Victim Support

Victim Support is a National charity (Charity No 298028) which seeks to offer free and confidential help to victims of crime, their family, friends and anyone else affected. We give information, emotional support and practical help. You don’t have to report a crime to the police to get our help and can get support at any time, whenever the crime happened. We are not a government agency or part of the police.

We have offices right across England and Wales running and co-ordinating our local services. We run the Witness Service in every criminal court to help people called as witnesses. Our Victim Supportline (0845 30 30 900) gives immediate help over the phone and puts people in touch with our local teams.

We also campaign for greater rights for victims and witnesses and to raise awareness.

In Cornwall we have several services.

Our Community Service has trained volunteers who provide support, information and practical assistance to anyone who has been a victim of crime. Most of our referrals come from the Police, but we welcome self-referrals.

Our Witness Service offers support to victims and witnesses attending both Crown and Magistrates’ Courts. Going to court can be a very stressful experience and the Witness Service Volunteers are trained to work within court procedures, to offer support to any one called to give evidence.

The Witness Support Service in the Coroners’ Court offers assistance to families, friends and other witnesses attending inquests.

The SUsie (Survivors Supported into Empowerment, Education, Employment) Project aims to support women who have experienced Domestic Violence/Abuse, to overcome barriers to learning and employment by developing skills which enhance self-esteem, challenge anxieties and establish support pathways to enable progression. It also works with employers and the community, to raise awareness of difficulties facing women survivors of Domestic Violence/Abuse.

The Safe Project (Safe Relationships and Friendships for Everyone) works to develop and deliver a resource package for the use in secondary schools to raise awareness of the issues surrounding domestic violence/abuse and healthy relationships and to offer support to young people who disclose being caught up in domestic abuse situations. This project has been established with funding from Comic Relief.