The Church of England is called to share the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. The life of our communities and institutions is integral to how we address this task. The good news speaks of welcome for all, with a particular regard for those who are most vulnerable, into a community where the value and dignity of every human being is affirmed and those in positions of responsibility and authority are truly trustworthy. Being faithful to our call to share the gospel therefore compels us to take with the utmost seriousness the challenge of preventing abuse from happening and responding well where it has.
Click here to view the The Church of England’s Safeguarding Policy Statement
The PCC of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Hambledon takes its safeguarding responsibilities seriously. We have adopted and implemented the recommendations of the Parish Safeguarding Handbook 2018 to ensure that our church is as safe as it can be for all those who worship and work here, for those who live in the parish and those who visit.
In adopting and implementing the Parish Safeguarding Handbook guidance we have
- appointed a Parish Safeguarding Officer who links the Diocese of Portsmouth and the parish on safeguarding issues. The PSO has an overview of all church activities involving children, young people and vulnerable adults and will seek to ensure the proper implementation of safeguarding policy. The PSO also has responsibility for ensuring that leaders of church activities are DBS checked and trained in accordance with Diocesan Safeguarding policy.
- displayed on our noticeboards a formal statement of our adoption of the House of Bishop’s “Promoting a Safer Church: Safeguarding Policy Statement” signed by the PCC. Click here to see our safeguarding policy.
- on display a Parish ‘Who’s Who’ providing contact details both within the parish and the Diocese for those who need help with safeguarding issues – click here to view these contact details.
- adopted formal policies in respect of safeguarding, domestic abuse and safer recruitment
- prior to adoption and implementation of the new safeguarding guidance provided training for the PCC and those working with children, young adults and vulnerable adults
- ensured that Safeguarding is a standing item on the agenda for each PCC meeting
- allocated time in our APCM for consideration of Safeguarding issues
- required the PSO to attend the PCC meeting in February each year to update the PCC about safeguarding requirements
The Parish Safeguarding Handbook is available on the Church of England website (https://www.churchofengland.org/media/11842) and a printed copy of our safeguarding policies and the Parish Safeguarding Handbook are available in church.
If you have any questions or concerns about safeguarding please do not hesitate to contact our Parish Safeguarding Officer Rachel Houlberg by email to [email protected] or on 023 9263 2424.