The Parish Church of Immanuel and St Andrew, Streatham

Registered Charity 1131245
452 Streatham High Road · London · SW16 3PY · Tel: (020) 8679 6888

SAFEGUARDING - POLICIES FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN, VULNERABLE ADULTS AND VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

Contents of this page (click the item to go to the relevant section):

Introduction.
WHAT TO DO if you have concerns....
1. Policy for Safeguarding Children.
2. Policy for Safeguarding Adults who may be vulnerable.
3. Policy for Responding to Domestic Abuse.
4. Procedure for hirers.
5. "A Safe Church" - downloadable '.pdf' files.

Introduction

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Immanuel and St Andrew adopted "A Safe Church" on 7th May 2009. "A Safe Church" is a manual of safeguarding policies, procedures and guidelines produced by the Diocese of Southwark.

(Note that a Procedure is non-negotiable; it must be adopted in order to comply with the law and/or national and Church of England policy. A Guideline is the Diocese's recommendation for best practice.)

The PCC therefore now has three specific safeguarding policies - one for children, one for vulnerable adults and one for victims of domestic abuse, as recommended in "A Safe Church". These policies, which have replaced the previous policies for protection of children and vulnerable adults, are reproduced below, and copies may be downloaded using the links in each section or in the left column.

The policies apply to Junior Church and all other activities of Immanuel and St Andrew, as well as to all hirers and other users of the building. The procedure for hirers is in section 4 below.

A copy of "A Safe Church" can be found in the church foyer, and is available for reference by any member or user of the building. (Please do not take this copy away.) The various sections of "A Safe Church" may also be downloaded/viewed in '.pdf' format from section 5 of this page below.

If you need help in implementing the contents of "A Safe Church", contact Jill Sandham, the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser, preferably by phone or email. For contact details see the declaration, the first part of "A Safe Church".

The Parish Safeguarding Officers for Immanuel and St Andrew are Laura Reynolds and Maureen Burgess*.

* Please note that, to protect individual privacy, private addresses and telephone numbers of members are not normally shown. If you need to contact an individual and do not have the information you need, please refer to the Home Page or the "Who's Who" page for general contact details, or call the Parish Office on 020 8679 6888 (24-hr answering service). 'OPEN DOOR', the weekly news and notice sheet available at the church, contains telephone numbers of Ministry Team members.

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WHAT TO DO if you have concerns....

If you are worried about a child, young person or an adult who may be vulnerable, or about the behaviour of an adult or child at Immanuel and St Andrew Church or any activity connected with it:

Talk to the Vicar or Parish Safeguarding Officer (see above)
In an emergency, contact either the Police or the Local Authority Children’s or Adults’ Services
Ensure that advice is sought from the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser (see above)
Record your observations and conversations
Don’t discuss the concerns with the alleged perpetrator
Don’t investigate yourself.

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1. Policy for Safeguarding Children

Download/view a copy in '.pdf' or Word format.

We are committed to promoting and supporting environments which:

are youth-friendly and child-friendly and nurture their positive development
enable children and young people to be active contributors to the church community
protect children and young people from actual or potential harm
enable and encourage concerns to be raised and responded to openly and consistently.

We recognise that:

the welfare of the child or young person is paramount
all children (regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity) have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
abuse of children can occur in all communities and is most likely to occur within families and by people known to the child
working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

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We will endeavour to safeguard children and young people by:

In all our activities:
- valuing, listening to and respecting children and young people
- fostering and encouraging best practice by setting standards for working with children and young people, in co-operation with statutory bodies, voluntary agencies and other faith communities.
In our recruitment of paid staff and volunteers, following Diocesan procedures in:
- ensuring all necessary checks are made to promote the safe selection and recruitment of ordained and lay ministers, voluntary workers and paid workers with children and young people
- providing supervision, support and training.
In our publicity:
- sharing information about good safeguarding practice with children, parents, and all those working with them.
When concerns are raised, following Diocesan procedures in:
- responding without delay to every concern raised that a child or young person may have been harmed, or be at risk from harm; or about the behaviour of an adult or child
- working with the diocese and appropriate statutory bodies during an investigation into child abuse, including when allegations are made against a member of the church community.
In our care:
- ensuring that informed and appropriate pastoral care is offered to any child, young person or adult who has suffered abuse
- ensuring that appropriate pastoral care is offered to any member of our church community against whom an allegation is made.
In our supervision, following Diocesan procedures in:
- ensuring, in partnership with the diocese and other agencies, that care and supervision is provided for any member of our church community known to have offended against a child or young person, or to pose a risk to them.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and procedures annually.

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2. Policy for Safeguarding Adults who may be vulnerable

Download/view a copy in '.pdf' or Word format.

