Citizens Advice Cornwall wins coveted Campaign of the Year award

Citizens Advice Cornwall has won the Campaign of the Year in the national Citizens Advice Awards.

The accolade recognises the charity's efforts in addressing police handling of domestic abuse and stalking.

It was announced at the Citizens Advice Annual Conference in Birmingham, following a campaign last year which resulted in Devon and Cornwall Police accepting 17 of 19 suggestions made by the charity.

Jon Berg, chief executive, said: "This award is a fantastic testament to the work done by our Research and Campaigns Team here in Cornwall, and more importantly, the work has resulted in police taking measures to improve officer training and processes when dealing with abuse cases, especially when lives are at risk."

Allison Livingstone, Citizens Advice Cornwall victims of crime adviser, detailed about a dozen clients who had unsatisfactory encounters with the police when reporting stalking and abuse.

This included overlooked evidence, inaction, unverified perpetrator accounts and failures to bring cases to court.

The charity also identified an additional 24 similar instances.

Research and campaigns officer, Wailim Wong said: "The team worked very closely together and with clients to research and understand the issues and achieved fantastic results with media highlighting the widespread problem and police accepting our points and taking action.

"This led to steps which are improving people’s situation and may influence police policies nationally.

"Police are now in regular discussions with our Victims of Crime Officer and our report has been sent by Devon and Cornwall Police to the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

"This award acknowledges our efforts to help people who come to us for support by working to address the root causes of their issues."

This year’s award, dedicated to the late Alun Evans, a fervent Citizens Advice national campaigner, was contested by 250 local Citizens Advice charities across the nation.

The complete campaign, Police Handling of Abuse Cases in Devon and Cornwall, can be accessed at the Citizens Advice Cornwall website.