The role of the Victim Support Person is to offer comfort and compassion on behalf of the Church, to provide direction to the victim where to go for professional help or assistance and to help arrange appropriate support.

The Support Person will assist a victim by facilitating access to information, representing his/her concerns on an ongoing basis and identifying any therapeutic needs.

The Support Person will also facilitate the complainant gaining access to information on the progress of the investigation of the complaint and be available to represent the complainant to the Delegate (and if necessary the Advisory Panel) with specific reference to the victim’s needs and wishes. This may require accompanying the victim on visits or meetings relating to the allegation, if requested.

Where professional counselling is needed, this will not be provided by the Support Person directly but will be done through normal professional channels. On occasions the role of the Support Person may be extended to offer support to the family of the victim.

The duties of the Support Person are:

• To approach known victims of sexual abuse, offering the service
• To identify strategies that will encourage unknown (to the Church) victims who wish to come forward for support
• To offer support and a 'listening ear' to victims and to their families
• To liaise between victims, their families and Church officials
• To attend Court hearings or other meetings where a supportive presence would be useful
• To inform the Church of the needs, fears, expectations, etc. of the service users while at the same time maintaining confidentiality