A DOMESTIC abuse charity has said a bigger slice of a £1m crime victims’ fund will provide a lifeline to help save women from serious violence.

Police and crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld this week announced which groups will get cash to support victims.

Oxford-based Reducing the Risk of Domestic Abuse had its share doubled from £25,000 earlier this year to £50,000.

It comes after it said it would help 200 more victims at high risk of serious violence or even murder at the hands of their partners.

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Chairwoman Romy Briant last night said the money would help protect vulnerable victims in a time when funding was hard to find.

She said: “It has been a temporary lifeline in a period of change in funding.

“It has helped to enable us to fund a key service to keep people safe in Oxfordshire. It is stopping homicides.”

It helped 99 people from January to June, she said, compared to 72 in the same period in 2013.

But the recession had hit funding and the charity – which costs at least £150,000 to run a year – relies on donations, trust funds, and grants.

It also received £123,000 from the fund to lead a project across the Thames Valley to support children involved by domestic abuse.

It comes as Oxfordshire County Council considers plans to cut annual funding for domestic abuse services by 40 per cent from £331,000 to £199,000 from April 2016.

In June, Mr Stansfeld announced more than £600,000 of funding across the Thames Valley area in the first payout of its kind.

Nearly £1m of funding has now been awarded to 32 projects from the region.

Other Oxfordshire groups to benefit include the Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre, which received £5,425, and £3,260 for a pilot project to tackle female genital mutilation led by Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board.

East Oxford’s Donnington Doorstep also won £39,724 to help support victims of child sex exploitation.

Mr Stansfeld said: “We have been working closely with voluntary sector organisations to understand how services need to develop further to better meet victims needs, and where they need to be more closely integrated so that the best outcomes for victims are achieved.”

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