Our website  is a good place to find out more about the work of the East Sussex Safer Communities Partnership. If you need help and advice around a community safety concern, learn more about the priority areas we are working on and supporting partners with or if you just want to keep up with the latest news please pop by and visit us.

Recent additions to the site include:

A short guide for parents/carers if your son or daughter has been referred to Prevent.

Information leaflets for parents and young people on knife crime and exploitation.

Local drug and alcohol help and advice services

The Pan Sussex Strategic Framework for Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse.

You can also follow us on twitter @SaferEastSx for the latest news and information on local and national community safety issues.

The Home Office granted £965,376 in July 2020 towards two local acquisitive crime reduction initiatives in Eastbourne’s Redoubt area of the town and Central St Leonards.

The funding was used to improve targeting in order to reduce ‘acquisitive’ crimes, such as burglary, robbery, theft and shoplifting.  

The Eastbourne Safer Streets funding supported a number of activities including:

• Security improvements to over a hundred local homes and many local businesses.
• Over fifty local shops and businesses signing up to the local Business Crime Reduction Partnership.
• Local CCTV networks being enhanced and alley gates installed at identified crime hotspots.

In St Leonards home security improvements, retailers and hotel security, as well as alley gating, improvements to lighting and gaining community ownership were the focus and a number of locations with over- grown vegetation were cleared, beyond that normally cut by ESCC Highways’ annual ‘trim’, improving the security to these areas.  Further information on the St Leonards project can be found here.

In September 2020 the government announced new measures to ensure that large businesses and public bodies tackle the risks of modern slavery supply chains.

Slavery can be present in most industries, whether through mining, raw material production, manufacturing, contracted services or labour. International outsourcing can push risk further down supply chains, making it possible for human rights abuses to remain hidden. 

Public bodies which have a budget of £36 million or more, including local authorities in England and Wales, will be required to regularly report on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains. 

We are currently in the process of producing our modern slavery section 54 transparency statement which will be published on the new digital government reporting service.  To meet the statutory requirements of these changes the recruitment of a pan-Orbis Senior Policy Lead role for Modern Slavery into Orbis Procurement is underway to provide subject matter expertise and best practice advice for modern slavery relating to supply chains, working with senior stakeholders across all Orbis partner councils.

To find out more about some of the risks of modern slavery supply chains visit Electronics Watch , Local Government Association website and The Chartered Institute of Building.

“For a long time we have relied on medicines being the answer in the absence of alternative or better options. They are not the solutions they promised to be. They have a part to play, but a lesser role than previously thought[1].”

Change Grow Live (CGL) are currently running a project across East Sussex that looks to work with those who need to continue taking a medicine to maintain a state of normality and to avoid symptoms of withdrawal. These are known as Dependence Forming Medications (DFMs), and can include pain medication such as opioids or tablets to aid sleep or anxiety. The project aims to build trust and work holistically with patients, as this leads to overall improvements in health and quality of life and provides a strong platform for medicine reductions and reducing the burden on the Health Service.

All work with patients is based upon their individual situation, needs and goals, and this person centred approach provides emotional support to vulnerable people as they explore and make changes within their lives. 

Anyone concerned about their use of prescribed medication should discuss this with their GP. If you’re concerned about your, or a loved one’s drinking or drug use but aren’t sure what steps to take, you can find lots of information and advice via this link.

Project ADDER has recently funded a number of Recovery Initiatives:

A specialist counselling service working with clients during their recovery and treatment. A  meditation programme supporting clients via an MP3, meditation group and manual, and additional ‘wellbeing support’  resources for the outreach team- offering anything from cooking utensils and food vouchers to classes on tai chi which increase quality of life for many individuals.

Two further services for Project ADDER have been commissioned in the last two months which have been awarded to the East Sussex Veterans Hub, who have specialist knowledge and experience. The ‘Prison in Reach Service’ will work with all clients prior to leaving prison who need support with  their recovery whilst re-entering the community. The ‘Care Navigation’ service is a  signposting service for anyone in recovery from crack or opiate use, utilising support and befriending for making appointments, completing forms etc.

If you would like further information please email the Project Adder team:

ProjectAdder@eastsussex.gov.uk