Training and Events Safeguarding Team
This section should equip you with all the knowledge and tools necessary to undertake your work within each parish or benefice relating to safeguarding.
Parish Safeguarding Handbook
Parish Safeguarding Handbook (August 2019) (New Edition)
The new national Parish Safeguarding Handbook is your first port of call for information on all aspects of safeguarding in a parish. The most up to date version of it is available to download from both the Diocesan website and directly from the Church of England website. This is a very useful document and is essential for all parishes to read and take direction from. If you require a hard copy, please get in touch with any member of the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.
Please do not purchase printed hardcopy versions of this document as the National Safeguarding Team intend to update it on a regular basis.
Parish Safeguarding Policy
There is a requirement for each PCC to formally adopt and work to all the House of Bishop’s Safeguarding Policies.
Furthermore, each PCC is required to sign up to the safeguarding policy statement: ‘Promoting a Safer Church’, this is very basic and only 7 pages long! It explains the principles of safeguarding, details the fundamental requirements, refers to (larger and) specific policies and finally details action points that need to be undertaken in order to ensure that the ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ Policy is valid and active.
Items to be Displayed on Notice Boards.
Each PCC is required to display relevant safeguarding notices on church notice boards. These notices come in the form of two posters. One poster details ‘who to contact if there are any safeguarding concerns’ (here is a Word version of the poster). The second poster is a one-page summary of the above ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ Policy.
Parish Websites & Safeguarding Information
If you have a parish website – you need to ensure that you display relevant safeguarding information and that it is prominently linked from the homepage of your website. If the Church of England's A Church Near You (ACNY) is your main web presence, then you may want to offer this information on there. Additionally, every page on ACNY has a link at the base of it which directs visitors to the diocesan safeguarding adviser. It is a requirement of the Parish Safeguarding Handbook, please see Page 9.
To See what Safeguarding Information for Parish Websites is required please click on the link.
Parish Dashboards
What are Parish Safeguarding Dashboards?
The Parish Safeguarding Dashboard is a vital safeguarding tool which help us:
- Monitor and manage our safeguarding practices effectivelys
- Track training
- Report concerns
- Ensure that all safeguarding measures are up to date
Parish Safeguarding Dashboards:
- Take you through all the safeguarding tasks that need to completed by a parish so that you know you have done all you need to do. The aim is to provide safeguarding officers with everything they need in one place, removing the need to have multiple handbooks, guides and manuals to hand.
- Illustrate how the parish is progressing against the 'ideal' parish safeguarding standards set out in the Parish Safeguarding Handbook. It has template documents and can produce an action plan for the PCC to identify what things need to be addressed most urgently.
- Remove the need for safeguarding questions in the Articles of Enquiry and paper-based safeguarding audits as the archdeacons can see all of the parish dashboards in their archdeaconry.
- Work equally well on a computer or smartphone, and is intuitive to use – simply tick the answer that corresponds to safeguarding in your parish on a series of multiple choice questions, and that section of the Dashboard goes Green (you have reached or exceeded the required standard), Amber (you’re doing okay, but there are still some things you could consider) or Red (please take the action plan to your next PCC meeting, so that arrangements for safeguarding can be put into place).
How to sign up to your Parish Safeguarding Dashboard
You can sign up to your parish Dashboard by emailing safeguardin@hereford.anglican.org with:
- Your name and role in your parish
- The name of the parish you are a part of/need access to the dashboard
- If you need to be an owner (with the ability to edit the dashboard information) or a viewer (with no ability to edit dashboard information)
More infomation about the Safeguarding Dashboards can be found here:
This will give you access to latest updates and instructional videos.
‘Promoting a Safer Church - Action Plan’
The easiest way for a Parish/Benefice to meet its safeguarding responsibilities is for the PCC to draw up a Parish/Benefice Safeguarding Action Plan. This is a document that details all the actions that need to take place. It is also an effective means of tracking a parish’s progress. The Parish Safeguarding Action Plan will be used as the basis for a Parish Audit, which we will be undertaken in the latter half of this year.
An alternative and easier approach is to sign up to the Online Parish Dasboards Management Program. This is a more simplier process to manage your everyday Safeguarding needs. Please visit the Parish Dashboards Information Page. (Page coming soon).
or please contact DSO Carl Steventon at carl.steventon@hereford.anglican.org for more infromation.
Support for Parish Safeguarding Officers/Reps
The Diocesan Safeguarding Team value and appreciate the work of Parish / Benefice Safeguarding Officers / Reps. We acknowledge how difficult and challenging the role can be, and we are keen to help support you in your roles. We are planning to hold a number of safeguarding engagement events 'Network Meetings' for Parish Safeguarding Officers each year. The events will consist of a briefing on all current and emerging issues relating to church safeguarding but will also represent an opportunity for Safeguarding Officers / Reps to raise concerns and highlight issues and feedback to us. If there is something specific that you would like included at the event, please do let us know.
Obviously, these Network Meeting are not taking place at present, however we will resume these when able to meet safely.
We will be developing more resources for Parishes to use over the next coming months to fit in with updates from the National policies. These will be made available on the website when completed.
Please do contact anyone from the Team if you would like to have more information on any of the above aspects.