Safeguarding

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Safeguarding Statement:  Parish of St Andrews Hatfield Peverel with All Saints Ulting Promoting a Safer Church

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Andrews Hatfield Peverel with All Saints Ulting takes seriously its responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

This Safeguarding Statement applies to all who make up the church ‘workforce’ which includes all clergy, holders of Bishop’s licence or permission, those commissioned or authorised by the Bishop, those, paid or unpaid, who hold positions of responsibility in a parish and work with children or vulnerable adults, and those with representational parish ministry, for example; churchwarden, organist, server & choir members

For the purposes of this document the term ‘Parish’ is used to denote the PCC and Incumbents who are together responsible for ensuring that diocesan safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented.

For the purposes of this document a child is anyone under the age of eighteen years.

 

We recognise that safeguarding is part of our core faith and an integral feature of Christian life in our parish churches and that the few who are determined to harm children or adults, deliberately seek out groups or organisations where they can meet children or other vulnerable people. The Church is particularly vulnerable to these people. Creating and maintaining a safeguarding culture will discourage them from becoming involved for the wrong reasons and make it difficult for them to harm or abuse children or adults if they do. 

The PCC of St Andrews Hatfield Peverel with All Saints Ulting agrees to adopt the House of Bishops ‘Promoting a Safer Church; safeguarding policy statement’ (2017) with Protecting All God’s Children (safeguarding policy for children and young people, 4th edition, 2010)Promoting a Safe Church (safeguarding policy for adults, 2006)and the Parish Safeguarding Handbook (2018) (https://www.churchofengland.org/more/safeguarding)

As part of Diocese of Chelmsford we follow their guidelines (www.chelmsford.anglican.org/safeguarding)

  • We seek …to create a safe and caring environment which is welcoming and respectful and enables safeguarding concerns to be raised and responded to openly, promptly and consistently;
  • To ensure that all those authorised to work with children and vulnerable adults are appropriately recruited according to safer recruitment practice and are adequately supported and are trained appropriately for their roles, including Diocesan Safeguarding Training.
  • To provide appropriate insurance cover for all activities undertaken in the name of the church, which involve children or vulnerable adults.
  • To care and support for all those who have been victims of abuse or subject to concerns or allegations of abuse and other affected persons
  • To appoint an appropriately experienced designated Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) to work with the incumbents and PCC. This PSO should be a lay person. The PSO may also be the DBS administrator for church officers who work with children or vulnerable adults but if not, the PCC should appoint another individual.
  • To have a procedure in place to deal promptly with safeguarding allegations or suspicions of abuse in accordance with the relevant policy and practice guidance and in consultation with the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser;
  • To report all safeguarding concerns or allegations against church officers or other church members to the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser;
  • To ensure that known offenders or others who may pose a risk to children and/or vulnerable adults are effectively managed and monitored in consultation with the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser;
  • To comply with all data protection legislation especially in regard to storing information about the ‘church workforce’. Including volunteers and any safeguarding records;
  • Ensure that an “activity risk assessment” is completed and reviewed regularly for each activity, which is associated with either children or vulnerable adults, and run in the name of the Church.
  • Display contact details regarding safeguarding issues
  • The PSO will regularly report on safeguarding in the parish and safeguarding will be a standing agenda item at each PCC meeting. At the APCM the PCC will provide an annual report in relation to safeguarding. In the PCC’s annual report will be a statement which reports on progress and a statement as to whether or not the PCC has complied with the duty to have “due regard” to the House of Bishops’ guidance in relation to safeguarding.

The most important point to bear in mind is, if in doubt about any safeguarding matter contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team (DST) whose job it is to offer advice, guidance and support in all situations in which a child or adult may be at risk.  01245 294444

Contact details for the DST (Diocesan Safeguarding Team)

Laura Tyler – Safeguarding Administrator    Tel: 01245 294438 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, Office hours)
Email: safeguarding@chelmsford.anglican.org

Lynda Saunders – Safeguarding Assistant   Tel: 01245 294490 (Weekdays, Office hours)
Email: safeguarding@chelmsford.anglican.org

Nicky Sirett – Safeguarding Trainer    Please telephone the Safeguarding Administrator to leave a message
Email: nsirett@chelmsford.anglican.org

Danielle Law – Deputy Safeguarding Manager    Tel: 01245 294472 (Weekdays, Office hours)
Email: dlaw@chelmsford.anglican.org

Amanda Goh – Safeguarding Manager & DSA (Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor) Tel: 01245 294457 (Weekdays, Office hours)  Email: agoh@chelmsford.anglican.org

Emergency Duty Team – Out of hours 01245 294444

This phone number is for urgent matters that cannot wait until the next working day. Please be respectful of the team when calling out of office hours and consider whether your call is genuinely urgent, in which case we will gladly respond and provide you with support. If we cannot answer your call straight away please leave an answerphone message with your phone number so that we can call you back. Please also note that in an emergency (particularly if somebody is in immediate risk or danger of harm) you should call 999 and ask for the police.
Tel: 01245 294444 (Out of office hours this phone will be answered by CCPAS)

Address: The DST, Diocesan Office, 53 New Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1AT

 

Amended Policy and Procedure accepted 10th July 2019

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