Parish Policy for the Safeguarding of Children, Young People & Vulnerable Adults

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• Our parish values and encourages the participation of children and young people in all parish activities that will help their spiritual, physical, emotional and social development.

 

• The parish recognises the dignity and rights of all children and is committed to ensuring their safety and well being at all times.

 

• The parish recognises that all those involved in working with children have a special duty of care towards them. There are procedures and a code of practice in place to implement this policy.

 

• The Parish will follow the published Archdiocesan guidelines and procedures relating to Safeguarding, including good practice guidelines.

 

• The Parish will facilitate the support and training of those who work with children and young people within the Parish, and will undertake oversight of their work

 

• Each worker with children young people must know the guidelines and undertake to follow them. Each will be given a copy of the agreed procedures and good practice guidelines.

 

• It is a responsibility of each one of us to prevent the physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse of children and young people and to report any abuse discovered or suspected.

 

• The parish will appoint a Safeguarding Representative who will be the contact point for any concerns and/or complaints relating to Safeguarding issues. Any such concerns will dealt with promptly and will be reported to the relevant Archdiocesan Safeguarding Coordinator.

 

       Given the situation where we have 2 churches within the Parish, we have a Safeguarding

        Representative for each church (/congregation).

        The St Mary's church/congregation Representative is Marie Tootell.

        The St Catherine's church/congregation Representative is Elaine Carr.

 

• This Policy Statement will be displayed on the church website and notice board, and Parishioners informed of its existence, and their implicit responsibilities.

 

This statement will be reviewed at least annually and updated as required.

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What to do if you have any concerns

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Full details of the Liverpool Archdiocese Safeguarding Department and its role and responsibilities can be found by following this link to the Archdiocesan website.

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The Archdiocesan advice is that if you are worried about the safety or welfare of a child or adult, you should always tell someone - if a child or adult is in immediate danger of serious harm, please contact the police without delay on 999.

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Anyone who has a Safeguarding concern relating to the welfare of children and young people involved in parish based activities should contact the Parish Safeguarding Representative (Marie Tootell or Elaine Carr) in the first instance.

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Alternatively, if the child or adult is not in immediate danger of serious harm but you know or suspect they are being abused or neglected please contact the Archdiocesan Safeguarding Co-ordinator or the police or your local Children Social Care for advice.  

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Please note the Archdiocesan Safeguarding department is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Emails and phone calls are not monitored outside these times.

If your safeguarding query involves an Archdiocesan school, please contact the Archdiocesan Director of Education. 

 

The contact details for the Safeguarding Department are: 
Liverpool Archdiocesan Offices
Safeguarding Department
Croxteth drive
Sefton Park
Liverpool
L17 1AA
Tel: 0151 522 1043 or 0151 522 1103 (General Office)
Email: safeguarding@rcaol.org.uk 
 

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