Streetlife

The government / police?

A genie, that would then grant you three wishes.............

In my case anyone!!  Victim support were useless, too busy to come to the phone, obviously the crime rate is very high in London but ................ I really needed someone to talk to.  The police never telephoned me back so - your question, yes a genie would have been the most effective - my first wish is not printable!! Just a body offering advice, solice etc - suppose I should have phoned the Samaritans thinking about it, but at the time the thought process goes completely bonkers.

arwd - i'd be interested to hear what ward do you live in?

I know a couple of people who had recourse to Victim Support and they were both very impressed by the level of attention they received.  But it might vary from place to place.  Does Andrew know?  Is it purely dependent on the area you live?

My understanding is that victim support is an underfunded charity (ain't that crazy) and their coverage is pretty patchy. Some are very good, some useless.

I'm sorry you had that experience arwd.  Victim Support (Greenwich) really did help me through something and yes, they are always extremely busy, which says a lot about the society we live in I'm afraid.

None of the above. If self-reliance was inadequate, I would expect support from family and friends.  Were I "forced" to make a choice I would (perhaps in vain) err very slightly in favour of the private contracted company in the hope that there would therefore be a contractual obligation for performance.

I hope this research is not being used for anything.  As is clear from the comments above, the choice is too narrow to be meaningful.  If it were to be used by a private company to argue for a contract, then this would be just another case of the sort of bad statistics that advertisers use.

I'd go to neighbours, as I have in the past - as well as friends and family.

Is there a purpose to this question? Are you conducting some kind of research Matthew and what exactly are you hoping to achieve?

Thanks

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/apr/20/help-victims-crime

Good question both. Does street book have a policy?

Oops sorry .....street life

I've read that article Sarah, and........?

What are you hoping to achieve?

Sorry, message should have been addressed  to Caroline W

I just posted the link to show there is currently a discussion/national context in respect of crime support, in case people were wondering why the original question might have been asked.  It seems the whole process is up for reconsideration.  Just background information, that's all....

i'm voting for friends and family for support rather than any organisational body of any description.  the last thing i'd want to do after suffering some sort of crime is fill in a form or explain everything that had happened to yet another person, i'd want help clearing up, taking stuff to the dump, cleaning, and i'd use EFT to help neutralise the negative emotions.  i have had recourse to an official group after a crime and they were utterly useless, more interested in vicariously connecting with emotion than in helping me make progress.  

how an entity is funded has no bearing on its delivery of service, which depends on a clear charter of operation and the quality of the people who drive it and deliver said service.  

yes, survey design is poor because its three options are not comprehensive - sometimes surveys go through a design phase - maybe worth relaunching with a friends/family/neighbours possibility and a none of the above option?

the "how an entity is funded" comment may not be entirely true in my view.

There is a big assumption that the entity is properly funded in the first place. In victim support I think funding and the recruiting of sufficiently good volunteers is an issue in some areas.

Sarah M: can you let us know what the purpose of this is?

On Victim Support:  according to its 2010/11 accounts, it had an income of £57 million and £40 million was spent on staff costs, with volunteers estimated at contributing £20 million.  Unlike many charities where the CEOs seem to be paid extremely well (around £200k)  The Victim Support CEO is paid around £100k.

I suspect that, given the size of the operation, a private company would probably cost more and pay more.

Why Victim Support would need  a CEO is beyond me, but then again............????

i guess the measure might be - how many people does victim support actuially support each year with thier 50m

Marie-Andree, how would you see any organisation being run without someone With ultimate responsibility for how it is run? Victim support has income of £57m and a proper management structure has to ensure that this is spent in the most appropriate way. I would argue that a charity needs a CEO more than a profit making organisation for this reason. I know this is not relevant to the question, but something that does need proper understanding.

@ Emma - I agree entirely.....however I would challenge the thought that the only way to get good people is to to pay them loads - some of the "remuneration" in working for a charity comes from the enjoyment of doing something real and useful.

What a load of nonsense Emma Y.  Yes, every organisation needs a proper structure and clear objectives. Having a CEO on board does not necessarily mean that that an organisation would be run more efficiently. My God we've seen so many examples of this lately!

A charity does NOT a need a CEO  to be run efficiently! Structure - yes, CEO - NO.

What it needs is a team of dedicated people who understand their roles and responsibilities clearly and are empowered to contribute to the goals of organisation. A good manager can do that, don't need any glossy job title!

I agree that charities need to be well organised but if the only reason for someone applying for the job is that it offers a good salary, then they are almost by definition the wrong person.

Victim Support is not as bad as other charities, and I am horrified how much some of the CEO's (that only means the senior person) at other charities are paid.  The wage inflation in the charities is obscene - and then people complain about the top people in the public sector!

Unfortunately, there are now so many charities competing against each other that a considerable part of the donations is going towards fundraising, whether advertising or paying for commercial fundraising company to send out chuggers.  However, I would prefer services like Victim Support to be offered either by a public body or a charity, rather than a commercial company, and organised by one body, rather than several, to ensure consistency of delivery and economies of scale.