SURVIVORS of rape and sexual abuse in the county are being put more at risk because the council has not handed over the emergency funding it promised, a crisis-hit support service has said.
The West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (WMRSASC) said it was “very disappointed” to have still not received £100,000 from Worcestershire County Council to help the struggling service despite a pledge by councillors more than two months ago.
In June, WMRSASC said it would no longer be taking on more people for counselling due to a lack of money and was in desperate need of at least £800,000 to meet current demand and clear the waiting list.
County councillors promised to help WMRSASC in a bid to clear its backlog and reopen its waiting list but cannot do so without extra funding.
The service said: “We were led to believe that Worcestershire County Council had pledged £100,000 however we have since been informed that whilst funding had potentially been identified that no formal commitment or decision has been made.
“We cannot help but feel that the longer the delay, the less chance there is of funding being received particularly when comments are made about ‘not being sure what impact the closure of our list will have on other mental health services’ or ‘how many people will be affected’.
“It is very disappointing, but we are hopeful that the council will fulfil its original pledge, especially given the level of support received from elected councillors on July 15."
However, the council said it was working with partners Herefordshire Council, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion, and NHS partners to support the centre.
Councillor Karen May, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “We don’t want anyone to feel they have to suffer in silence, and we are committed to working with partners to understand the need in this area in Worcestershire and plan a sustainable long term way forward.
We’ve made some great progress working with partners over the last few years to provide preventative as well as community services in a number of key areas and we’re really keen for this to continue where we can.”
WMRSASC said a combined funding boost of £220,000 from Herefordshire Council and West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion has allowed staff to allocate some survivors in Worcestershire and Herefordshire to counsellors and the service hopes to reopen its waiting list in Herefordshire soon.
“Prior to closing the waiting list, we were receiving, on average, around 55 referrals for women, men and children aged five and above every month.
“We know that every month we remain closed, vulnerable survivors are left without support.”
“All funding from the police and crime commissioner and Herefordshire County Council is being used to provide much needed direct counselling support to survivors.
“Sadly, we do not currently have sufficient funding to consider reopening the Worcestershire counselling waiting list.”
WMRSASC said it has met with health bosses over securing long-term funding for the support service and the county’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are “scoping” the need for sexual violence services.
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