West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion and Worcestershire County Council are pleased that national charity Cranstoun has been appointed to deliver a new approach to tackling domestic abuse.
‘Drive’ is a new multi-agency response to domestic abuse that encourages people to stop asking, “Why doesn’t she/he leave?” and start asking, “Why doesn’t he/she stop?”. It aims to reduce the number of victims by disrupting offender behaviour and both challenging and supporting perpetrators to change, whilst holding them to account.
Cranstoun, a national charity known for its work with those who have challenging or complex needs, has been awarded the contract for delivering the Drive project.
Commissioner John Campion said: “Awarding Cranstoun with the contract to deliver Drive is the next big step in getting the project underway. I’m looking forward to working together to implement this new project and, if we’re ever going to reduce the number of severity of incidences of domestic abuse, we need to target the source and get to the root of the problem with a strong organisation to help us achieve that.
“Putting victims and survivors first is a promise I made when I first came into office. Whilst there is some incredible support out there for victims, there is a glaring hole around working with perpetrators which is why I am pleased Drive is being introduced in an area of West Mercia.”
Annie Steele, Director of Operations for Cranstoun, said: “We are delighted to be a part of Drive and look forward to working with our multi-agency partners to successfully mobilise the service across Worcestershire. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to live healthy, safe and happy lives. By working with the perpetrators to enable positive change we can protect victims and children from experiencing abuse.”
Cllr John Smith, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Health and Wellbeing, said: “We are delighted that the contract to enable us to deliver the Drive project has been awarded to Cranstoun. We’re proud to be backing this campaign and commissioning with our colleagues at West Mercia Police to offer an innovative approach to working with perpetrators in order to prevent domestic violence in the future.”
The West Mercia Commissioner is working with the Public Health Directorate within the county council to establish the project in Worcestershire as part of a pilot later this year, with the aim of introducing it to the rest of West Mercia in the future.
Issued: Monday 9th July 2018
