MORE than 30 specialist victim-survivor services across Northumbria will share a total funding pot of over £3.6 million for the next year to provide emotional, practical and therapeutic support to victims of crime, including children and young people.
Everyturn and Children NE are two children and young people services which have been commissioned by Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Susan Dungworth, to support younger victims of crime across the Northumbria region, recognising the importance of age-appropriate support.
Through the PCC’s Supporting Victims Programme funding, they will help young people affected by crime who often require tailored counselling, emotional support and advocacy.
The PCC recently visited the two services at their new Safe Haven centre in Westgate Road, Newcastle known as ‘Nook’ which is a new mental health service commissioned by North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) launched earlier this year.
During the visit both organisations spoke about the range of expressive and therapeutic approaches they use to help children communicate and process their feelings in ways that feel natural and safe.
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Susan Dungworth, said her Supporting Victims Programme is about improving access to tailored support benefiting victims of all ages.
She said: “By working in partnership with local organisations I want to build stronger, more resilient victim services across the region for everyone, wherever you’re from, however old you are. We’ve done lots of work to see where we can be offering more help, and ensuring we have strong provisions in place for young people came up in our services review. Whether that is supporting mental health needs of young people or helping those in abusive relationships at a young age, we are making sure the support is there like we know it is for adults.
She added: “Both Everyturn and Children NE are tapping into the needs of our younger victims, and I hope with early interventions supporting young people impacted by crime, we can prevent the effects of crime continuing into adulthood.”
Rachel Leslie, Operational Lead – Therapeutic Services Children NE, said:
“Children North East are funded by the OPCC to deliver work for children and young people from both the supporting victims fund and from NHSE delivering our specialist sexual abuse project SAFE. Our service continues to see a growing demand for specialist support, with a sharp rise in younger children being referred into the service.
As the service has expanded, so has its reputation for high‑quality, compassionate care. The team remains committed to delivering holistic, child‑centred support, ensuring every child, young person and their family receives a tailored response that reflects their needs and experiences. The service continues to provide a strong offer of trauma‑focused therapies, recognising their essential role in helping children and young people recover from traumatic events and help nurture healthy, positive relationships as they grow.”
Mandy Coppin, Head of Childrens’ Services, Everyturn (formerly Streetwise), said: “By being able to provide early intervention counselling and group work support for young victims of crime has significantly made a difference in their lives, helping them to cope and recover, understand what has happened to them, rebuild their confidence, social networks and access to education, training and/or employment. Early intervention helps protect our young people from becoming repeat victims of crime and definitely help build positive relationships for their futures”.
The Supporting Victims Programme combines allocations from the Ministry of Justice Victims Fund and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) funding.
It’s hoped the new funding programme will run from 2026 to 2029 (dependent on Central Government funding), giving local services the stability they need to plan ahead and provide quicker, better support for victims helping towards reducing waiting times, easing pressures on frontline services, and ensuring help is available when people need it most.
Victims can search the Victim Services Directory to find the best support to meet their needs.
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