Cleveland Victim Support Goes Online
Services for victims across Cleveland have been brought together by the click of a mouse, thanks to a new online directory funded by Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger.
The Cleveland Victim Services Directory, www.cvsd.co.uk, hosts the contact details of charities, groups and specialists from across the area, who all offer support to people who have experienced crime or antisocial behaviour.
It is hoped that the directory will help people who are continuing to feel the significant effects of crime, regardless of when the crime occurred, or whether they had support at the time. The directory will also bring together all useful information in one place for community groups and local agencies.
The Police and Crime Commissioner has teamed-up with Victim Support to develop the website. It features safeguards such as an ‘exit button’ to leave the page quickly, which is helpful to victims of domestic abuse, who may not want perpetrators to see that they are on the site. The site also uses Google Translate so the whole website can be changed into different languages if required.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, Barry Coppinger, said: “Victims of crime can feel the lasting effects long after the offender has been dealt with. It can cause anxiety, financial pressure, fear, and can negatively impact on mental health.
“The advice and support available across Cleveland is second to none, but we needed a directory to bring them all together in one place and the website is a modern way to fill the gap.
“Across Cleveland we have excellent partnership arrangements with many organisations working together to support the communities that we live in. The directory is therefore not only useful to victims themselves but also organisations that help to support victims with often multiple and complex needs.
“There will continue to be a great deal of work to build on the website throughout 2015, to uphold my commitment of raising awareness of victim’s services across the area”.
During a recent visit to Victim Support’s Stockton Branch, Barry Coppinger heard firsthand how their services had helped a local man who had been assaulted and property stolen from him.
“Many people need to know this information but don’t always know where to go to get it” said Abdo.
Sarah, a volunteer with Victim Support who has been offering support commented that “having a directory like this helps you get the information together swiftly and it really helps people to know they are not alone and there are organisations who are out there that can help you feel safe again”.
The Cleveland Victim Service Directory can be accessed via www.cvsd.co.uk