Safeguarding
St Mary’s is a friendly and welcoming place, and so far as we are aware no child or vulnerable adult has come to any harm whilst in our care. Nonetheless, we are committed to doing all we can to continue to protect children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with the church by achieving best practice in all areas of our work. We are committed to this because each child and vulnerable adult is precious to our loving God and therefore to us.
Our safeguarding procedures comply with the guidance and recommendations of Ely Diocese and the Church of England.
What we have done
We have:
- appointed a Parish Safeguarding Officer
- adopted a safeguarding policy, which can be found here: safeguarding policy
- implemented ‘safer recruitment’ procedures for all our volunteers who may come into contact with children and vulnerable adults. This includes completing a confidential declaration, the provision of two references, DBS checks and safeguarding training appropriate to the work undertaken
- risk assessed all our routine activities, and ensured that we carry out risk assessments for one-off activities
- adopted a policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, which can be found here: Ex offenders doc
The Parish Safeguarding Officer reports to each meeting of the Parish Church Council.
What to do if you have any concerns about safeguarding
If you have a concern about a child, young person or adult within the church, a useful guide as to what to do is here, Safeguarding_pocket_guide_-_.
The Parish Safeguarding Officer is Gillian Pett, who can be contacted on gillian.pett29@gmail.com
The Diocesan Safeguarding Officer is Sarah King, who can be contacted on sarah.king@elydiocese.org.
The diocesan safeguarding website is https://www.elydiocese.org/safeguarding/
Call 999 if a child or adult is in immediate danger of significant or serious harm.
National Helplines:
NSPCC – 0808 800 5000
Childline – 0800 1111
Stop it Now – 0808 1000 900
NAPAC – 0808 801 0331
Samaritans – 116 123
Family Lives – 0808 800 2222
National Domestic Violence Helpline – 0808 2000 247
Action on Elder Abuse – 0808 808 8141
