A NEW home is being sought in west Dorset for a group that works with victims of child abuse.

Dorset Action on Abuse (DAA) specialises in helping people who have gone through some form of abuse and suffered mental health problems later in life.

The charity has scooped a Lottery grant of more than £300,000 so it can develop its counselling and group therapy sessions.

Currently people have to go to Bournemouth and Poole to access the services. But thanks to the funding this will be extended into west Dorset. DAA secretary and trustee Liz Spreadbury said the search was now on for premises for the group in either Weymouth or Dorchester so people in this part of the county can benefit.

It is also hoped to find suitable areas for group sessions in the more rural parts of Dorset.

DAA opened its doors in 2004 and supporters found there was a ‘huge need’ locally for the services, which are not provided anywhere else. The charity has done its best to respond but a lack of reliable funding has restricted its work.

DAA works to tackle the effects of various forms of abuse including sexual, physical, emotional and neglect.

It says sufferers can develop problems ranging from depression to eating disorders.

Psychotherapist Dr Moira Walker said: “The funding means that we will be able to offer a range of help to those people living in Dorset who suffered all kinds of abuse as children and reached adulthood still carrying the effects of that abuse, needing help but unable to find it. The experience of DAA is that those we offer help to have rarely been identified in childhood as victims and not offered help.”

The money, which totals £305,086, has come from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme which aims to build stronger communities.

Dr Walker said: “We will be able to extend our counselling service, develop more groups, develop web-based outreach and expand the existing training provision.

“Abuse survivors have experienced such horrors in their lives that it is essential that services offered are reliable, consistent, ongoing and safe.”

Big Lottery Fund regional head Mark Cotton said: “This project reaches out to a very vulnerable group of individuals who have suffered traumas beyond most people’s imagination. We are very pleased to see Lottery funding going some way to improving these people’s lives.”