On Monday, 27th June we learned from Rebecca Bayley, Head of Service at Beacon, Hertfordshire Victim Care Centre, about the work they do https://hertfordshirebeacon.org/. Catch22 is the victim care service provider for Beacon in Hertfordshire (and other counties).
Rebecca told us about the innovative work Beacon are doing to support victims in the County, including victims of violence and abuse. They do ground breaking work particularly with women and girls and other vulnerable groups. Their Beacon Family hub works with children about violence in families and they also have a Safeguarding Hub. 
If you would like Rebecca’s presentation please email sistalbans@hotmail.com Rebecca started with her own background, and that of the organisation. The need for the services they provide has grown and in 4 years they have grown from having 12 staff t0 23. Beacon work to the victims code of practice and help 
victims feel empowered as they work through the difficult criminal justice system (CJS). The Safeguarding Hub is for victims of domestic abuse. The Victim Care Team provide a single point of contact for victims so they only have to tell their story once – support is there for the victims, witnesses and relatives. A “needs assessment” is made so that support is based on need – this can include practical support like providing food vouchers. There were 2763 referrals last year and 64.7% of them accepted support – of these 185 were victims of sexual violence and 339 domestic abuse. Most cases have been referred to the police, but not all. Some cases are self-referred and some of these don’t want to report to the police.
victims feel empowered as they work through the difficult criminal justice system (CJS). The Safeguarding Hub is for victims of domestic abuse. The Victim Care Team provide a single point of contact for victims so they only have to tell their story once – support is there for the victims, witnesses and relatives. A “needs assessment” is made so that support is based on need – this can include practical support like providing food vouchers. There were 2763 referrals last year and 64.7% of them accepted support – of these 185 were victims of sexual violence and 339 domestic abuse. Most cases have been referred to the police, but not all. Some cases are self-referred and some of these don’t want to report to the police.Rebecca spoke about some of the pilot projects which she is, rightly, very proud of and hopes can be rolled out further. Pilots projects include fraud, anti-social behaviour and restorative 
justice.
justice.Violence against women and girls increased massively with COVID lockdown – including the impact of sexual imagery, misogyny, children who have witnessed domestic abuse. Beacon supports children age 4+. Rebecca described some home environments as “pressure cookers” and people behaving with “cabin fever” which made it sound very real.
The Beacon Family Hub is a new service, started last August – following increased reports of child on parent violence. At one time if child on parent violence was reported they weren’t able to work with the child, only the victims – but now they can provide whole family support. Unfortunately reporting stats on this type of abuse are not yet available because they are not flagged. Most cases Beacon have supported are adolescent son-on-mother – but not all. Support is based on non-violent resistance – de-escalation, reconciliation, prioritising behaviours – with, for example, parents reminding children they still love them and it is the the behaviour that they don’t like.
After Rebecca had delivered her presentation there were lots of questions from the Soroptimists (as always).Q. Can children self-refer? A. Yes but under 13’s need a parent involved and for 13-15 year olds we assess Gillick competency.
Q. Has the recent Domestic Abuse Act made a difference? Yes – we’ve had more referrals with children and young people as they are being recognised as victims in their own right.
Q. Does Beacon support racially abused victims? A. Yes – they support victims of all hate crimes. Only the Nottinghamshire Police are recording misogyny as a hate crime so this needs to addressed across all counties.
Q. Does Beacon support victims of elder abuse? A. Yes – something that also increased with COVID lockdown.
Q. Support for parents with children who are violent and autistic? A. Yes – many very difficult situations have to be addressed and families supported.
Concerns were shared about the low prosecution rates for rape victims – with a hope that things can improve with data being provided from projects like the Domestic Violence Court Observation Project and the work of the Victims Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird (more below).
There is information at the bottom of this page about How to access Beacon Victim Care.
We have already started a dialogue with Rebecca about areas in which we could work together to help make a difference locally.
Beacon is based in Welwyn Garden City on the site with the Herts Police HQ and Rebecca hopes to get them involved with our “Orange the World Campaign” 16 Days of Action against gender based violence https://sigbi.org/st-albans-and-district/2022/orange22/
We also informed Rebecca about the Special Domestic Abuse Court Observation Project that Soroptimists from our Club and Region are conducting – a project spearheaded by Victims Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird when she was Police & Crime Commissioner of Newcastle. Dame Vera is also a Soroptimist, a Member of the Greater London Club, and is encouraging Soroptimists across the country to undertake similar evidence collection. This is something that Rebecca says her Commissioner is interested in doing – so we will be looking for ways to work together.
Helen Byrne, one of our job-share Club Presidents, chaired the meeting and thanked Rebecca for her fascinating talk. Helen said “It was good to hear that we have such a well planned, compassionate and innovative service for victims in Hertfordshire. There were lots of very positive comments from Members and we all learned a great deal about an area close to our hearts.”How to access Beacon Victim Care:
Useful link for Beacon website: http://www.hertfordshirebeacon.org/
Email BeaconFamilyHub@catch-22.org.uk for a referral form. Referral forms to be sent to: Referrals.hertfordshirebeacon@catch22.cjsm.net or referrals.hertfordshirebeacon@catch-22.org.uk
- Professionals and members of the public can contact the Help Desk on 03000 11 55 55 (option 3) for advice and to self-refer.
- People can also refer via the website contact form or can email into hertfordshirebeacton@catch-22.org.uk
NEW – the Herts Beacon Assist app is designed to provide victims with support and detailed information on their rights as a victim of crime. Herts Beacon Assist is loaded with free information and you don’t need to have registered with Beacon to use it. Victims can connect with a support worker from the Hertfordshire Beacon Victim Care Service for free, personal support.