Keeping Everyone Safe

The Church Council and leadership team of Bridgemary, Elson & Rowner are committed to ensuring the physical, mental and emotional safety of everyone who comes into contact with the parish. We put a particular emphasis on the safety of the young and vulnerable adults.  We are committed to operating in a safe manner and to ensuring that everyone is safe from harm including abuse, bullying, prejudice or accident.

We have policies and procedures in place to try and prevent any incident from occurring. However, if any incident does occur it will be investigated, and controls will be implemented to ensure it is not repeated. Physical, mental and emotional abuse, bullying and prejudice are not tolerated; when appropriate, statutory authorities will be informed of any incidents.

Preventing Harm

• The parish has a Safeguarding Policy that is reviewed annually. The policy aims to ensure that current “best practices” developed by the Church of England Safeguarding Team are implemented. The Church of England guidance is here. The Parish Safeguarding Policy is here.
• Staff and volunteers who work with children, young people and vulnerable adults go through a “Safer Recruiting” process. This includes DBS checks, taking references, interviews and being provided with a role description which defines bounds. They receive safeguarding training when they start the role; this is refreshed every three years.
• Risk assessments are conducted for events involving children and young people.
• All required safety inspections of electric, gas and other equipment are made.
• All PCC meetings have safeguarding and health and safety on the agenda.

Reporting Safeguarding Concerns

We encourage people to report any concerns so that intervention can take place as early as possible.

If you have concerns, please take the following steps:

• If you think someone is in immediate danger, then you should immediately contact the Police on 999.
• If there is an ongoing situation at church, immediately inform the vicar, safeguarding representative, churchwarden or other leader.
• If you have experienced harm, or hear of an incident that caused harm, or have concerns about someone’s safety, contact our Parish Safeguarding Representative, Donna Coyne safeguarding@northgosportparish.org or call the Parish Office 01329 822487.
• If you are unable to make contact with a Safeguarding Representative, you can contact Hampshire Social Services
  For Children’s Services telephone 0300 555 1384 office hours or 0300 555 1373 out of hours.
  For Adult Services telephone 0300 555 1386.
• If your concern is about a church leader, contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team 02392 899665 (out of hours 0303 003 1111).

Other providers of help/advice

There are several national charities that can provide help and advice:

• If children are unhappy, they can speak to Childline 0800 1111
• The NSPCC provides advice and support to adults who are concerned about the safety or welfare of a child. They’re available 24/7 on 0808 800 5000 and online at nspcc.org.uk.
• If you are experiencing domestic abuse the National Domestic Violence Helpline can help 0808 2000 247
• Adults who are worried about their own or another’s behaviour can speak to Stop It Now 0808 100 900