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Safeguarding

What is a 'Safe Church'?

The Congregational Federation encourages all their churches to have a Safeguarding Policy. Those Churches that have a policy and are committed to safe practice are issued with a Safeguarding Certificate to be displayed in their Church. This is also acknowledged on the Website and in the Year Book.

  • The Church has been visited by an Federation Safeguarding Checker
  • The Checker has looked at the building and is satisfied with fire procedure, electrical testing etc.
  • The Church has carried out appropriate checks on its leadership by taking up references, holding interviews and Disclosure and Barring Checks (DBS in England and Wales) or The Protecting Vulnerable Groups membership scheme (PVG in Scotland) carried out where required.
  • All group activities are properly supervised and leaders have been safely recruited.
  • The Church has a Safeguarding Policy which is regularly updated.

Contact us to arrange for a safeguarding visit to your church, or if you need more information regarding policies, forms and procedures. Alternatively you may want to talk about an issue in your church.

Safeguarding Contact

If you need to discuss any Safeguarding queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact: Mrs Lisa Vickers, Safeguarding Officer:

Telephone: 0115 911 1460

safeguarding@congregational.org.uk

Or complete the "How can we help you?" form.  

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is dedicated to eradicating the sexual abuse of children. They are part of UK policing and very much about tracking and bringing offenders to account either directly or in partnership with local and international forces.

CEOP


Congregational Federation statement regarding the IICSA Report

In September 2021, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse report was released. The full report can be found here: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/

However, we want to highlight one of the recommendations from the report as it relates to churches.

This is the Recommendation:

“All religious organisations should have a child protection policy and supporting procedures which should include advice and guidance disclosures of abuse and the needs of victims and survivors. The policy and procedure should be updated regularly with professional advice, and all organisations should have regular compulsory training for those in leadership positions and those who work with children.”

This supports the decision by Council in 2020 that all affiliated Congregational Federation churches should have in place a Safeguarding Certificate to remain affiliated to the Congregational Federation by the end of 2023.

The Congregational Federation is committed to prioritising Safeguarding, and we want to encourage you as a church to read and follow the recommendation by ensuring you have everything in place in our process for a Safeguarding. We have worked with Thirty-One Eight to promote and hold safeguarding training which will continue, and we have an exemplar policy and good practise guidance created for churches to adapt. An advanced bespoke training course has also been written for all those listed on the Congregational Federation Accredited Roll of Ministries.’

Thirty-one eight is the churches advisory agency for Safeguarding, there are numerous helpful information leaflets that are available to download, and this is their helpline for times when you need advice in situation that has arisen. Telephone: 0303 003 1111

The Charity Commission have stated in response to the IICSA that they “believe that keeping people safe inside and outside the UK is a number one priority for all charities and safeguarding obligations remain essential.” 

Please contact Lisa Vickers our Safeguarding Officer at: safeguarding@congregational.org.uk if you need support in making sure this is completed.

We also advise that Safeguarding is kept on your Church Meetings agenda as a regular item.