£½m funding boost to help violence and abuse victims
LANCASHIRE domestic abuse and sexual violence services are to benefit from a funding boost secured by Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw.
More than £500,000 will be distributed to local services to support victims and survivors of domestic or sexual abuse.
The funding provided by the Ministry of Justice will help local services meet the additional costs incurred while adapting their services in response to the pandemic, and cope with any increases in demand as a result of it.
Mr Grunshaw said: “I am delighted to secure extra funding to support people affected by domestic or sexual abuse right here in Lancashire.
“It is so important that victims and survivor have access to specialist services where and when they need them and this funding will ensure that this is happening.
“The pandemic continues to put extra pressures on families and relationships and while that should never be an excuse for any kind of violence, the reality is that some people will be affected by abuse.
“We have fantastic local services and I am really pleased to be able to offer them this additional support”
Fourteen organisations will benefit from the funding which will be used cover costs for additional support such as work with independent domestic violence advisers, extra counselling hours or investing in online chat facilities and phone support to provide additional help remotely.
Debbie Fawcett, CEO at HARV and chair of the Lancashire Domestic Abuse Forum said: “This is really welcome news both for services and for anyone affected by abuse here in Lancashire.
“As a collective, services across the county work really hard to support abuse survivors and the extra funding will help us to further adapt our services in response to the pandemic so that we can continue to help people in the best way possible.”
Catherine Smith, CEO at Trust House, a specialist service for sexual violence survivors added: “It is really important that we can continue to offer the best support to victims during the pandemic.
“The current situation is hard for everyone but survivors of sexual violence and abuse need our support more than ever.
“The funding will help us to continue to offer that support so that anyone affected can access the support they need and deserve to move forward.”
The organisations to benefit from the additional funding are: Flowhesion, Fylde Coast Women’s Aid, HARV, Lancashire Victim Services, Paladin NSAS, Red Rose Recovery, Sahara in Preston, Safenet, The Birchall Trust, The Liberty Centre, The Wish Centre, The Emily Davison Centre, Trust House and Pendle Domestic Violence Initiative.