Region awarded more than £1.5m to deliver domestic abuse intervention programmes

Greater Manchester has been awarded more than £1.5m funding to help run special programmes aimed at preventing domestic abuse.

A total of £1,516,549 is being provided by the Home Office to support the roll out of schemes designed to stop domestic abuse from happening through preventative work with perpetrators.

Specialist providers will work with Local Authorities to deliver the programmes on behalf of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and will focus on adult domestic abuse perpetrator interventions, as well as work with young perpetrators.

The programmes will look at the root causes of domestic abuse and focus on changing behaviour.

The work with adults will take part in the areas of Oldham, Bolton, Bury, Tameside, Trafford and Rochdale, while the schemes targeted at young people will take place across Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Tameside and Trafford.

One of the delivery partners will be the Charity TLC: Talk, Listen, Change.

Bev Hughes, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, said: “This is a significant amount of funding which will help deliver programmes to help stop domestic abuse inflicted both by adults and adolescents.

"By working with local authorities, TLC: Talk, Listen, Change and the other providers, we will be able to reach adults and young people while focussing on the root causes of domestic abuse.

“Domestic violence is a horrific experience and a crime that tarnishes the lives of all those that are affected by it, including children who witness violence within their families.

"By working with people to change their behaviour we can prevent it from happening in the first place.”

Michelle Hill, Chief Executive Officer of charity TLC: Talk Listen, Change, said: “We are extremely grateful to have received this funding, which will enable us to expand the reach of our domestic abuse work across Greater Manchester.

"This will include developing our expertise in working with perpetrators and young people using harm from a variety of communities, while prioritising the safety of victims, survivors and children who have experienced domestic abuse.”

A total of £992,500 of the funding will go towards the provision of programmes targeting adult perpetrators of domestic abuse.

The programme will involve one-to-one and group sessions, with the ultimate aim of preventing further crimes from being committed.

GMCA has also received £524,499 to deliver programmes aimed at children and young people, with the schemes focusing on intervention work with young people who use harm in their relationships with their parents or carers and with their intimate partners

This builds on the existing work GMCA has already undertaken on tackling domestic abuse in the city-region. In November last year more than £1m was awarded to TLC: Talk, Listen, Change to deliver programmes that also addressed the behaviour of domestic abuse perpetrators.

These programmes included one-to-one work with female perpetrators in heterosexual or same sex relationships, and group work with heterosexual men.

Support was also made available to victims of domestic abuse who were at risk of harm in their own homes during the coronavirus lockdown.

In October 2020 emergency funding was allocated to charities in the city-region to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence to adapt their services while the pandemic continues.

A total of £571,196 was allocated to 26 organisations by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which enabled them to adapt services and improve digital capabilities for remote working.

If you, or someone you know, is feeling anxious and unsafe in their home, visit: gmvictims.org.uk (opens new page) or call 0161 200 1950 for help and advice, including how to access local support services.

You don’t have to report anything to the police if you don’t want to.

If you, or someone you know, has come to harm or is at risk of coming to harm, you can report this to GMP via their Livechat facility at gmp.police.uk (opens new page)  or call 101.

If you, or someone else is in immediate danger always dial 999.

If you are calling 999 from a mobile phone and you are unable to speak, you can use the Silent Solution by pressing 55 when prompted.

Once you press 55, the operator will then transfer the call to the relevant police force as an emergency.

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