Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw, is bringing together organisations from across Lancashire to ensure young people in the county will be able to access specialist support if they have been a victim of crime.
Five organisations will form the new Lancashire Victim Services for young people and these are:
- Groundwork
- Lancashire MIND
- Pendle Action for the Community
- Key Unlocking Futures
- Strawberry Fields Training
- U R Potential
Together they will provide advice, support and counselling specially tailored to young people’s needs. As part of the service, training will be given to voluntary organisations across Lancashire to ensure they know how to offer immediate support and advice to young victims, and young people themselves will be trained as peer mentors.
Youngsters are involved in the development of the service from the very start and will continue to provide input as the service is developed.
Clive Grunshaw said: “I want to make sure that everyone who has been left hurt or upset following a crime is able to access the support they need to help them move on.
“We know that young people access support services in different ways and that the services they require are different to those currently available.
“The new service is designed to ensure that every young person in the county will be able to access tailored support that is right for them if they have been affected by crime in any way.”
The service is not limited to specific types of crime and can be accessed regardless of whether the young person has been to the police.
Young people will be able to access a range of support including counselling and advice, assistance in dealing with the criminal justice system, building confidence and resilience, peer to peer mentoring and social activity sessions.
The new service will form part of Lancashire Victim Services which was established by the Commissioner in 2015 to provide support to victims and witnesses of crime across Lancashire.
Anyone affected by crime can contact Lancashire Victim Services on 0300 323 0085 or visithttps://www.lancashirevictimservices.org.
