A NEW headquarters for the Victim Support Suffolk service will officially open next week meaning more on-call help is available for crime victims.
A NEW headquarters for the Victim Support Suffolk service will officially open next week meaning more on-call help is available for crime victims.
The charity, which provides practical and emotional support to victims of crime across the county, is joining forces with the other branches in the UK to form a new single national organisation.
As part of this reorganisation, all the administrative duties in Suffolk have been transferred from offices previously located in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, and Lowestoft, to one main central office in Stowmarket.
The new office in Prentice Road is being opened by Lord Tollemache, the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, at 11am on Wednesday, December 19.
Staff and volunteers will still be based at strategic points around Suffolk to enable personal contact with victims of crime.
The extra services, which will be rolled out nationally over the next six months, are designed to assess the needs of victims of crime more effectively, and increase the level of both emotional and practical help for those in need.
Nicky Reed, the newly appointed Victim Support Suffolk services manager, said: “These new enhanced services, backed by government, extend our on-call hours from 8am to 8pm.
“Victims who report crimes to the police will be contacted directly by telephone at the earliest possible time to find out if they need our help. A greater range of practical help will be on offer, which will be tailored to suite individual circumstances.”
Specially trained volunteers will also provide face-to-face support.
Victim Support Suffolk, which was set up 20 years ago, aims to work with police to contact each of the 15,000 victims of crime in Suffolk every year.
More volunteers are needed to cope with the increased workload and will receive full training.
If anyone is interested in volunteering or need to contact the service for help, they can call 0845 3899548.
N Have you ever been a victim of crime? Has the service helped you? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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