A FALMOUTH based charity which helps the survivors of domestic abuse and their families says it has seen a 25 per cent increase in its case load since the start of the pandemic.

The True Butterflies Foundation was awarded a £1,000 grant by Falmouth town council finance and general purposes committee on Monday to enable it to fund online workshops for children traumatised by domestic abuse.

Charity fundraiser Nick Hunter told councillors they were a Falmouth based charity which helped rebuild the lives and empower the victims of domestic abuse and their families. He told them that the charity had seen a 25% increase in its case load since the first lockdown, second lockdown and now into the third lockdown.

"This is obviously putting quite a strain on our funds because we have to fund raise for everything we get, we are not state funded in any way shape or form" he said. "So basically we are looking for £250 to move some of our workshops, that we work with the children who effected by domestic abuse, online to bring these children forward.

"I work quite closely with a lot of the kids and these workshops are invaluable at not just giving these children chances of breaking that cycle of abuse but showing them that they can be and do anything they want to do and be in life."

He said 30 per cent of all the charity's clients were based in Falmouth and so it had a very heavy impact in the local population of people who may be struggling or who may be going underneath the radar, "so any help you are going to be forthcoming with is going to be really appreciated." he said. He said the £250 was just part of a number of projects they wanted to fund.

Councillor Jude Robinson immediately proposed that the committee granted the charity £1,000 rather than the £250 it had applied for. "I think this past year, apart from the fact people can't fundraise anymore, is that it has been particularly hard on domestic violence. the figures have just gone up through the roof so I think it absolutely vital that we support this."

The council voted to go grant the charity £1,000.