£2.85 million announced for families bereaved by homicide
9 Jun 2014 01:10 PM
Victims’ Minister
Damian Green has announced a £2.85 million Homicide Service grant for
families bereaved by homicide.
Thousands of people bereaved by
homicide will be able to access unprecedented levels of expert support,
following the award of the £2.85 million Homicide Service
grant.
The Homicide Service has been
specifically designed to help families cope with the loss of a loved one
through murder or manslaughter, and will ensure a range of emotional, practical
and specialist support is available.
Run by Victim Support the
service will assess each individual’s needs and offer specialist,
practical and emotional help – from dedicated counselling to liaising
with schools and employers, financial advice or help with childcare
arrangements. The grant also, for the first time, includes peer support where
people who have suffered a similar trauma can draw upon their own experiences
to give first-hand support and assistance.
The Homicide Service will also
provide support to families where the homicide has occurred abroad, including
liaison with foreign judicial processes. Combined together, this will ensure
the greatest level of care for bereaved families, both in the immediate
aftermath and longer term after a death.
Victims’ Minister Damian
Green said:
Homicide is a most heinous crime
that rips the heart from families, and often from a whole community. It is
vital that there is specialist help and support available immediately after the
death, but also moving forward to help those bereaved move on with their
lives.
In addition to making more money
than ever before available to victims of homicide, both here and on foreign
soil, we have increased the amount available to victims of crime across the
board, with the aim to double what we currently spend.
More than 4,800 people have
received some form of help following the establishment of the current Homicide
Service in 2010. As of February this year around 2,600 were still receiving
support through the service.
The funding will be made up of
£2.75 million per year provided by the Ministry of Justice and
£100,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to help those bereaved
by a homicide abroad.
Victims’ Commissioner
Baroness Newlove said:
The grief and pain of losing a
loved one to homicide can never be fully healed.
But this service can help those
bereaved regain the strength they need to keep going - a day at a
time.
Victims tell me they want
support at the right time and in the right way, both at home and overseas. I
will be looking closely at whether this service is up to the standard they
expect.
Jeff Gardner, Director of Victim
Support’s Homicide Service, said:
Families bereaved by murder or
manslaughter need specialist support to help them cope, to recover and
ultimately to rebuild their lives.
The decision to commission our
charity is recognition of the expertise and commitment of our staff and
volunteers. Their skills and compassion have already helped hundreds of
families to cope in the aftermath of losing a loved one, and they will go on to
help thousands more people.
Victim Support will continue to
work closely with its partners to ensure the support we give in each tragic
case is tailored to the needs of the individual and that we provide a seamless
service for them across the criminal justice system.
Notes to
editors
For further information or to
request an interview please contact the Ministry of Justice Press Office on 020
3334 3536.
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The grant is made up of
£2.75 million each year from the Ministry of Justice and £100,000 a
year from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It will be in place until 31
March 2017 with a possible extension of up to 2 more years.
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The figures on numbers of people
using the service are from the period October 2010 to the end of April
2014.
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For more information on the
Homicide Service please contact the Victim Support press office on 020 7268
0202