Safeguarding People
Newsletters
September 2009 - Issue 6
A Safe Church - Implementation
A reminder that if you haven’t yet presented the new diocesan policies, procedures and guidelines to your PCC, there is a PowerPoint presentation available to initiate discussion, downloadable from: http://www.southwark.anglican.org/
what/training-opportunities-materials
Extension for adoption
The deadline for PCCs to adopt the policies has been extended to the end of December 2009. This is due to a number of training events for clergy having to be postponed from June to September. It is helpful for clergy to have done the day’s training before the PCC discussion.
June 2009 - Issue 5
A Safe Church
I hope that you have all now received your copies. You should have one for the incumbent/priest in charge of each church, and one for Parish Safeguarding Officers. One of these copies should be lodged and freely accessible in each church.
The CD inside the front cover can be shared as widely as you wish within the congregation, and the manual is downloadable in sections from the diocesan website (see link below).
If you would like to purchase further copies, there are a limited number for sale, at a cost of £20 plus £5 postage and package per manual; please email me if you wish to order copies.
September 2008 - Issue 4
I am delighted by the response from parishes to my various pleas for voluntary assistance. We have appointed Judy Wright, who is the Child Protection Officer for the Richmond Team Ministry, as the first chair of the new Safeguarding Reference Group. Judy is a retired social work manager with a wealth of experience in the safeguarding field. In addition, eight new voluntary trainers will be working with me in offering training to parishes and clergy. They all have experience of training and safeguarding in their professional lives - which include social work, police, health visiting, youth work, clinical psychology and ordained ministry. In due course, some of them will be available to deliver training more locally than we are currently able to offer.
April 2008 - Issue 3
In my second three months as Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser, I have noticed a steady and increasing stream of queries from parishes. In comparison with my first three months, enquiries about policy implementation have increased from 14 to 41, and enquiries about concerns relating to safeguarding children have increased from 4 to 26. I am confident that this is not because of a sudden surge of concerns, but more because the message of accessibility of advice is getting through, and we are moving towards a consistent approach to safeguarding. Keep the enquiries coming!
January 2008 - Issue 2
Welcome to the second edition of Safeguarding Children - and thank you to those who responded to September's with positive feedback, and good ideas which I shall act on. Steve Gendall, Child Protection Representative at St Peter and St Paul, Lingfield, suggested a question and answer slot, and helpfully supplied the first question - so see this new slot, and please do send me more queries which you think may be of interest to others too. No-one commented on the desired frequency - so I will produce this quarterly, and review at the end of the year. I'm very keen to use every opportunity to promote positive images of safeguarding children in our publicity. 'Googling' images for safeguarding children brings up a wide range, including the one to the right. Do e-mail me with any that you have found and like (but of course be careful only to use photos you have taken yourself with the permission of parents or carers, and without names attached, and beware copyright infringement). It's been a busy first few months, with plenty of new developments, which I've included in this edition, to keep you informed. So read on!
September 2007 - Issue 1
I've been in post as the new full time Diocesan Safeguarding and Child Protection Adviser for just three weeks, and I'm looking forward to working with parish clergy and child protection representatives across the diocese. I shall be co-ordinating the Child Protection Diocesan team of the three Area advisers, Tim Bryan, Ian Luke-Macauley and Roger Jones, and we work closely with Linda Craven, the Diocesan Criminal Records Bureau Administrator, whom many of you will know. On this side of the sheet you will find an explanation of what we offer and how to contact us; overleaf is a range of information. I plan to send out regular bulletins, but at this stage I am asking you what you would find helpful by way of support - please respond to the questions at the foot overleaf if you have views!