| Home | Services | Leaders | Worship | Baptism | Mission | History | Contact Us
| Cell Groups |
Art |
This Church takes it’s
responsibility towards Children and Young People very
seriously. Each year, the Church members are reminded of their
responsibility and commit themselves to the policy and
procedures established.
The full procedures for those within our
Church who work with Children and Young People are also
available by clicking here (Working with
Children & Young People v2)
If you have any concerns about any issue
please refer to the contact details in the various documents.
1. As members
of this church, we commit ourselves to the nurturing,
protection and safekeeping of all, especially children and
young people. We recognise that our work with children and
young people is the responsibility of the whole church and to
this end this policy statement and the child protection
principles apply to every member of the Church not just to
those working with children and young people.
2. It is the
responsibility of each Church Member to prevent the physical,
sexual and emotional abuse of children and young people, and to
report any abuse discovered or suspected, in accordance with
the Child Protection Guidelines which accompany this statement,
which in turn are based largely on those published by the
Baptist Union of Great Britain in its publication Safe to Grow
(revised edition, 2004).
3. The Church
has produced its own summary version of the Child Protection
guidelines entitled “Working with Children & Young
People”. This document will be reviewed and updated as
necessary.
4. The church
is committed to supporting, resourcing, training and overseeing
all those who work with children and young people.
5. We
undertake to exercise proper care in the selection and
appointment of those working with children and young people,
whether paid or volunteers. Each person working with
children and young people shall be given a copy of the
church’s document entitled “Working with Children
& Young People” and undertake to observe the best
practices and procedures contained therein.
a. Group & Sessional
Leaders as well as Workers will
need to be police
checked through the Churches’ Agency
for Safeguarding
before they are allowed to work with
children and young
people (unsupervised). Anyone who is
not police checked
will not be allowed to be left
unsupervised.
b. Every new individual
will serve a probationary period of
three months. All
Group Leaders, Sessional Leaders &
Workers will be
committed Christians whose lives bear
evidence of their
Christian profession by being approved
by the Pastor.
c. Others may be allowed
to offer support in the capacity
of Helper, under the
specific direction and supervision of
a Group or Sessional
Leader.
6. Occasional
and visiting workers who have any specific responsibilities for
Children or Young People will make a declaration of all their
criminal convictions and cautions and will be required to
provide any other information or references as are deemed
appropriate by the Pastor and/or Child Protection Officer.
Any sensitive information will be revealed to and kept by
the Pastor or the Child Protection Officer only. Where an
overnight stay is involved the Occasional or visiting worker
must also sign an undertaking to abide by the church’s
Child Protection Guidelines.
7. A summary
of the church’s Child Protection Guidelines will be
displayed on a noticeboard in the church.
8. The
Diaconate will appoint a Child Protection Officer from among
themselves, currently Martin Andrews, to give general oversight
of the church’s work with children and young people and
to be responsible for the implementation of this policy.
9. The
Diaconate will appoint one or two appropriately qualified
people, currently Paul Baker and Joy Sanger, to act in the
independent capacity of ‘Child Protection Adviser’.
Their role will be to report to the Pastor and/or
Diaconate any concerns that are raised about child protection
issues in the church. In cases where abuse is disclosed
or suspected, the Adviser(s) will be informed, and where
further action involving the statutory authorities is required,
the Adviser(s) will, wherever possible, consult with the
Pastor, the Child Protection Officer and/or Diaconate before
taking such action.
10. The
Diaconate will appoint a CRB Liaison Officer someone from among
themselves, currently Terry Griffith, who will be responsible
for the administrative aspects of the child protection policy
insofar as they involve liaison with the Churches Agency for
Safeguarding for CRB checks.
Terry Griffith/Martin Andrews March 2007