£555k support to victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse in Suffolk

Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner has today announced grants of over £555k to support victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse across the county during this financial year up to March 2022.

Grants for domestic abuse services in the county amounting to £325,467 have been allocated to eight organisations and £230,000 will be shared between four organisations to support sexual violence services.

Tim Passmore said, “Commissioning services to support the work of the Constabulary is an important element of my role as Police and Crime Commissioner.
“I am absolutely delighted to be able to support these organisations in their valuable work with victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. We rely very heavily on the support of third-sector and voluntary organisations in our work and we are indebted to them for their commitment and enthusiasm.
“I truly believe that without the support of organisations such as these we would be a much poorer society.”

Anglia Care Trust receives £33,367 for their Money Advice Service; Bury St Edmunds Women’s Aid Centre receives £72,500 towards their outreach centre; Compassion receives £12,100 towards a facilitator for their domestic abuse service and programmes; Home-Start Mid and West Suffolk receives £10k to support families suffering domestic abuse; Leeway Domestic Violence and Abuse Service’s Suffolk Project Safety Net receives £51,000 to victims with no access to benefits and where English is not their first language; Lighthouse Women’s Aid Women’s Centre receives £72,500 to fund key staff as well as contributing to premises and overheads; One Voice 4 Travellers, which supports Gypsy, Romany and Travellers experiencing domestic abuse, receives £3,900; Phoebe, which provides domestic violence support for BAME and migrant women with no access to benefits, receives £40k and the Waveney Domestic Violence and Abuse Forum receives £30,100 to support DA victims in Lowestoft and surrounding areas to cope and recover.

Fresh Start new beginnings receive £60k to provide a therapeutic treatment service for child victims of sexual abuse to address the short and longer-term symptoms of trauma; Restitute receives £20K towards their work with parents, families, carers and siblings (third party victims) who are living with trauma due to the sexual violence or childhood sexual abuse crime their family member has survived; Suffolk Rape Crisis’ £75k grant will contribute to the costs of “Outreach@SRC” covering one-to-one practical and emotional support, online courses and groups and when allowed face-to face-groups with women and girls who have been subject to sexual violence. Survivors in Transition have been allocated £60k for specialist trauma support for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and male victims of sexual assault. The funding will support 50 individuals to receive 15 therapy sessions and for six group programmes; a further £15k will be used for support and advice sessions for 10 young people.

Funding for these grants comes from the MOJ Victim Services grant funding for Child Sexual Abuse, the MOJ Sexual Violence Uplift for 2021/22 and from the PCC’s commissioning budget. Each grant has been assessed on the basis of an application to the PCC for funding and on evidence of need, in compliance with MOJ requirements.

More detail on each of the grant recipients:

DOMESTIC ABUSE GRANTS

Anglia Care Trust – Money Advice Service
The grant will provide continuation funding to maintain the specialist Money Advice service for victims of DA and extend the post to a full-time role. The majority of DA victims require money advice or financial capability support and access the service through the Domestic Abuse Outreach Service or referral from other agencies/DA support organisations across Suffolk. It is estimated that demand will increase by 20% in 2021. Per annum, ACT help victims to manage circa £750k of debt in addition to maximising income to the value of £100k. Monthly referrals have risen from 15-17 prior to the covid-19 pandemic to 25 per month by December 2020. Covid-19 funding in 2020 enabled 113 victims to be referred for money advice over six months and of the 84 who wanted support in that period, 63 achieved financial recovery to be better positioned to cope with the remainder progressing towards positive outcomes. £33,367

Bury St Edmunds Women’s Aid Centre – Outreach Centre
The grant will provide funding towards the Outreach Centre in Bury St Edmunds including staff and property costs. The Centre provides a base for all outreach work, group and individual therapy work and counselling for victims of domestic abuse in West Suffolk and usually supports over 200 victims of DA each year plus a greater number by phone and virtually. Outreach staffing was extended during the Covid-19 pandemic to meet demand and provide phone and online support to those in need. The Centre brings in external organisations to support victims with housing, legal and therapeutic needs and supports survivors to ensure their continued safety and recovery to break the cycle of domestic abuse. Covid-19 funding enabled 103 victims to be supported in the six months to October 2020 with 72 reporting within that time that they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. The organisation was able to offer support to a small number of male victims as well as women and children. £72,500

