Request for support

Your support journey will begin with a referral. There are a number of ways a referral can be made to Connect Gwent, including:

Self-referral

This could made online via the Connect Gwent website or directly through the website of one of the agencies within Connect Gwent who offer this (Victim Support and Umbrella Cymru). You could also make a self-referral over the phone or by email.

Family referral

This is if you are making a referral for someone in your family, for example a young person or a vulnerable adult.

Automatic Police referral

If you have reported an incident to the Gwent Police, a Victim Care Officer will contact you to discuss support options available to you.

Other agency referral

If you have been supported by someone else, and they think it would be beneficial for us to help out too, other agencies can refer you to us (with your consent). We'll contact you to discuss support and explain what we might be able to offer.

We'll be in touch...

When we receive a referral, we'll attempt to contact you as quickly as possible. The person or agency that contacts you will depend on the way your referral came in. Here is some information about who might be calling you.

Gwent Police

The vast majority of people will be contacted by Gwent Police staff called Victim Care Officers (VCOs). If you made a self-referral to Connect Gwent (rather than directly to one of the agencies within it), a VCO will contact you to determine which agency would be best suited to support you.

One of the other agencies

If you have (or the person who made the referral on your behalf has) requested direct contact from a specific agency within Connect Gwent, this will be who will contact you.

It's good to talk...

When one of the team contacts you, we'll first check that it is a good time (and safe) to talk. We'll also check things like your contact details so we know it's you, and then we'll ask you a few questions to help us determine what we can offer and how we might support you.

We can help with lots of different things so it doesn't always have to be about the direct impact of the incident. If we can't help you with something in particular, we might know someone who can... it's always worth asking us.

We'll talk to ourselves...

This is the really big benefit of being a multi-agency service. It means we get to share the experiences of all the specialists who work here.

To make sure we have the right and best person supporting you, we might discuss the information you provided. We won't use any names at this point unless you have consented for us to do so. This is simply to understand the nature of the support you're looking for and draw upon the skills of the whole team to make your journey as comfortable as possible.

When we have done this, we'll know who to ask to contact you. If you've already consented for your information to be shared with the right person, they'll call you directly. If you haven't, the person you spoke to at the beginning will contact you to discuss this with you and ask for your consent. You can always decline this or withdraw your consent at any time.

Help is at hand...

Once your information is with the right person, they will contact you to discuss support. The support they provide might be over the phone, by text or email, or face-to-face. This will depend on what you want them to help you with and how they think this would work best.

The support could be short (for example a phone call or an email with information) or it could take a bit longer to make sure you get everything we can provide. Either way, your Caseworker will discuss this with you and develop a plan with you.

Time to say goodbye...

Once you have covered everything you planned to with your Caseworker, they'll ask you a few questions to check how far things have moved since the beginning. They might also ask you some questions about how you feel the support has impacted different things (for example if you feel safer or better informed). This helps us review our support and develop in areas we might need to. Please be honest, we really do value the feedback.

How did we do?

If you have given your consent for our survey team from Gwent Police to contact you, they'll get in touch to ask you a few more questions about the service you received from Connect Gwent a whole, as well as some questions about your Caseworker specifically. Again, please be honest, this really helps us improve and we genuinely value all feedback

Speak to us

If you would like speak to one of the Victim Care Officers (Gwent Police) who can help direct your call to the relevant team, please call

0300 123 2133.

Lines are open:

Mon-Fri - 8am - 6pm

Weekend - CLOSED

You can leave a voicemail outside of these hours and someone will call you back. Please remember to leave you name and the best number to call back on.

We love email

You can send us an email 24/7, including anything from a request for a call back to full details of what you would like help with. Gwent Police manage the mailbox and will direct the enquiry to the relevant member of the team. They might come back to you for more information to help get you to the right person. Please send you emails to:

[email protected]

We can help!

Any agency can make a referral by clicking the button below to download our referral form. Just complete the form and email it to us at:

[email protected]

English Cymraeg