Victim Support to deliver new National Victims' Service
Published: 27 January 2010 | by: Paul Fawcett
- Date:
- 27 January 2010
We will be able to provide quicker emotional support to those who need it most, thanks to Government funding for the National Victims' Service
Victims of crime across England and Wales will, later this year, get improved help and support thanks to a new partnership between Victim Support and the Government. The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, today announced that the charity will be the key agency delivering a new National Victims’ Service.
“This is really good news for all victims,” said Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Victim Support. “We have 35 years’ unrivalled experience of helping victims, plus the expertise that comes from supporting over 1.5 million people every year. Now, as the organisation charged with delivering the new National Victims’ Service, we can make an even bigger difference to the lives of people hurt by crime. It will enable us to involve more specialist victim groups in delivering a full package of support for those who need it. It also puts us in a stronger position to get other public services to help victims and tackle a wider range of support needs.”
The Government is giving Victim Support an additional £8M a year to deliver the National Victims’ Service. The charity has already spent the last three years restructuring and developing its services, putting it in a prime position to deliver the further enhancements government is looking for. The project gets underway with the launch of extra support for people affected by homicide at the end of February. This will be followed by wider service improvements for other victims from April onwards.