West Mercia Women’s Aid has drawn up a proposal to bring its 'Ask Me' project to Oswestry as a pilot for Shropshire using experience gained from running the programme in Herefordshire.
Oswestry's Mayor, Councillor Duncan Kerr, a former children's social work, is championing the project.
He said: "Ask Me is a simple concept of developing, supporting and educating community champions who can offer support and advice to victims. For example, they might be a hairdresser who can display an “Ask me” poster in their saloon, or they may use social media.
"Being able to seek trusted, informed and local advice is a lifesaver for victims, it is as important for them as defibrillators."
He will ask fellow councillor's tonight, to agree a grant of £10,000 towards the £21,500 cost of this scheme on the proviso that other partners provide the remaining funding to enable the scheme to proceed.
Ask Me enables organisations to train their staff to help victims. Councillor Kerr worked as a Children’s Social Worker in Powys, Wales with families affected by domestic abuse.
