A victim or survivor of church based abuse?

If the abuse is ongoing now?

If you are at immediate risk of harm or in danger, contact the police on 999.

If not, please do speak to somebody, as soon as possible, for instance: 

• someone you know and trust;

• your Parish Safeguarding Officer:

• Diocesan Safeguarding Team - safeguarding@chester.anglican.org or telephone 01928 718834 (option 4)

• Childline - telephone 0800 1111

• Safe Spaces - telephone 0300 303 1056

• the police on 101

• your Local Authority adult or children's services

  
  

They will listen and want to act to keep you and others safe and put in place support for you.

If the abuse is non-recent 

We can still offer support and assistance if you are a victim or survivor of church-related abuse, or you or someone you know has been affected by one of the independent reports looking into safeguarding practice within the Chester Diocese or wider Church of England. 

This guide provides some information about sources of support and videos by survivors providing information are available here.

Listening service: Chester Diocese has commissioned Thirtyone:eight to provide a listening service details found here. To be referred to this service, contact safeguarding@chester.anglican.org.

Safe Spaces

Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused through their relationship with either the Church of England or the Catholic Church of England and Wales or the Church of Wales.

Contact Details:

• Phone them on 0300 303 1056 (a voicemail facility is available outside of opening times)

• Email them at safespaces@firstlight.org.uk

• LiveChat with the team, or access service information, at www.SafeSpacesEnglandandWales.org.uk

Church of England Survivor Engagement, Interim Support Scheme and Redress Scheme

Survivor engagement is about enabling survivors and victims to have an active role in making the Church a safer place for all. You can access the Church of England’s information about this work, and sign up for the Newsletter, on their website here: Survivor participation | The Church of England

The National Interim Support Scheme was established by the Archbishops’ Council to improve the Church’s response to current and non-current survivors of Church-related abuse. This Scheme is part of the Church’s recognition that harm has been caused by both that abuse itself, and the Church’s responses to survivors.

This Scheme is not intended to provide compensation or restitution to survivors, nor is it a redress scheme. The Scheme is intended to give immediate help and support to survivors whose life circumstances are significantly affected by the abuse suffered, and the response to it. The Scheme is designed to address immediate and urgent needs that help in the short-term to put the survivor’s life back on track. Application details can be found here.

NATIONAL REDRESS SCHEME was approved by the Church of England National Synod in July 2025. It aims to offer financial redress as well as therapeutic, spiritual and emotional support, acknowledgment of wrongdoing on the part of the Church, apology and support to survivors of Church-related abuse.

Though Synod's approval of the legislation is welcome news and a huge step forward, the scheme is not open and we recognise that this could prompt a range of emotions for survivors. To keep informed please: 

1. Register for notifications - Prospective applicants can now register to receive notifications. This mechanism has been created in response to survivor requests and desire to know that they are "in the system". Members of the public can register at the following website: www.redresscofe.org. 

2. Further information - the national team are continuing to update information on their website here: www.churchofengland.org/redress 

3. Questions - Questions and comments can still be directed to the redress Project Team via the redress@churchofengland.org email address. 

4. Drop-in session for survivors - The national team are running a drop-in session for survivors and victims of Church-related abuse to find out more about the proposed scheme now that Synod has approved the legislation.

Thursday, 24th July at 12pm and Thursday 24th July at 6pm

Please express your interest by Monday 21st July by emailing participate.safeguarding@churchofengland.org. Both sessions will cover the same content, so please choose the session that suits you best. More will be scheduled later in the year. 

Wider supports and information

There are many different organisations that offer different support or information for victims and survivors, children and adults, who have experienced abuse in any setting. Some are provided below.

Survivors Voices is a Survivor-led peer support, research, education & activism organisation. It has produced a series of leaflets written by survivors, for survivors, allies and supporters, edited by the Survivors Voices Press team which can be downloaded from their website here.

MACSAS supports women and men who have been sexually abused, as children or adults, by ministers, clergy or others under the guise of the Church. They support both Survivors who have remained within their Christian communities and those who have left. Their website offers some useful resources found here. They have a telephone and email helpline for victims and survivors of Minister and Clergy sexual abuse – and for relatives of victims and survivors. The Helpline is currently open on Saturdays from 9.00am - 11.30am and Wednesdays 7.00 pm - 9.30 pm. Call: 0808 801 0340