Domestic abuse services to expand across county

Survivors of domestic abuse will be able to access face-to-face support across all six county districts for the first time.

The specialist help will be available across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough as a result of a £300,0000 government grant.

The office of the county's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and Cambridgeshire County Council said the money would build on existing models of support delivered by three local charities.

Darryl Preston, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's PCC, said the funds would "enable victims and survivors to speak to specialist support staff in real life".

"It is important to remove geographical barriers wherever possible," the Conservative PCC said.

"There is always a place for digital and telephone-based support, but this helps people make connections with others and create peer-support networks at the same time," Preston added.

The grant, which will be shared over two years, will enable survivors to access help in Huntingdonshire, Fenland, Cambridge, Peterborough, as well as south and east Cambridgeshire.

In Peterborough and Fenland, Peterborough Women's Aid will deliver the support, while The Angels Foundation will provide help in Huntingdonshire and east Cambridgeshire.

The Meadows Children and Family Wing will continue their work in Cambridge and offer face-to-face work in south Cambridgeshire.

The support would include structured group work and unstructured group sessions, wellbeing walks and monthly drop-in groups for male victims.

Liberal Democrat Alison Whelan, the chair of the county council's Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee, said: "This important resource adds to the existing support available to victims of domestic abuse through the council's commissioned domestic abuse outreach service and in-house independent domestic violence adviser service."

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.