In 2007 27 people died on the roads in Bedfordshire. What began as an ordinary day for 27 families setting off for work, shopping, school or other activities, ended in what was their worst nightmare. A knock on the door from a Police Officer with the unenviable task of telling them that one of their loved ones was dead.
Amidst the shock, the disbelief, the horror and the devastation, the Police Officer will have given them a national manual as a help or guide. The manual is given to all families in this country who are bereaved in this way and it contains advice following a death on the road. Because they lived in Bedfordshire however, such victims would also be given information on the RVT. The Officer would briefly mention Road Victims Trust, the service we provide and tell the family that we would be in touch with them.
The Road Victims Trust provides a holistic service to residents of Bedfordshire and Luton who are bereaved or otherwise affected by serious road collisions. The service is provided by a team of highly skilled, well trained, committed volunteers supported by a small professional staff. The support to individuals and families may be for a single occasion at the Coroner’s Court or regular weekly sessions for 18 months or more.
The services we provide are free and confidential. There is no statutory funding and all costs for the Trust are raised by grants, donations and fund raising events.
We work directly with people. People who are at the start of a very difficult journey, a journey with no map. We are familiar with the landscape and can support and guide them along the way, providing encouragement when the going gets tough and enabling them to keep going. It is demanding work but it is a privilege to share this journey with them and to be constantly reminded of the courage and resilience of ordinary people. And this brings us to the Bedfordshire Police - the CIU (Criminal Investigation Unit) and the FLO's (Family Liaison Officers) who carry out an extremely difficult job with sensitivity and professionalism .
The Road VictimsTrust would publicly like to thank all those officers in the CIU and the FLO’s for their support in promoting our service and their cooperation and assistance to us on a daily basis. Our thanks are also due to the Coroner and his Officers, the Pro Bono Lawyers group, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Her Majesty's Court Service and the Witness Service.
And, of course, to our volunteers thank you.……………………
Together we make a difference to those in Bedfordshire who are unfortunate enough to suffer as the result of a serious road collision.
