Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
Recent history, particularly in America, has caused the Church to introduce rigorous safeguarding policies and these are being implemented around the world. They are however, still in the process of being developed, and so this page aims to show the current national policies and the current parish policies as well.
Our parish safeguarding contacts. To find out how to contact them, click here.
Here is a list of the sections of this page. Just click on the one that you want to go to:
For Children
The National Picture
For Parents, Guardians and Carers
Links to Child Protection Organisations
Parish Safeguarding Officers
Consent
Code of conduct for adults
Creating a Safe Environment Policy Document
Documentation for Volunteers
For Children
If you feel that someone has behaved badly towards you, then we are very sorry and we hope you will try and help us do something about it. Please look for one of the two ladies whose photos are at the bottom of this page when you are at Mass. They are there only to help you. They will not take the adult's side but just listen carefully and with great kindness to you. Please click here to see their photos.
Every child or young person who comes to Church is important. All the adults must make sure:
- You are treated well and with respect
- You are listened to
- You are safe
If you are unhappy, muddled, confused, worried, hurt or frightened about anything that happens at Church, where you live, or anywhere else you go, we want to help.
The people you can tell are:-
- Somebody in your family or where you live.
- A leader who you feel listens to you in the Church.
- Your Local Child Protection Representative.
- Your Child Protection Officer/Child Protection Co-ordinator.
- Somebody at school.
- An independent person.
- Child Line /NSPCC.
You will not get into trouble at Church (in the youth group etc) for telling about something that is making you unhappy, muddled, confused, worried, hurt or frightened. It sometimes takes a lot of courage to tell.
NSPCC – Main no.:0800 800 500 - 42 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3NH
NSPCC – Welsh language Helpline – 0808 1002524
NSPCC – Bengali/Sylehti – 0800 096 7714
NSPCC – Gujarati Helpline– 0800 096 7715
NSPCC – Hindi Helpline – 0800 096 7716
NSPCC – Punjabi Helpline – 0800 096 7717
NSPCC – Urdu Helpline – 0800 096 7718
NSPCC – Asian Helpline service in English – 0800 096 7719
NSPCC – Textphone service (for deaf people) – 0800 056 0566
Website Address: www.There4me.com – computer based service run by NSPCC by which young people can “speak” to a counsellor on-line or www.worriedneed2talk.org.uk – a computer based service run by NSPCC by which young people can access advice.
Child Line – Free phone 0800 11 11 or Freepost 1111, London N1 OBR
Other local and specialist resources i.e. local helpline or Church Action on Disability.
Other websites - there are other websites that can help - please click here.
The National Picture
In the UK, the Church set up a body dedicated solely to safeguarding in November 2001 called the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults or COPCA. With effect from 1st July 2008, COPCA ceased to exist and has been replaced by an organisation called CSAS or the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service. You can get to their website here.
For Parents, Guardians and Carers
If you feel that someone has behaved inappropriately towards your child or children, please contact one of the Parish Safeguarding Officers as soon as possible. Their details are available here.
If you would simply like more information about the parish's policy on safeguarding please read on or contact the Parish Safeguarding Officers who will be happy to help you.
Consent
Clearly, prevention is better than cure, but some aspects of safeguarding are outside the Church's control. The Parish would like to promote itself in the local press and on its website and photographs and videos of parish events such as the Picnic or First Holy Communion or Confirmation or Weddings are a great way to do this.
To try to eliminate any misunderstandings, we have devised a form which we would like you, as Parents, Guardians or Carers of children, to complete and for children who are old enough to understand, to sign as well. To download a copy, please click here. Once you have completed the form, please return it to the Parochial Administrator soon as possible.
Code of conduct for adults involved in contact with children and young people.
You must:
- operate within the Church’s principles and guidance and any particular procedures of the Diocese, Religious Congregation, Parish or Club.
- treat all children and young people equally and with respect.
- engage and interact appropriately with children and young people.
- challenge unacceptable behaviour and provide an example of good conduct you wish others to follow – an environment which allows bullying, inappropriate shouting or any form of discrimination is unacceptable.
- respect a child or young person’s right to personal privacy.
- recognise that particular care is required in moments when you are discussing sensitive issues with children and young people e.g. maintain appropriate boundaries.
- avoid situations that compromise your relationship with children and young people, and are unacceptable within a relationship of trust. This rule should apply to all such behaviours including those which would not constitute an illegal act.
You must not:
- discuss topics or use vocabulary with children and young people which could not be used comfortably in the presence of parents or another adult.
- arrange an overnight trip with a child or young person without ensuring that another approved person will be present.
- take a chance when common sense suggests another more prudent approach.
- Physically, emotionally or sexually abuse or exploit any child.
Creating a Safe Environment - Policy Document
In any parish, there are many different roles to be filled, the majority of which are filled by volunteer parishioners. Set out below is a series of documents that are intended to cover the majority of such roles. If you spot a mistake or an omission, please contact the Parochial Administrator. We are still developing our safeguarding policy and so input from all quarters is most welcome.
This is the summary of our policy:
The Parish of St Edward King & Martyr and The Most Holy Name is committed to the child protection policies of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, to protect children and young people from neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse and to promote a safe environment for them. This commitment flows from the fact that we are all made in the image of God and the Church’s common belief in the dignity and uniqueness of every human life. We start from the principle that each child has a right to expect the highest level of care and protection, love, encouragement and respect that we can give. We will liaise closely with statutory agencies to ensure that any allegations of abuse that may occur are promptly reported and properly dealt with, victims supported and perpetrators held to account. |
The full policy document is 55 pages. There are a further 34 pages of Appendices. If you would like to see the full policy document of any of the Appendices, please click on the appropriate link below.
Both documents are stored as PDFs. If your system cannot open them then it is probably because you don't have the right program installed. To install the right program (Adobe Acrobat Reader), please click here and accept all the defaults that you are offered.
If you don't want to download all the Appendices, we have split them up so that you can download just the one or ones that you want here:
- List of Appendices
- Appendix A Written agreement for Volunteers
- Appendix B Approval for Events & Activities Form
- Appendix C Guidance on Risk Assessment Form
- Appendix D Recording Sheet
- Appendix E Parental Consent Form
- Appendix F Incident Report Form
- Appendix G Guidance on Managing Children’s Behaviour
- Appendix H Guidance on the Use of Images of Children and Young People
- Appendix J Sample Anti-Bullying Policy
- Appendix K Guidance on Managing Drugs-Related Incidents
- Appendix L Child Protection: Hiring Arrangements for Church Premises
- Appendix M Sample Compliments, Comments and Complaints Procedure
- Appendix N Declaration of Child Protection Procedures
- Appendix P Resources and Contacts
Documentation for Parish Volunteers
Father Dylan appointed two Parish Safeguarding Officers in April 2008 (see below)
Links to organisations involved in Child Protection
For links to relevant organisations, please click here.
Parish Safeguarding Officers
For further information, please contact our Parish Safeguarding Officers:
Marion is the one on the left and Jillian is on the right
| Jillian La Vallette-Robins | 01747-854803 |
| Marion Shouler | 01747-852532 |