A REGIONAL charity helping domestic abuse victims has welcomed a funding boost received from the police and crime commissioner.

West Mercia Women's Aid received £60,777 from PCC John Campion to help continue their work supporting victims of domestic abuse across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

During the coronavirus crisis, this money went towards hiring additional staff, buying new equipment and ensuring their refuges were kept open.

Chief executive Sue Coleman said: "The money from the PCC was used to develop specialist safety for high-risk victims of domestic abuse.

"A lot of our work is remote anyway, usually by phone, so a lot of our support work could continue along the same lines.

"We were also able to keep people in our refuges throughout, with social distancing, but most of our work has been remote."

With the country being required to stay indoors, many victims found themselves permanently in the house with their abusers, something Mrs Coleman said Women's Aid recognises is even harder than it would have been before lockdown.

She added: "Lockdown, designed to keep us safe has, in stark contrast, the potential to place one vulnerable group - those living in abusive relationships - at greater risk of harm.

"If you are living in an abusive relationship, it's always hard to make contact with people outside, so it's going to be harder now because the abusive partner is likely to be present all the time.

"Our Helpline is running across West Mercia and everyone that works for us has access to the technology to enable them to continue to contact women and families.

"Supporting families in refuge and safe accommodation is more challenging but not impossible. Residents already shop for themselves and take care of their own families like everyone else, and those in refuge will still have regular contact with someone they know and trust from Women’s Aid. Women are still being admitted to refuge as long as they have not been advised to self-isolate.

"WMWA is still open for business, if not quite business as usual. We are working hard to ensure that those who need us can still get support."

And remember - if you are afraid for your safety, call 999. The Police are still responding to domestic abuse calls."

WMWA Helpline for Worcestershire: 0800 980 3331