Gerald Coates (25 November 1944 – 3 April 2022) was an author, speaker, broadcaster and the founder of Pioneer, a neocharismatic evangelical Christian network of churches and forums, established to "develop new churches across the UK and engage in mission globally."[1] A safeguarding review was initiated by Pioneer Trust in response to a complaint raised in July 2023 via social media regarding Coates who had been their late founder and former national leader. As a result, a comprehensive safeguarding investigation was carried out by Christian Safeguarding Services which examined and upheld “deeply concerning” behaviour by Coates involving young adult men and children. [2] However, these are merely allegations and many profess to have been helped by his work particularly amongst younger christian men - such as a notable example Samuel Freed - whose testimony is available on YouTube.[3]