Essex

We give emotional and practical help to people who have been affected by crime in Essex.

We’re an independent charity and you can contact us for support regardless of whether you’ve contacted the police, and no matter how long ago the crime took place. We’ll help you for as long as it takes to overcome the impact of crime. 

Last year we offered immediate support to nearly 25,000 people affected by crime in Essex, and gave in-depth support to over 3,000 people.

If you call your local Victim Support team, we’ll make sure you get the information and support you need. This might be arranging a meeting for you to talk to us and receive emotional support in confidence, helping you to fill out a compensation form or get advice on how to make your home more secure, or referring you to other specialist organisations that can also help. 

As well as offering emotional and practical support to people affected by crime, we run a number of specialist services in Essex, including:

• Children and Young People Caseworker

A worker dedicates solely to the support of victims of crime under the age of 18, their parents, guardians or carers. The post covers the whole county.

• Hate Crime Champion

Working within the county’s multi-agency strategic hate crime partnership, this post supports the wider understanding of hate crimes and their impact and reach, including identifying what services are required and how they are best delivered.

We work with a number of partner organisations in Essex to make sure you get the support you need.

Find out more about some of the services and organisations we work with:

• Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex

The elected role that holds the police to account for their services but also has the statutory responsibility to ensure victims of crime are supported to cope and recover.

• Essex Police

The police refer victims on to Victim Support and play an integral role in ensuring victims of crime can access the support they need.

• Essex County Council

Information on services in your local area.

• Oakwood Place - Sexual Assault Referral Centre

Resource for male, female, adults, children and young people who have been sexually assaulted.

• COMPASS

​Support services for victims of Domestic Abuse.

• Family Mosaic

Care and support to help people to live more independently.

• Neighbourhood Watch

Reducing opportunities for crime across the county.

The Strategic Hate Crime Prevention Partnership, of which Victim Support is a member, has developed a strategy for tackling hate crime across Essex between 2018 and 2021.  This strategy and accompanying action plan will address how services respond to hate crime within Essex and will be monitored by the Strategic Hate Crime Prevention Partnership, under of the governance of Safer Essex.