Compassion – Lead Programme Facilitator
Compassion usually support approx. 90 women and their families per year but have seen a rising number of referrals in recent months. Funding will support the continued employment of the part time Lead Programme Facilitator to run support groups, one to one support and programmes for victims of domestic abuse in the Babergh area of Suffolk. There is now an online offering from Compassion developing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Work is supported by a team of volunteers. Covid-19 funding enabled 32 victims to be supported in the six months to October 2020 all of whom reported within that time that they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. £12,100

Home-Start Mid and West Suffolk – supporting families through domestic abuse
Funding will contribute to the costs of one staff member and volunteers (expenses) providing emotional and practical support to families in Mid and West Suffolk who have experienced domestic abuse. Working with families who need immediate support the organisation is more regularly coming across cases of domestic abuse and will provide both immediate support and a non-statutory route in to other services where appropriate. Services are provided in the more rural mid and west Suffolk. The charity says that referrals are increasing and that Covid-19 funding in 2020/21 enabled Home-Start to work with at least 17 families where DA was a factor in everyday life. £10,000

Leeway Domestic Violence and Abuse Services – Suffolk Project Safety Net
Funding will enable two bilingual DA workers in Suffolk to continue to provide practical and emotional support to victims of DA with no recourse to public funds and where English isn’t their first language. Holistic information, advice and support is provided to victims to increase their safety and access services along with help to find accommodation, immigration advice and financial stability. Evaluation to date has found positive outcomes for 95% of those engaged with the service. Covid-19 funding in 2020 enabled 87 victims to be supported within a six month period, 33 of whom reported within the period that they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of every day life. The project will extend its reach in Suffolk to engage and raise awareness with people from diverse communities who may be less likely to engage with mainstream or statutory services as well as those whose immigration status leads to actual or a perception of limited access/barriers to support. £51,000

Lighthouse Women’s Aid – Women’s Centre
LWA provides support for women, young people and children affected by domestic abuse, predominantly in the Ipswich area of Suffolk. Advice, guidance and programmes are delivered from the Centre, and during the Covid-19 pandemic by telephone, online or face to face in a Covid-19 secure way when possible. A new community worker has been appointed to focus on awareness raising and engaging with older victims of abuse, a recognised gap. The funding will support the following roles at LWA to deliver the core services from the Centre as well as contributing to premises and overheads: Crisis Worker; Advice & Support Worker; Training Co-ordinator; Community Worker and Administrator Covid-19 funding in 2020 enabled 500 victims to be supported within a six month period, many of who received short term advice and crisis intervention. Of those attending online programmes during this period (31), 27 said they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. £72,500

One Voice 4 Travellers – Support for Gypsy, Romany and Travellers
One Voice 4 Travellers works with the Gypsy, Romany and Traveller community in Suffolk on a one to one basis or in small groups using a range of activities and methods that account for those with reduced literacy experiencing domestic abuse During the Covid-19 pandemic the charity experienced an increase in requests for support. Covid-19 funding in 2020 enabled 32 victims to be supported within a six month period 30 of whom said they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. Activities supporting victims of DA is undertaken by volunteers and therefore this funding will be used to provide materials, supervision, expenses (mileage) and towards office overheads. Phoebe – Domestic Violence Support for BAME and migrant women. £3,900

PHOEBE supports women and children from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, and migrant communities in Suffolk
For victims of DA they help find safe temporary accommodation, completing visa applications, facilitate support groups, providing counselling and casework, and legal advice. Supporting women to access education and employment opportunities, and improve their English enables victims to become more independent and more able to leave abusive relationships. Funding will support the employment of a full time Women’s Worker to support the Portuguese speaking African population in Suffolk and also contribute to the general Domestic Abuse Advocate role. Covid-19 funding in 2020 enabled 80 victims to be supported within a six month period 75 of whom said within that period they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. Over 70% of those supported were from black or minority ethnic communities. £40,000

Waveney Domestic Violence and Abuse Forum – Co-ordinator and services to support victims to cope and recover
Waveney Domestic Violence and Abuse Forum is a charity providing a holistic service to families affected by domestic abuse. The active forum comprises 128 members and, alongside this, WDVAF has developed a wide variety of support services and awareness raising activity. The grant will provide funding for the part time WDVAF Co-ordinator and Delivery Service Assistant, contribute to the core costs of supporting victims of domestic abuse and provide new technology to build capacity and capability in response to the increase in demand for services in the Waveney area of Suffolk. Covid-19 funding in 2020 enabled 184 victims of domestic abuse (including male victims) to be supported within a six month period, all of whom reported they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. £30,100

