According to the latest figures presented to Embrace Child Victims of Crime’s board of trustees, almost 2,500 services were provided to children and families across the UK between September and December including emotional support, counselling, food and clothing vouchers, books, toys, Christmas gifts and theme park days out.
A total of 1,120 referrals were made to the charity from police, teachers and other safeguarding professionals asking for support for 2,199 children and families affected by crimes including sexual abuse, domestic abuse, violent crimes, assault and other serious crimes.
Charity bosses said they had seen a 20 per cent increase in demand for services compared to the same period in the previous year.
Anne Campbell, Chief Executive of Embrace Child Victims of Crime, said: “As we had predicted the cost of living crisis is hitting families hard and none more so than the families we support.
“Sadly, many of those families are doubly disadvantaged because as well as trying to overcome their traumatic experiences they are also struggling because of rising costs of all the basics including food and heating their homes.
“We also had a record number of referrals for our Dear Santa 2022 campaign as families worried about keeping the magic of Christmas alive in such challenging times.Thankfully our generous corporate supporters and fundraisers rose to the challenge enabling us to provide gifts for over 1,900 children.We continue to look at ways we can expand and grow our services to meet this worrying growth in demand.”
Embrace Child Victims of Crime works with children who have suffered trauma because of crime. They may be grieving the loss of their mum, dad, brother, sister or other family member killed through crime.
They might have experienced sexual, physical or emotional abuse, violence or exploitation or have been living in a home torn apart by domestic abuse. These children have had to deal with often unimaginable horrors in their young lives and agencies such as the police, social services or support charities refer them to Embrace to get the help and support they need.
To find out more about the support Embrace offers visit www.embracecvoc.org.uk.
You can also call our helpline on 0345 60 999 60 from Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm.
