Full Story here: Child sexual abuse charities face closure due to funding ‘stitch up’

Child sexual abuse charities have slammed a £2m Home Office fund, set up as part of Justice Lowell Goddard’s inquiry, labelling it a “stitch-up” that has left dozens of support groups facing closure. The sexual abuse victim support fund was announced by Theresa May to help struggling charities cope with the huge number of victims coming forward to give evidence to Britain’s biggest ever public inquiry, which began on Thursday.

Fay Maxted OBE quoted as stating:

“The Home Office has increased funding, and the Norfolk PCC funding should have helped out the specialist agencies providing these services but it didn’t,” said Fay Maxted OBE, chief executive of the Survivors Trust, a national umbrella group that represents 135 specialist abuse support groups across the UK.

She said: “It [funding] wasn’t awarded in the way that was most effective. A lot of agencies were disappointed that specialist agencies didn’t get funding. This has left them at risk. They haven’t had that funding and they’re still trying to cope with a huge increase in the number of people coming forward.

“The Home Office estimates the cost of sexual violence and abuse in billions – around £20bn. Think what proportion that £5m amounts to and it’s not a lot.”