We treat everyone who contacts us with sensitivity and respect. We realise it can be difficult to talk to a stranger about something extremely personal, whether it be a medical condition, weight problem or difficulty in your private life. But we believe that the victims of serious crime, and their loved ones in cases of murder or culpable homicide, require special care.

Over the last few years, we believe we’ve developed a particular bond with people who are grieving, and in our newspaper work we’ve lobbied hard for the victims of crime and their families, arguing that they should be treated much more sympathetically by the justice system.

Victims of crime and their families often feel they cannot discuss the trauma they are living through with strangers, so their stories remain untold. They also feel that taking money for an interview is wrong, especially when a loved one has been killed. We would urge all victims of crime to speak about their experience, because only by speaking out can we change things for the better. As for the money issue, everyone interviewed by a woman’s magazine is entitled to a fee for their time and trouble. We always tell people who feel awkward about money to take it anyway and put it to good use. You can make a charitable donation; put it away for children in the family, especially if they’ve lost a parent through crime; take children on holiday to relieve the stress that affects everyone touched by serious crime. Some people use the fees we negotiate for them to pay funeral costs or erect a headstone or some other memorial to their loved one.

If you choose to tell your story through us, we promise you will be represented personally by one of us. We’re a married couple, in our 40s, both experienced journalists and experienced in life, having suffered bereavements ourselves. Some agencies try to promote themselves as ‘big’ because they hire lots of staff. The reality is that they would send someone fresh out of college to interview you. We handle all the most sensitive stories ourselves because when you’re at your lowest ebb you need to be comfortable with your interviewer and need to be able to trust them to represent your views accurately and sympathetically, and that’s what we do best.

Please have a look at our stories and testimonials; then you’ll know you’re in good hands.