THE FUNDING pot that the government has pledged to support domestic abuse victims who are 'trapped in a nightmare' at home during the coronavirus lockdown amounts to less than a million.

The Ministry of Justice announced this week that £814,000 are available for charities and community organisations in the Thames Valley area who support victims of this type of abuse.

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Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld, who faced a misconduct hearing in February, said: "We know that the lockdown will mean that there could be increases in cases of domestic abuse and sexual violence which, of course, is extremely concerning."

The funding is for additional costs from the period of March 24 until October 31.

It aims to allow organisations to meet the extra costs they have incurred or will incur whilst adapting their services during the pandemic, and to cope with demand increases.

The financial boost can be used by charities to address short term income disruption and to adapt to to remote and digital working.

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The PCC is now inviting organisations to apply for the help on thamesvalley-pcc.gov.uk/get-involved/covid-19-fund-for-domestic-abuse-and-sexual-violence-services

Due to the emergency nature of the funding, the deadline for the applications is 12pm on Wednesday, June 3.