Safeguarding: Revised Policy and Guidance

Revised Safeguarding Policy and Guidance go live today.  The Policy and Guidance have been aligned with the National Safeguarding Team’s Parish Safeguarding Handbook, adapted and expanded to suit the requirements of our international diocese.

You can access the Policy and Guidance via the following link, which takes you to the ‘Resources’ section of the Diocesan website:  

https://europe.anglican.org/resources

You will see ‘Diocesan Safeguarding Policy and Guidance’ listed on the left-hand-side of the ‘Resources’ page, from where you can navigate your way through the policy.  (This revised Policy and Guidance will be re-located in a new and separate Safeguarding section of the Diocesan website as soon as possible, but please follow this link until that solution is in place).

There are two key updates:

Underneath the Diocesan Safeguarding Policy and Guidance, you will notice that there is also a menu for Safeguarding Officer Guidance, which has been created specifically to give practical information for Safeguarding Officers, but which will also be of use to those who have responsibility for Safeguarding.

Return of responsibility to chaplaincies for the Safeguarding Checks of lay chaplaincy roles.  The Safeguarding Officer Guidance has been prepared with this in mind.
As awareness, understanding and implementation of safeguarding measures are continually evolving, this web-based approach allows for a ‘live’ policy and its associated guidance that can be updated as and when changes happen. 

We will communicate any updates and changes via Safeguarding Newsflashes (https://europe.anglican.org/safeguarding/safeguarding-news), Safeguarding Notices (by email) and/or the Safeguarding Newsletter.  This new approach aims to be more accessible and suitable to meet the needs of our Diocese, and we welcome your feedback on it.

To support you in the implementation of the new Policy, Katherine Harris (Diocesan Safeguarding Liaison Officer) is holding an additional weekly Safeguarding Clinic to assist with the implementation of the Policy on Wednesdays from 11am to 2pm UK-time, starting from Wednesday, 23rd October 2019. 

Please call Katherine directly on 0044 (0)7827 187 083 at any time during the weekly timeslot, or you can send her an email to arrange an appointment for her to get in touch with you at katherine.harris@churchofengland.org

You can also contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm UK-time:

T: 0044 (0)20 7898 1150

E: europe.safeguarding@churchofengland.org

Photo reproduced for use with grateful thanks from www.pixabay.com.