Deaf-initely Women will benefit from some of the national funding secured by the OPCC.
Eleven organisations that help people affected by sexual violence and domestic abuse in Nottinghamshire have secured a £2 million windfall to help them meet an increased and more diverse demand.
Nottinghamshire’s Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner helped the organisations claim over £1.93 million from the Ministry of Justice, while match-funding of nearly £110,000 has also been provided by Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry.
The money, to be spent over the current and next two financial years, is part of a national recognition of the need to provide additional support to these services - to cut waiting lists which have risen following the Covid-19 pandemic and provide more support for people from different backgrounds and abilities.
Deaf-initely Women, an organisation set up to improve the wellbeing of Deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing women across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, is one of the recipients.
The organisation has been awarded over £121,000 to enable it to employ an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate.
Teresa Waldron, Managing Director of Deaf-initely Women, said: “We are delighted to have received this essential and much-needed funding to recruit and train a Deaf woman to become a qualified Independent Domestic Violence Advocate.
“This means that we will now be able to support Deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing women living in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire who have been abused or experiencing abuse.
“We are one of two UK’s charities who can provide abuse-related services and we are so pleased that the Commissioner and her staff have recognised the importance for Deaf women to be supported away from abuse.”
Sarah Tupling, who is Chairperson of Deaf-initely Women, said: “We are really grateful to the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner for the new funding to help us to make a huge difference in Deaf women’s lives, by being safe from harm.
“Deaf women experiencing abuse are often dependent on their abusive partners to meet their communication needs and find themselves in situations where they are denied communication with the outside world. They are often trapped in terrible circumstances and are isolated.”
Nottinghamshire Independent Domestic Abuse Service, based in Mansfield, has also been handed over £116,000 to fund an additional full-time Independent Domestic Abuse Advocate.
Chief Executive officer Sarah Dagley said: “For us it has come at a vital point because the pandemic has hit everybody really hard.
“We have had huge waiting lists for our support children and young people. This funding will really make a difference.
“The pandemic is going to have an impact for some years in terms of the complexity of cases. When we were in the midst of Covid we didn’t see the figures rise much and now we are coming out we are really seeing an increase in referrals.
“Covid impacted children and young people anyway in terms of isolation and how they socialise with their peers and sadly some were exposed to more abusive relationships with their parents in their homes. For a lot of children their safe haven was going to school but they weren’t able to go to school during the lockdown.
“This funding will enable us to employ a specialist Children and Young People’s Independent Domestic Violence Advocate to help tackle the waiting lists from these more complex cases that we have been seeing.”
The other successful organisations are:
- Juno Women’s Aid (over £272,000 for two Family Court Independent Domestic Violence Advocate, one for adults and one for children and young people)
- Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid (more than £184,000 for a Family Court Independent Domestic Violence Advocate and a 0.5 full-time equivalent Independent Domestic Violence Advocate for children and young people).
- Nottingham Muslim Women’s Network (over £78,000 for a domestic abuse support worker)
- We R Here (nearly £59,000 for domestic abuse therapy in the county area)
- Nottingham Women’s Centre (nearly £109,000 for domestic abuse therapy in the city and county south areas, as well as group work and resources).
- Al-Hurraya (over £186,000 for a support worker to help women access commissioned services, domestic abuse therapy, and some officer time for safeguarding and monitoring).
- Imara (more than £325,000 for a family therapist for children and young people affected by sexual violence, an additional therapist to cover domestic abuse and sexual violence for children and young people and an Independent Sexual Violence Advocate for children and young people).
- Nottinghamshire Sexual Violence Support Services (£525,000 for counsellors and support workers for group sessions, to manage waiting lists).
- She UK (nearly £65,000 for Sexual Violence Advocate therapy in Bassetlaw).
The funding comes after Ministry of Justice asked Police and Crime Commissioners to conduct a needs assessment exercise with local support services, assess for eligibility, prioritise funding requests and then submit a bid for funding on their behalf. The successful applicants have now been announced and funding given out via Police and Crime Commissioners.
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry said: “We are delighted to have secured such a huge amount of money for Nottinghamshire.
“These services have seen an increase in demand over recent years and this funding just shows the national recognition of how stretched these important services have become, particularly as a result of the pandemic.
“This funding of over £2 million will allow local services to employ more Independent Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse Advocates to offer professional support for local people, as well as counselling and therapy.
“It means more people can access help when they need it most. This is a big boost for my Make Notts Safe Plan, which includes supporting vulnerable victims of crime as one of its fundamental aims.”
Posted on Monday 4th July 2022