SEXUAL VIOLENCE GRANTS

Fresh Start new beginnings provide a therapeutic treatment service for child victims of sexual abuse to address the short and longer-term symptoms of trauma. The service received 165 referrals in Suffolk in the year to 31 March 2020 with a surge in referrals after the first national lockdown. Services were adapted during the pandemic to provide safe and effective remote delivery. The new grant will contribute to trauma treatment for 64 children, young people and their families, helping to address the current waiting list. Treatment prevents or decreases the incidence of the difficulties sexually abused children experience and increases wellbeing at the point in time as well as enabling them to lead successful adult lives in time. MOJ CSA funding and extraordinary Covid-19 funding in 2020 supported 25 children and young people during the first 6 months of the grant period. At the end of December 2020, 41 children had been assessed and started therapy, 45 children and families in Suffolk were waiting assessment and 26 waiting treatment after assessment. The total number of open cases at the end of December in Suffolk was 151. £60,000

Restitute, works with parents, families, carers and siblings (3rd party victims) who are living with trauma due to the sexual violence or CSA crime their family member has survived. The service provides practical and emotional support (including counselling where necessary), supporting clients through child protection processes and ensuring there is a reduction in harm and risk for all members of the family. Working with other organisations, the intention is to support a change to a more holistic, trauma-informed and compassionate environment. At the start of February 2021, 35 families were being supported by the service. The recommended funding will contribute to staffing and costs of the core family support services for approx. 8 families. Funding is being sought elsewhere for therapeutic services with the intention to support 25 families in total during 2021/22. Extraordinary Covid-19 funding in 2020 supported 25 victims in the first 6 months of the grant period including 19 new referrals. 20 people were reported as better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life, reporting improved quality of life, reduced score in depression, anxiety and impact of trauma. £20,000

Suffolk Rape Crisis provides safe, specialist, non-judgemental support to women and girls who have experienced rape, sexual abuse, or any other form of sexual violence whether recent or historic. In 2019/20 SRC directly supported 493 women and girls in Suffolk and took 730 helpline calls. The charity has expanded its services from telephone helpline and counselling to outbound support calls, online services and an outreach service which provides needs-led emotional and practical support to women and girls across the county meeting women when and where they need it. The proposed funding will contribute to the costs of “Outreach@SRC” covering one to one practical and emotional support, online courses and groups and when allowed face to face groups with women and girls who have been subject to sexual violence. Funding will contribute to staff salaries for three members directly delivering the outreach work, administration, management and office overheads. PCC and extraordinary Covid-19 funding in 2020 supported SRC with 77 new referrals during the first 6 months of the grant period and with the provision of support to 477 victims during the period. At the end of December 2020 513 women and girls were being supported by the organisation. Service users report consistently high levels of satisfaction with the service and outcomes including better informed and better able to cope as a result of the support they received. £75,000

Survivors in Transition (SiT) have been providing support for adult survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and sexual violence in Suffolk since 2010. During the Covid-19 pandemic, 1:1 and group programmes were adapted to be delivered remotely. A dedicated service (TOPE) for young people was introduced in 2020. TOPE is a self-referral support service for young people aged 13+ who are or have experienced any form of abuse including physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The service aims to provide a more child centred response to young people who have not reported or disclosed their abuse. The proposed funding will be allocated to specialist trauma support for adult survivors of CSA and male victims of sexual assault (£60k). The funding will provide for 50 individuals to receive 15 therapy sessions and for 6 group programmes. A further £15k will be used for support and advice sessions for 10 young people (average 24 sessions). SiT received 348 new referrals from 1 March – 31 December 2020 and an average of 170 received support each quarter. Service users report consistently high levels of satisfaction with the service and outcomes. Between April and September 2020, with services delivered using PCC and MOJ funding, 20 survivors of CSA and 4 male victims of sexual violence reported that they were better able to recover and cope with aspects of everyday life. £75,000

Caption: The PCC with three representatives of PHOEBE, one of the recipients of the funding