SAFEGUARDING POLICY

St Leonard’s Church
Parish Safeguarding Policy

The Parochial Church Council of St. Leonard’s Chesham Bois (alternatively referred to below as “St Leonard’s”, “the PCC” or “we”) has approved the following Parish Safeguarding Policy.

1. We are committed to:

The care, nurture of, and respectful pastoral ministry with, all children and all adults
The safeguarding and protection of all children, young people and adults when they are at risk
The establishing of safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment where there is a culture of ‘informed vigilance’ as to the dangers of abuse.

2. We will carefully select and train all those with any responsibility within the Church, in line with safer recruitment principles, including the use of Disclosure and Barring Service criminal records checks.

3. We respond without delay to every complaint made which suggests that an adult, child or young person may have been harmed, co-operating with the police and local authority in any investigation and we will have a clear reporting procedure in place.

4. We will seek to work with anyone who has suffered abuse, developing with him or her an appropriate ministry of informed pastoral care.

5. We will seek to challenge any abuse of power, especially by anyone in a position of trust.

6. 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, young person or vulnerable adult.

7. In all these principles we will follow statute, guidance and recognised good practice.

8. We will advise the Diocese which Registered Body we use to process applications for DBS Checks.

9. We will advise the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser if we receive a Disclosure which is ‘blemished’ or ‘positive’.

10. We will review this policy annually, check that our policies are up to date, and supply a copy of the updated policy statement to the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser.

Our Safeguarding Officer is:

Mrs Denise Kolb

07739458504

safeguarding@stleonardscb.org.uk

Our Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor is:

Tsungai Muchegwa

01865 208220

Appendix - What to do if you have a safeguarding concern

If a child or adult is in immediate danger or requires immediate medical attention, call the emergency services on 999.

If there is no risk of immediate harm, please contact the Parish Safeguarding Officer, Denise Kolb on 07739 458504 as soon as possible. Alternatively you can call the Oxford Diocese Safeguarding Team on 01865 208 295 or email safeguardingreferrals@oxford.anglican.org

Outside office hours

If you are unable to contact these people, you should call either the Bucks Children or Adult’s Social Care Emergency Duty Team on: 0800 999 7677

Once you have reported a safeguarding concern please complete a Safeguarding Referral Form (pdf document) and return it by email to denise@stleonardscb.org.uk

Click to view the CofE Promoting a Safer Church Policy