VICTIM Support, the main service for crime victims in County Durham and Darlington, is launching a nerve centre to ease the pressure on hard-up branches.

The charity, which last year helped nearly 16,000 people in the area, opens its new base in Court Lane, Durham, above its existing crown court witness service office, next month.

It aims to take away managerial and financial responsibilities from County Durham and Darlington's 12 local branches, freeing them to concentrate on fundraising.

While the Government funds 80 per cent of the service's core running costs nationally, branches have to meet the shortfall themselves.

Victim Support in County Durham and Darlington needs to raise a minimum of £50,000 for the next financial year.

But to adequately cater for the area's victims, it requires twice the amount.

On Teesside, the situation is similar, with an estimated £145,000 needed for the service to function properly.

Durham and Darlington area manager Trudi Ranson said finding enough money was a constant struggle.

"The Government funding is for a very basic level of service," she said.

"We still need to pay volunteers' expenses, rent and all the offices' utilities, even before training and development costs.

"We have a lot of goodwill in this area, and get money from parish councils, local authorities and charitable trusts.

"But we need to support the branches, who need to fundraise for themselves."

As well as taking the pressure off local offices, the nerve centre aims to attract other organisations to work in partnership with Victim Support.

Ms Ranson said: "It will be a central contact point for the media and any organisation that wants to come on board with us.

"We want to work with people like Age Concern and gay and lesbian groups because these sort of people don't report crimes.

"We will be looking to access large amounts of money and share our costs with other organisations."

Ms Ranson said: "Our main aim is to develop more services, such as getting more outreach workers," she said.

The centre will be launched on April 1, and a volunteer recruitment campaign begins on May 27.

Organisations and individuals who would like to help can ring 0191-383 1389.