Three charities supporting victims of child sexual assault have been awarded a share of nearly £100,000 by Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Ann Barnes.

This year, the Office of the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner has been given £739,405 by the Ministry of Justice to award to groups which provide specialist support to victims of crime – including a fund of £146,225 specifically for child sexual assault victims.

Juvenile Justice International, Rubicon Cares and Rising Sun Kent are the first groups in Kent to be allocated cash from this extra fund.

They will share £96,866 and are expected to help 1,000 victims this year.

"There is still £50,000 left in the child sexual assault fund for my successor to allocate to more projects as he sees fit - and if I were him I’d try and find even more money for them because these are some of the most vulnerable people in our communities" - Mrs Barnes

Mrs Barnes said: "I was very pleased when the Ministry of Justice gave Kent £146,000 specifically to help victims of child sexual assault, because it’s a sickening crime with increasing numbers of victims coming forward to seek our help.

Rubicon Cares was given £40,300 to provide counselling and therapeutic sessions for victims aged 13 to 18.

The charity’s CEO Sandie Turner said: "The work we have been doing for the last two years has shown us that there is a high demand in this specialist area.

"This money will enable us to ensure that the people across Kent and Medway who really need this service, get it quickly."

Juvenile Justice International received £39,900 to provide four clinics a month, plus an emergency out-of-hours service, for child victims and adult survivors of historical child sexual assault.

Patrick Tierney, director general, said: "We specialise in helping victims and their families who require confidential, independent specialist advice and support.

"Our staff have experience of working with individuals and groups from across the entire community including those from different religious and cultural backgrounds, people with disabilities and members of the LGBT -Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender - community."

Gillian Orman is development coordinator at Rising Sun Kent, which was awarded £16,666 to work with girls aged 11 to 17 in Canterbury, Ashford and Swale.

She said: "Most of our referrals come from social workers, schools and GPs. We then offer the girls one-to-one support, mentoring or group therapy depending on the trauma they have suffered."

Mrs Barnes added: "There is still £50,000 left in the child sexual assault fund for my successor to allocate to more projects as he sees fit - and if I were him I’d try and find even more money for them because these are some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and they deserve the best support we can provide for them."