PCC secures additional funding for victim services during pandemic

Suffolk’s Police and Commissioner has successfully secured over £200K from the Ministry of Justice’s Covid-19 Extraordinary Fund to support vital support organisations financially disadvantaged by Covid-19.

Government made £76m extra funding available to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, vulnerable children and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic; £20m of this was allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners to support local services.

Suffolk’s PCC applied for funding to support 13 organisations working right across the county and received £208,411.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore said: “I am really delighted the MoJ has recognised the vital work done by the voluntary and charitable sector in Suffolk and the increased pressure these organisations face because of Covid-19. The extra funding will make such a difference to the victims of these terrible crimes and help them overcome their traumatic experiences.

“Providing support for victims is a key part of my role. Each year we allocate significant amounts of money to support victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence and I know many of the organisations that provide this support are having to find new ways of interacting with victims during this pandemic, which can be more costly than normal.”

The organisations successful in securing funding are:
One Voice 4 Travellers received £3,827.33 to support their work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller women in Suffolk who are experiencing domestic abuse. This is to cover increased demand for the service and increased costs in operating their service during Covid-19.
PHOEBE received £35,422 to support the specialist work that the service provides to BAME women and children in Suffolk experiencing domestic abuse and will cover additional technology costs and lost income due to the inability to fundraise at this time.
Leeway Domestic Violence and Abuse Services received £39,277.22 to fund additional equipment and hours for the Suffolk Independent Domestic Violence Advisory (IDVA) Service, staff for the multi-lingual DA service for minority communities in Suffolk and the advice and support line. The organisation is experiencing increasing demand for its services and has lost income due to the inability to fundraise during the pandemic.
Orwell Housing Association received £8,938 to provide additional resource and technology to support online delivery of their Freedom programme.
Alumah received £12,133.76 to provide additional resource and technology to support online delivery of their Freedom programme and their Creative group along with telephone support to victims of domestic abuse.
Lighthouse Women’s Aid received £18,089 to cover lost income due to the inability to fundraise and to support existing posts that would usually be covered by this fundraising.
Bury St Edmunds Women’s Aid received £13,025 to cover lost income due to the inability to fundraise and for additional technology to increase the capacity of the outreach team to address anticipated increase in demand.
Anglia Care Trust received £18,683 to support additional capacity for the domestic abuse money advice service to address anticipated increase in demand and to cover additional technology costs they have incurred during Covid-19.
Waveney Domestic Violence & Abuse Forum received £2,459.14 to pay for some of the additional hours worked by the Forum Coordinator to meet increased demand for their support services, additional administration hours and other operating costs.
Suffolk Rape Crisis received £28,032 to cover lost income due to the inability to fundraise and to fund additional technology to facilitate the change in working practices, additional counselling capacity to deal with the increase in demand for services and funding for posts where income has been lost.
Fresh Start new beginnings received £14,436.25 to cover lost fundraising income and to support additional counselling hours to deal with the increase in demand for services and safe working practices.
Restitute received £5,250 to cover lost income which would fund counselling sessions and telephone support for survivors of sexual violence who also have caring responsibilities.
Compassion received £8,837.85 to support online delivery of the Freedom programme and for support that addresses the increase in demand.