Funding from the Ministry of Justice has enabled around £249,000 to be awarded so that organisations can continue to give help to vulnerable people who need it most during these unprecedented times.
Organisations working with victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence were able to apply for the extra Government funding through the office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, to support them through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Six organisations were successful in their bid for a share of the funding to: tackle short-term disruption to their services due to the pandemic, help support essential costs of their current activities, such as moving to remote working, and to meet increased demand for their services due to Covid-19.
With domestic abuse and violence making up 15% of all the crime in the county last year, and where an increase has already been recorded since the Covid-19 lockdown, the extra funding is part of a package of measures that the PFCC and Force are positive will improve services focused on tackling domestic abuse in Northamptonshire.
This includes increasing capacity with the introduction of a new team of Domestic Violence Advisers, established and funded by the PFCC.
The team will be embedded with police specialists and other partners in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and will review every domestic incident reported to police each day and assess the level of risk from a multi-agency perspective. They can then quickly step in to provide victims with the most appropriate help and support, ensuring more people are made safer at the earliest opportunity.
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said: “Domestic abuse and sexual violence are a significant issue for Northamptonshire and take a terrible toll on families. We know that there has been a gap in the service available to support people after less serious incidents and I am pleased that I have been able to help tackle that.”
Anyone seeking support with issues of abuse can contact Voice for Victims and Witnesses on 0300 3030 1965
Source: www.northantspfcc.org.uk/newsletters/
