Following an open tender procurement process, Victim Support has been awarded the contract to run the Information Line for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). 

The Information Line provides the public, in particular victims and survivors, a means to engage with the Inquiry. The Information Line can be used to access information and updates about the Inquiry’s work, as well as information for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse who may wish to share their experiences with the Inquiry via the Truth Project.

The Information Line service has been transferred to Victim Support with effect from 1 June 2016. The telephone number remains the same – 0800 917 1000.

Victim Support is working in partnership with The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) to deliver the service. Victim Support’s specially trained staff will handle initial calls to the Information Line and referrals to the Truth Project, while NAPAC will provide additional specialist emotional support to callers via a call-back service.

Mark Castle, Chief Executive of Victim Support, says:

“We are delighted to have won the tender to provide the information line for IICSA, working with our partner in this project, NAPAC.

“Victim Support has many years’ experience of setting up and running information and support lines for victims of crime, including our national Supportline and the Victims’ Information Service line, as well as dedicated support lines for people affected by the terror attacks in Tunisia and Paris.

“We also worked in partnership with NAPAC, and groups of adult survivors, recently to review and improve responses to adults abused in childhood. This experience, combined with NAPAC’s specialist focus, will help ensure we provide a service that meets the complex needs of callers to the Inquiry Information Line and hopefully increases confidence in and engagement with the Inquiry.”

Gabrielle Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of NAPAC, says:

“NAPAC is really pleased to have won the IICSA information line bid in partnership with Victim Support.

“We hear every day from callers to our telephone support line about how, as children, they were stripped of power and control and find it hard to trust. We hope that by working with the Inquiry, survivors of child sexual abuse in England and Wales will feel able to come forward and tell the Inquiry how they were failed by institutions. Hopefully this evidence will be used to transform our institutional responses to child abuse, making children in the future safer.”

You can reach the Inquiry Information Line by calling 0800 917 1000. The Line is free to call and open 9am-9pm Monday to Friday, and 10am-12pm on Saturdays.

For more information about the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse go to www.iicsa.org.uk.