide services.

Tso says Victim Support’s annual costs run into the millions of dollars and the organisation needs to recruit 200-300 new volunteers nationwide every year to maintain its service, and Tso says the organisation is always on the lookout for more people who want to get involved.

“It takes a very special kind of person to be a Victim Support volunteer, to throw yourself voluntarily into the midst of crisis and trauma,” he says. “But the same intensity that makes the work challenging is what makes it rewarding”.

● Find out more at victimsupport.org.nz.