Safeguarding

Throughout the Bible, God reveals his special concern for those who are vulnerable in society. As God’s people at Holy Trinity, we share his concerns. To this end we take the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults seriously, seeking to encourage good practice amongst the whole congregation, staff and volunteer workers. 

The PCC is committed to the Diocese of Chichester Parish Child Protection Policy Statement as below:

Parish of Holy Trinity Church, Eastbourne

As members of this PCC we are committed to the safeguarding, care and nurture of all our members.                                                                                                      We recognise that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to implementing all safeguarding policies and practice guidance issued by the House of Bishops.  We will carefully select and train all those who work or volunteer in positions of trust. We will use the Disclosure and Barring Service, amongst other tools, to check the background of each person.  We will respond, without delay, to every concern made that a person for whom we are responsible may have been harmed.  We will co-operate fully with statutory agencies during any investigation concerning a member of the church community.   We will seek to ensure that anyone for whom we have pastoral responsibility who has suffered abuse is offered support that meets their needs.   We will respond appropriately to those who have committed sexual offences who wish to join our fellowship, following House of Bishop's guidance and the advice of the Safeguarding Team.  We will review this policy annually and as part of this process will ensure that all our procedures, particularly in relation to the Disclosure and Barring Service, are up to date.

Our Safeguarding Officer is: Mrs Elizabeth Edwards c/o Holy Trinity Church Office, Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Place, Eastbourne BN21 3BX Tel: 01323 736627 Email address: office@hteastbourne.org.uk Vicar: Reverend Philip Coekin Email: phil@hteastbourne.org.uk

You can also make contact by emailing: safeguarding@holytrinityeastbourne.org.uk

Diocese of Chichester Safeguarding Adviser: Colin Perkins 01273 425030 Email: safeguarding@chichester.anglican.org

What to do...

  • If you are a child and you need to talk to someone about things that are happening to you that you don’t like, you can contact Childline by clicking this link to talk to someone about it, or you can call Childline on 0800 1111.

  • If you are an adult and you need to access support about something that is happening to you, including Domestic Abuse, please click on this link to find out how you can do that.

  • If you need to contact the Chichester Diocese Safeguarding Team, please click on this link.

  • If you need to report a safeguarding concern to the statutory authorities in Sussex, Adult Services 0345 60 80 191 for concern about an adult, Children Services 01323 464222 for concern about a child. You can also contact Sussex Police on this link to choose from the menu of options that most describes the situation you are concerned about, and follow the advice and further links you find there. Please remember to contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team as well once you have contacted the statutory authorities.

Safeguarding in the Diocese of Chichester

The information and policies above can be found on the Diocese of Chichester safeguarding website.