More than £4 million is to be invested in services in Salford to prevent and tackle domestic abuse over the next five years.
Salford City Council, Salford NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Greater Manchester Police, which jointly fund the service, have awarded a five-year,£4.165 million contract to Salford Foundation to lead the new service and terminating the contract with Salford Women’s Aid that has been in place since the 1970’s.
Under this new way of working, which will start from 1 April 2022, the 30-year-old social inclusion charity will work with the Pankhurst Trust, TLC: Talk, Listen Change, which supports children and young people, and Trafford Domestic Abuse Services (TDAS) to provide and co-ordinate a wide range of services for adult and child survivors and perpetrators who want to change their behaviour. All services will be based in Salford.
Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods and community safety, said the service will make it easier for people to reach out for help, avoid having to repeat their story to different organisations and provide more specialist and holistic support.
“All four organisations have decades of experience and will work closely together to make sure survivors and their families get the confidential, personalised emotional and practical support they need for as long as they need it,” he said.
“There will be specialist services for children and young people who live with domestic abuse or who, as a result of their experiences, are starting to harm others.
“An early help service will try to prevent domestic abuse starting or escalating and there will be separate specialist services to work with perpetrators to help them understand and change their behaviour.
“Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, men or women, of any age and any background but there is help to overcome it.”
Dr Tom Tasker, Chair of NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘’NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, alongside our partner agencies, remain committed to working towards eliminating domestic abuse in Salford.
‘’We recognise the considerable impact of domestic abuse on health and wellbeing and will continue to invest where required to improve our integrated offer to individuals and families across Salford.
‘’This supports our partnerships vision for Salford to be a better place to live and grow up and grow old.’’
Phil East, CEO of Salford Foundation said:
“I am delighted that we have been able to form such a great partnership, building on the different strengths and specialisms of our individual charities. Domestic abuse continues to be a significant issue in Salford, affecting people from all backgrounds and contributing to a wide range of harms, disadvantages and poor outcomes. Collectively, we are determined to create a step–change in tackling domestic abuse in Salford.”
Chief Superintendent Shaun Donnellan from GMP’s Salford District, said: “Domestic abuse remains one of the highest priorities for Greater Manchester Police (GMP), and I would like to reassure all victims that help and support is available.
“The city of Salford has a strong and established partnership committed to providing excellent services, and this new approach reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that people who need help get it swiftly by an innovative, holistic approach. Any action we can take to protect victims of domestic abuse is welcomed and will play a significant part in keeping the people of Salford safe.
“GMP, alongside partners, continue to drive forward research and adapt our approaches to ensure we are providing the best possible service for victims. We are committed to working together to make sure people have the confidence to speak out and know where to go for help and support, as well as working to reduce instances of domestic abuse through prevention and rehabilitative programmes.”
