The Mayor celebrates The Chimes and Victim Support Partnership

 11^th August 2010 at The Chimes: The Mayor Cllr David Yarrow along with other local dignitaries including the Mayoress Mrs Rita Kilroy of Hillingdon and the Head of Community Safety at Hillingdon Council, Ed Shaylor came together to support the new partnership between The Chimes and Victim Support, the only independent charity for victims and witnesses of crime in England and Wales.

The Chimes donated £5000 to the charity and also held a fundraising event which raised an impressive £525.78 from its generous shoppers. The event also introduced customers to the new Well Being Centre now opened in the Boots store.

Visitors of the event also took part in a competition to win prizes including an original piece of artwork by survivor of the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ and artist, Mo Lea, as well as cinema tickets, hair products and vouchers from Odeon, Greggs and New Look.

The aim of the Well Being Centre is to increase accessibility of Victim Support services to our customers and enable them to have anopportunity to meet their local staff and volunteers and hear about the invaluable work they do.

Michelle Moffitt, Marketing Manager, The Chimes commented, ‘We are very positive about our new partnership with Victim Support, a charity that we feel needs to become more and more visible within every community. The Well Being Centre in our Boots store will hopefully soon become a place for our customers to go where they feel that there is help and support available if they need it, without having to go to the Police’.

The Mayor also commented on the new partnership, ‘I was pleased to be at the official launch of the partnership between The Chimes and Victim Support. Being a victim of crime can be a horrible experience and it can affect anyone regardless of who they are. Victim Support is a free and confidential charity that offers independent emotional and practical support to all victims of crime. I hope that by hearing about the charity today, our community will be better informed about the services offered by the charity and how they can be helped by Victim Support if they have been a victim of crime and how they themselves can help Victim Support’.

Victim Support will be in the Well Being Centre, on the third floor of Boots every Wednesday and Friday. Alternatively, they can offer home visits or office visits or telephone support.

The charity also relies on the help of its volunteers and Hillingdon has 26 Victim Support volunteers all who come from this borough, however they are always looking for more.  Enquiries from people who would like to give their time to support victims of crime can also speak with one of the staff and volunteers at the Well Being Centre in the Boots store in The Chimes.