Following the recent decision by the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Sarah Taylor, the funding allocation for Sue Lambert Trust will be cut from from £420,000 to £144,000 for the two-year period from February 2026. In the second year, the actual reduction in funding is from £210,000 to £55,000: a 73% cut.
At a time when reported cases of sexual violence, rape and abuse continue to rise, statutory funding for victim support services in Norfolk and their ability to support local people is being torn apart.
The effect on Sue Lambert Trust
Talking about the impact of the cut, the Trust’s Chief Executive Clive Evans says: “This decision sends out a message that support for victim survivors does not matter. I am speaking out to be clear – victim survivors of rape, sexual assault and abuse must be heard and have the right to be supported.”
He explains: “64% of our clients, at the point of assessment, have not reported the rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse to the police. The consequence of scaling back our funding means fewer victim survivors can access our support and are therefore far less likely to report in the future – meaning perpetrators will remain at large. Reducing access to specialist, trusted support will limit disclosure and engagement with the criminal justice system, undermining efforts to improve victim confidence.”
Government policy
In February 2026 the government published its policy paper, Freedom from violence and abuse volume 2: action plan (accessible), which stated: ‘We must stop violence and abuse before it starts. That means breaking the intergenerational cycle of abuse through early intervention and prevention – protecting young people, disrupting dangerous attitudes and stopping harmful behaviours escalating.’ Yet the PCC’s actions appear to run counter to the government’s intentions.
The demand for Sue Lambert services increases
As of March 2026, more than 450 people were on Sue Lambert Trust’s waiting list. The charity receives an additional 85 new self-referrals every month.
Clive explains; “If the PCC cuts go ahead, we will not cope with current demand, and we cannot plan for the long-term. Unless the decision is reversed, we have no choice but to scale back, accepting only 10 new referrals a month. That means turning away 75 victims and these are some of the most vulnerable people in our society who urgently need the charity’s services.”
In a statement to ITV news Anglia, Sarah Taylor said that she “had reduced support to the charity because it was already getting extra funding from the NHS”. But the charity counters this, stating that “the NHS money is replacing an old grant that was cut two years ago, and now its reserves are starting to run out”. In other words, there will be a shortfall that will impact the charity’s services.
East Anglia Bylines put some questions to the PCC but has yet to receive a response. Taylor also told Evans that “a portion of the PCC’s budget was being diverted to local government reorganisation”. This statement has yet to be verified.
Fund raising for Sue Lambert Trust
As a result of the PCC’s decision, Sue Lambert is actively fundraising through a Go Fund Me donation page. While to date it has received hundreds of £s, it is not the thousands it urgently needs – although every pound counts and is important. The charity is also using the cycle race Norwich 60/30 as a means of raising funds.
Talking about the impact of the cut, Evans says: “This huge proposed reduction in PCC funding will, if it goes ahead, severely impact Sue Lambert Trust’s ability to plan for the long term and our capacity to support victims now and in the future.”
Who was Sue Lambert?
The charity’s roots date back to the 1980s with the formation of a women’s collective – Norwich Rape Crisis. Sue Lambert joined because she had been sexually assaulted at the age of 16. She trained in her own time to become a counsellor and went on to play a leading role in many campaigns in Norwich and Norfolk.
Sue was a founding member of SeVA (Sexual Violence Alliance) and following her death in 2013, the board members of SeVA decided to change the name of the charity to Sue Lambert Trust in her honour. Today the logo still incorporates her signature.
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