Financial support for crime victims

Paisley victims of crime struggling financially amid the coronavirus pandemic will be able to access assistance worth up to £3,000, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has announced.

A victims fund of £100,000 will help meet the immediate financial needs of victims, paying for a wide range of goods and services where they have no other access to funds.

Victim Support Scotland, which will administer the fund, already provides financial support totalling £30,000 a year through the Scottish Government-backed victims fund’.

The new enhanced fund increases this to £ 100,000 and is available to victims suppor ted by o t h e r organisations as well as VSS.

Mr Yousaf said: “Across the country, we are seeing incredible acts of courage and self-sacrifice in this public health emergency.

“However, for victims of crime, the impact of their own experience can be long-lasting – even before we consider the understandable anxiety that they will be feeling, along with most of us, about the coronavirus outbreak.

“While overall crime, including non-sexual violent crime, has fallen substantially over the last decade, we know that those living in our most disadvantaged communities are more likely to experience crime.

“That is why I’ve decided to increase our investment in the victims fund and help deliver a range of goods and services which are likely to be required by the most vulnerable victims during the outbreak.

“This includes support such as food vouchers, help with utility bills, as well as assistance for domestic abuse victims who may have to urgently leave their homes.

Victim Support’s free helpline number is 0800 160 1985 and its website is http:// www.victimsupport.scot.