DOMESTIC abuse support services in Southend will soon be getting a huge boost after a £20,000 investment and hopefully new individually tailored services.

After finding extra funds, Southend Council is hoping to improve their services provided for residents as they look to re-tender their domestic abuse service contract.

This will see the development of new prevention and awareness programmes and provide tailored emergency and crisis help to Southend residents on an individual basis.

These tailored services will mean the current 22 bed refuge would not be necessary and allow money that is currently being spent supporting victims from other areas to pay for these new services.

At the current time the refuge is rarely used by Southend residents, but is paid for by the council, taking up over 90 per cent of the domestic abuse services budget.

Over the last 16 months, only eight per cent of spaces in the refuge have been taken up by residents of Southend and the council is therefore working with other authorities to ensure that non Southend residents continue to receive the appropriate support they need.

Lesley Salter, councillor responsible for Adult Social Care, is delighted that more money is being spent in this area and that hopefully more victims will now get the support they need.

She said: “This change will also mean that we can create new support services that we do not currently have with better services for male victims, older victims, working victims and women under 35 for example.

“Along with providing these much needed improved services, it will also ensure that local taxpayers money is being spent helping people from Southend, which is only right.”

The councillor said the changes will take a while but will be worth it.

She continued:“We are one of the only areas to still have a centralised refuge facility, and as a consequence other local areas that have long since closed theirs are placing their residents in our facility and the council is paying for that.

“These changes will not happen overnight and we will put processes in place to ensure that any victims currently in the centre that want to remain locally will be able to do so.”