Groups which help victims of crime to share £400,000 collected from offenders

Eight organisations which help victims of crime are sharing a fund worth more than £400,000 collected from court fines levied on offenders.

The organisations benefitting from the £405,451 sum include Victim Support Scotland, Migrant Help and two Women’s Aid groups.

Other beneficiaries include the Manda Centre, which helps people affected by trauma and loss; as well as the Moira Fund, which was established in memory of Moira Jones, who was murdered in Glasgow in 2008.

It is the fourth round of payments from the victim surcharge fund.

Set up by the Scottish Government in 2019, the scheme distributes money taken from additional penalties imposed on offenders who receive a fine in court.

Victims Minister Siobhian Brown said: “I am pleased the fund has provided support to so many people. Since financial awards were first made in January 2021, 14 different victim support organisations have benefited from this fund –  all of which have used the money to help people impacted by crime.

“It is only right that the people who commit crimes should pay towards helping those impacted to recover from the trauma and move on with their lives.”

Kate Wallace, chief executive of Victim Support Scotland (VSS), said: “Funding to VSS emergency assistance fund made it possible to reach more than 1,400 victims of crime and their families with awards last year totalling over £400,000.

“Too many people face financial hardship as a result of crime, and this funding allows us to cover the costs of essential items such as food vouchers, rent, property repairs, alarms and funeral costs.”