An organisation which supports victims of domestic abuse has received a visit from the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner.

Matthew Barber visited the team at Reducing the Risk of Domestic Abuse to understand how funding from his office is advancing their work.

Reducing the Risk aims to enhance the safety and wellbeing of adults and children at potential risk of domestic abuse in Oxfordshire, and to educate and empower the professionals and volunteers that assist them.

The charity's work includes a Domestic Abuse Champions network - a multi-agency system that amasses a variety of services to increase support quality and accessibility for victims and survivors of domestic abuse.

There's also an Independent Domestic Violence Advisory service that assists individuals identified as high-risk of severe harm and trauma due to abuse via Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference referrals.

Partially due to the funding from the police and crime commissioner, this service has grown to also include a Court advisory service which assists victims in criminal and civil matters across both Crown and Magistrates Courts.

Raising awareness of domestic abuse also forms a part of Reducing the Risk’s operations, specifically within minority communities and marginalised groups.

Mr Barber said: "It is always great to catch up with Dawn and the team at Reducing the Risk.

"The charity does critical work supporting victim-survivors of domestic abuse as well as raising awareness of the prevalence of domestic abuse within our communities."

One such group targeted are elderly people in rural communities, where there has been a recorded uptick in referrals.

As a result, the charity initiated a 'domestic abuse friend' scheme to empower rural communities to identify the signs of domestic abuse among peers and connect victims to assistance.

This initiative has subsequently received £6,000 worth of funding from the Commissioner's Community Fund.

Mr Barber added: "Domestic abuse is often a hidden crime, more so in rural communities and more so again when the victim is an elderly person so having a network of friends in these more isolated communities that can spot the signs of domestic abuse and know how to safety signpost victims will be extremely valuable."

Dawn Hodson, chief executive of Reducing the Risk, said: "The domestic abuse friends project has been more successful than we could have ever hoped.

"It's been going 10 months and in that time we have spoken with over 170 community groups and have almost 300 new domestic abuse friends."

Ms Hodson encouraged anyone living in a rural community in Oxfordshire to support this scheme and register as a domestic abuse friend.

She stressed that no formal training is needed, and participants could potentially help guide someone towards a life free from abuse.