Victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse will benefit from extra support thanks to £980,000 of funding awarded by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley.
This money will help fund and support third sector organisations, charities, public bodies and social enterprises which provide support services to help victims of domestic abuse and/or sexual violence.
The funding includes £422,072 awarded for a two year period to six organisations for the recruitment and training of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs).
Also a further £558,919 awarded as uplift funding to 22 organisations for one year, this will be used to fund areas such as staff costs, training, group work and counselling support.
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner said: “We have some exceptional organisations supporting victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the Thames Valley and I am delighted to be able to award this funding which will make a huge difference to them and ultimately the victims and survivors they work with. Increasing specialist service provision will give victims better access to much needed support to help them recover from the harm they’ve experienced.
“Some of the posts funded are dedicated to supporting particular groups who for a range of reasons can be less likely to access support such as men, disabled victims and victims within LGBTQ+ and BAMER communities.
"A focus of the ISVA/IDVA fund to increase tailored provision for these groups will, I hope, result in services being better resourced to meet victims’ specific needs”.
This funding is in addition to the 2021/22 core Victims Services Grant of over £2.8m awarded to the PCC to support victims of crime across the Thames Valley.
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