The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

The PAVE Project Report 49
Most of the groups (n=21) stated that they evaluated their services, either by informal
feedback (n=17) or by formal feedback, such as interviews or questionnaires (n=17)
or both, however, only 8 of the groups had written up their evaluation in a formal
report. Despite requests for copies of these reports, only one such report was provided
to inform the present research.
3.3. DISCUSSION
S
ervices provided by victims groups have experienced vast increases since the
mid-1990 ceasefires, and above all, the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. This
increase
of voluntary sector services provision was clearly related to an increase in funding
(McDougall, 2006). By and large, victims groups offer specific services aimed at
dealing with the effects of traumatic experiences in a safe environment, and/or
advocate on behalf of their members and help them in their search for justice,
acknowledgement, and truth and reduce social isolation.
Findings reported here indicate that, while in the past there was a lack of structured
support for victims, today much more support is available, however, there is a lack of
provision within some aspects of the voluntary victims’ group sector. For example,