CONTRACTS have been let to help victims of domestic abuse in Tenbury and the Teme Valley.

The contract for the Worcestershire Domestic Abuse Service has been awarded to a partnership between West Mercia Women’s Aid and Rooftop Housing Group.

This service is funded from the public health grant to Worcestershire County Council.

The new service brings together the existing West Midlands Women’s Aid team with colleagues from Rooftop, who have taken on the service previously provided by Stonham Home Group in the county.

The new service will include a strong focus on working in partnership, using supported volunteering opportunities to harness the knowledge, skills and newly-acquired confidence of service users as they move into independence and self-reliance.

In this way, service development and future shaping can be directly influenced by those who understand users’ needs from their lived experience.

The new service will continue to operate the single ‘front door’ to domestic abuse services through West Mercia Women’s Aid helpline 0800 980 3331.

Refuges in Worcester and Kidderminster are also a key feature of the service and continue to provide emergency accommodation for women and children.

The male victim service previously run by Stonham will continue to be delivered and a new male victim helpline number will be set up in the near future.

In the meantime, male victims can continue to access services through the 0800 980 3331 Helpline number.

The new service will continue to support women and children in the community and satellite accommodation units will be a feature of the service in the future.