SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT

The parish of St John’s, Lindow is committed to high standards in the safeguarding and care of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Our Safeguarding Officer is Ian Moffitt, who can be contacted by phone at 01625 359358 (voicemail) or email at safeguarding@saint-johns.org.uk, and our Parish Safeguarding Policy can be read in full below:


 

Safeguarding young people and vulnerable adults
Policy Statement

This statement was adopted by the PCC and read to the APCM of 18th April 2021Changes have been made to bring the policy in line with the Policy and Practice Guidance laid out in the Church of England, Parish Safeguarding Handbook which results from the audit of practice carried out by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) (August 2019).

Introduction:

It is a fundamental right of every child, young person and vulnerable adult in our care to be valued and protected from harm. In seeking to achieve this, the PCC has adopted the principles of the House of Bishops and the best practice set out in their Parish Safeguarding Handbook. This is accessed via the link below:

http://www.chester.anglican.org/support-services/safeguarding/safeguardingpolicy.php

Principles:

  • At St John’s we are committed to establishing safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment where there is a culture of informed vigilance as to the dangers of abuse;
  • We will carefully select and train all of those with any responsibility within our church, in line with safer recruitment principles, including the use of criminal record disclosures and registration with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS);
  • We will respond immediately to every complaint made which suggests that a person in our care may have been harmed, seeking advice from the Diocese Vulnerability and Safeguarding Officer, and co-operating with the police and local authority in any investigation;
  • We will seek to work with anyone who has suffered abuse providing an appropriate ministry of informed pastoral care;
  • We will seek to challenge any abuse of power, especially by anyone in a position of trust;
  • Based upon the message of the Gospel, we will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child or young person; and
  • In any of these principles we will follow legislation, guidance and recognised good practice.

Code of Practice:

  • To secure this policy all of our officers and volunteer workers will be trained to the appropriate level as guided by the Parish Handbook. They will be alert to any signs of abuse in all of its forms, knowing exactly what is required of them on receiving a disclosure and accepting the requirement to keep their training up to date;
  • The PCC will appoint a suitably qualified Parish Protection Officer (PPO), assisted by other named persons. The PPO will be the first contact person on all safeguarding matters;
  • Safeguarding arrangements will be clearly visible on the home page of our Parish Website;
  • The name and contact details of the PPO, along with all other key contacts for Child Protection, will be clearly displayed in all of our buildings:
  • All of our church leaders and volunteers will be appointed as set out in the recruitment paragraphs of the Parish Safeguarding Handbook;
  • We will have a written policy on the secure storage, handling, retention and disposal of disclosure information and any other relevant information. The PPO will secure confidential information during an interregnum;
  • Any information additional to a disclosure must be spoken directly to the PPO who must not share this with anyone not authorised to have access to it. The PPO accepts that to do so constitutes a criminal offence; and
  • The PPO will carry out periodic checks to ensure this policy and its procedures are being followed and report to the PCC. Safeguarding will be a standing item on the agenda of all PCC meetings.

Review:

This policy will be reviewed annually for adoption by the PCC. It will be read out to church members at the APCM, usually held in April of each year. In addition, an annual review of practice will be undertaken by the PPO and a report sent to the PCC on the last PCC before the APCM.