Nine projects have been awarded share of grant worth more than £2 million.

Nine projects with ambitious plans to tackle specific forms of abuse affecting children have been awarded a share of government grant funding in 2016 to 2018, worth more than £2 million.

While for many families the Christmas holidays are an exciting time, for some they bring an added threat of fear and abuse, as families spend more time together in close proximity. This time of year regularly sees a seasonal spike in domestic violence incidents reported to the police.

The grant funding from the Department for Education will support a range of projects, including a programme in Dorset run by the Children’s Society providing intensive support for almost 200 children and young people who have lived through issues relating to domestic violence and parental substance misuse.

The Tavistock Relationships project, based in London, will intervene with high-risk families experiencing repeated domestic violence, as well as training frontline workers in how to keep children safe.

And in Kent, Home Start UK will run a project to tackle domestic abuse and substance misuse aimed at fathers in low-income families to help prevent abuse and improve their involvement in parenting.

Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening said:

This funding will help us to support families that have experienced domestic violence, as well as helping to prevent abuse occurring in future. It’s people working with the most vulnerable in our society on the ground who are often best placed to trial new approaches to keeping them safe, and these 9 projects can make a real difference.

The projects will work directly with children, young people and their families, as well as schools, communities and social care professionals. Three projects will use the funding to tackle radicalisation in London, Lancashire and Walsall, 2 projects will address safeguarding young girls from female genital mutilation (FGM). The organisations are:

Midaye Somali Development Network
Foundation for Women’s Health Research Development (FORWARD)
Street Teams
Victim Support
Kidscape
Sheffield Futures
Home Start UK
The Church of England Children’s Society
Tavistock Relationships
Chief Operating Officer for The Children’s Society, Val Floy, said:

We are delighted to have been awarded funding to deliver ‘Reveal’, which will support children living in families affected by both substance misuse and domestic violence. This is a fantastic opportunity to deliver a pioneering service and make long-term sustainable improvements to the lives of the most vulnerable children and young people in the Dorset area.

Kidscape’s Director of Services, Peter Bradley said:

Our Extremism and Radicalisation Awareness programme builds upon our current safeguarding work in educational settings. We’re passionate about children’s safety and have been concerned for some time about young people who may be vulnerable to extremist ideologies. This new project will mean we are able to safeguard those young people who previously had little or no support.