We are committed to promoting and supporting environments which:

ensure that all people feel welcomed, respected and safe from abuse
encourage adults who may be vulnerable to lead as independent a life as possible, to choose how to lead their life, and to be active contributors to the church community
protect adults who may be vulnerable from actual or potential harm
enable and encourage concerns to be raised and responded to openly and consistently.

We recognise that:

everyone has different levels of vulnerability, and that each of us may be regarded as vulnerable at some time in our lives
all adults who may be vulnerable (regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity) have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
abuse of adults who may be vulnerable can occur in all communities and is most likely to occur within families and by people known to them
working in partnership with adults who may be vulnerable, their carers and other agencies is essential in promoting their welfare.

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We will endeavour to safeguard adults who may be vulnerable by:

In all our activities:
- valuing, listening to and respecting adults who may be vulnerable
- fostering and encouraging best practice by setting standards for working with adults who may be vulnerable, and boundaries for acceptable behaviour, in co-operation with statutory bodies, voluntary agencies and other faith communities.
In our recruitment of paid staff and volunteers, following Diocesan procedures in:
- ensuring all necessary checks are made to promote the safe selection and recruitment of ordained and lay ministers, voluntary workers and paid workers with adults who may be vulnerable
- providing supervision, support and training.
In our publicity:
- sharing information about good safeguarding practice with adults who may be vulnerable, their carers, and all those working with them.
When concerns are raised, following Diocesan procedures in:
- responding without delay to every concern raised that a adult who may be vulnerable may have been harmed, or be at risk from harm, through abuse, harassment or bullying; or about the behaviour of an adult or child
- working with the diocese and the appropriate statutory bodies during an investigation into abuse, including when allegations are made against a member of the church community.
In our care:
- ensuring that informed and appropriate pastoral care is offered to any vulnerable adult who has suffered abuse, including support to make a complaint if so desired
- ensuring that appropriate pastoral care is offered to any member of our church community against whom an allegation is made.
In our supervision, following Diocesan procedures in:
- ensuring, in partnership with the diocese and other agencies, that care and supervision is provided for any member of our church community known to have offended against a vulnerable adult, or to pose a risk to them.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and procedures annually.

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3. Policy for Responding to Domestic Abuse

Download/view a copy in '.pdf' or Word format.

We are committed to promoting and supporting environments which:

ensure that all people feel welcomed, respected and safe from abuse
protect those vulnerable to domestic abuse from actual or potential harm
recognise equality amongst people and within relationships
enable and encourage concerns to be raised and responded to openly and consistently.

We recognise that:

all forms of domestic abuse cause damage to the survivor and express an imbalance of power in the relationship
all survivors (regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity) have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
domestic abuse can occur in all communities
domestic abuse may be a single incident, but is usually a systematic, repeated pattern which escalates in severity and frequency
domestic abuse, if witnessed or overheard by a child, is a form of child abuse by the perpetrator of the abusive behaviour
working in partnership with children, adults and other agencies is essential in promoting the welfare of any child or adult suffering abuse.

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We will endeavour to respond to domestic abuse by:

In all our activities:
- valuing, listening to and respecting both survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
In our publicity:
- raising awareness about other agencies, support services, resources and expertise, through providing information in public areas of relevance to survivors, children and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
When concerns are raised:
- ensuring that those who have experienced abuse can find safety and informed help
- working with the appropriate statutory bodies during an investigation into domestic abuse, including when allegations are made against a member of the church community.
In our care:
- ensuring that informed and appropriate pastoral care is offered to any child, young person or adult who has suffered abuse
- identifying and outlining the appropriate relationship of those with pastoral care responsibilities with both survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and procedures annually.

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4. Procedure for hirers.

Hall hirers and other users of the building are provided with the first 2 policies above – for children. and for vulnerable adults - as well as a form which they have to sign and return and a copy of the "Guidelines for activities" - an extract from "A Safe Church".

Download/view the hirers' form in '.pdf' or Word format.

Download/view "Guidelines for activities" ('.pdf' format).

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5. "A Safe Church"

The manual "A Safe Church" can be downloaded here in sections in '.pdf' format. Use the links below.

You will find completed copies of the Declaration posted on notice boards in the Church.

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Further infomation may be obtained from the Diocesan website. Please be aware that the copies downloadable here from the list above are those adopted by the PCC; those on the Diocesan Website may be updated from time to time. The copies here will be updated as and when the PCC adopts any revisions that may have been made by the Diocese.

Note:

Procedures are non-negotiable; they must be adopted in order to comply with the law and/or national and Church of England policy.
Guidelines are the Diocese's recommendation for best practice

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Links to the main pages are at the TOP of the page.

Page last updated 09 November 2009.

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