A SCHEME working with perpetrators of domestic abuse to change their behaviour and protect families will be developed in Cheshire after a successful funding bid.

Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane secured £233,000 in funding from the Home Office's perpetrator programme fund and he is also providing an additional £100,000 of funding to support the project.

The programme will work with those committing domestic abuse by working with the whole family to understand and tackle underlying issues and reduce further incidents.

Alongside this, there will also be specialist support for victims and children to increase their safety and resilience.

It will see perpetrator support offered across all areas of Cheshire, something that is not currently available.

A recent survey showed 89 per cent of service providers felt they should be working more with perpetrators of domestic abuse.

David Keane said: "Domestic abuse not only affects the victim, it can have a severe impact on the whole family, including children, and it often creates lasting harm.

"As we've been spending more time at home to reduce the spread of Covid-19, we have seen an increase in the number of domestic abuse incidents reported in Cheshire.

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"We need to do more to support families through these challenging times and we have to work with the perpetrator of the crime in order for them to understand the physical and emotional impact their behaviour is having on their partners and the entire family.

"This project will prioritise approaches which offer support for vulnerable victims and children alongside interventions for perpetrators to ensure that positive outcomes are achieved for the whole family."

You can contact your local domestic abuse support service, Cheshire East Domestic Abuse Hub on 0300 123 5101

Also if you need support and advice, you can also call Cheshire Police on 101 or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.