Local charities and organisations can now apply for funding to help them support victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
The Ministry of Justice funding, which has been announced this week as £814,000 for the Thames Valley area, is available to charities, charitable incorporated organisations, company limited by guarantee, community interest and social enterprise organisations who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and who support victims of this type of abuse.
Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, said: “We’re delighted to be able to help charitable organisations with further funding in response to this pandemic. We know that the lockdown will mean that there could be increases in cases of domestic abuse and sexual violence which, of course, is extremely concerning.
“We hope that being able to offer more than £800,000 will give support to victims of these heinous crimes through these organisations.”
The funding available is for additional costs from the time period 24th March – 31st October 2020 only and aims to allow organisations to meet the extra costs they have incurred or will incur whilst adapting their services during the pandemic, and to cope with demand increases resulting from it. For example, funding may be used to:
- address short term income disruption;
- meet essential costs of sustaining current activities, such as the purchasing of assets to support the move to remote and digital working, and additional staff to cover those unable to work for reasons related to the pandemic; and
- address increased demand.
The PCC is now inviting applications for funding and more information, including criteria and frequently asked questions, can be found on the website. Due to the emergency nature of the funding the deadline for the return of applications is 12pm on Wednesday 3rd June 2020.
