Pregnancy Options Centre (Chichester)
Charity number: 1165555
Website: www.optionschichester.org.uk
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Description:
Pregnancy Options Centre provides free, non-directive counselling and support to women and men facing unplanned pregnancy or struggling following a pregnancy loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy, therapeutic termination or an abortion. Our sessions are client led and provide a safe environment for women, partners and family members to talk about their thoughts and emotions surrounding their circumstances. Our non-judgemental, specially trained volunteers give unplanned pregnancy clients the chance to talk to someone independent of their world and help them explore their three options: abortion, adoption or parenting. Longer term support looks at complex issues and emotions that clients can feel after a pregnancy loss or abortion, such as grief, guilt, shame, depression, anger and acceptance. We are based in Chichester, West Sussex but serve all the Chichester and Arun Districts and its boundaries with South East Hampshire. We are organisational members of the BACP (British Association for Counsellor and Psychotherapists) and adhere to their code of ethics. We receive referrals from Mental Health team such as Time to Talk as well as GP’s, Midwives and self-referrals via our website and Facebook page.
"I was so incredibly grateful that the service existed and felt immediately heard at a time when I had never felt more isolated due to shame and other negative emotions"
Pregnancy Options Centre also works in local schools and youth settings, delivering educational sessions on healthy sex and relationships, sexual health, online safety, consent and the consequences of risky sexual behaviour. We currently work in 9 schools across the district. Our education team have worked closely with the Community Safety Teams to develop sessions as part of an early intervention and are supported by the District Council, working with vulnerable students across County Lines. Young people are given tools to resist peer pressure, value their self-respect and gain confidence, helping them to build a firm foundation for adult life and encourage them to have higher aspirations. These values will impact positively on their health, wellbeing and safety enabling them to make considered, responsible and well-timed decisions. Our education work has grown substantially since its launch in 2014. In the 18/19 academic year, we saw 1,600 young people. With this, the Trustees have decided to increase the Education Team Lead’s hours from 12 hours a week to 24 in September 2019, in order to meet the demand of local schools requesting our sessions in all year groups.
‘It was good to be able to find out more information about consent, relationships and sex itself’
