Responding to Safeguarding Allegations or Concerns

Procedure for Brent Tor Parish

Under House of Bishops guidance, every PCC must have a procedure in place to deal promptly with safeguarding allegations or concerns.  This procedure localises the national and diocesan guidance so that church officers are aware of how to respond properly in their local context when they become aware of a safeguarding concern.

All church officers should be up to date on safeguarding training at the appropriate level for their role.  From their training they should understand the principles of:

Recognise – Respond – Record – Refer

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility – concerns must always be shared

As well as being up to date on training, all church officers should have read section 7 of the Parish Safeguarding Handbook and retain a (hard or electronic) copy for reference.  Church Officers should always follow the guidance in section 7 in their response to a concern.

Church officers should know who to contact.  Appendix 1 of this procedure is a list of the relevant persons a church officer may need to contact in this parish when responding to a safeguarding concern.  All church officers should have a copy of this list and up-to-date lists be made available to them regularly, as role changes and address or number changes necessitate.

Relevant Local Authority contact details should be on display in the church buildings and can be accessed on the Safeguarding Contacts page of the Diocese of Exeter website.  Church officers are encouraged to note these contact details as well as those of other support services available so as to be able to respond promptly in the event of a concern.

If a church officer is in any doubt as to how to respond to a safeguarding concern, they should consult with the Parish Safeguarding Representative or the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.  Outside of office hours, the statutory services will be able to guide the appropriate response to an urgent concern.

This procedure was approved by Brentor PCC on: 19th March, 2024 and was reviewed by the newly elected PCC on 21.5.24 and thereafter annually.

Appendix 1 – Relevant Parish Safeguarding Contacts

Incumbent/Priest in Charge

Name: Matthew Godfrey                                           Contact No: 07341 665510

Parish Safeguarding Representative 

Wendy Roderick                                                               Contact No: 07368 305833

                                                                                            safeguarding@brentorchurch.org.uk

PCC Designated Safeguarding DBS Verifier  / Administrator

Name: Rob Ormsby                                                    Contact No: 07368 305833

Name: Sam Biggs                                                        Contact No: 07368 305833

                                                                                             Sam.biggs@brentorchurch.org.uk

Churchwardens

Name: David Harris                                                    Contact No: 01822 810845

Name: Helen Harris                                                    Contact No: 01822 810845

                                                                                             churchwardens@brentorchurch.org.uk

Other Licensed Ministers operating in this parish/benefice

Name: Wendy Roderick, LLM                                     Wendy.roderick@brentorchurch.org.uk                                                                                  

Children/Youth/Families Worker

Name: Amanda Harris, LLM                                       amanda.harris@brentorchurch.org.uk

Pastoral Visiting Team Coordinator 

Name: Helen Harris                                                    Contact No: 01822 810845

                                                                                             churchwardens@brentorchurch.org.uk

Diocesan Safeguarding Team: 01392 294975/345910/294969

Diocesan DBS Coordinator and Safeguarding Training Administrator: 01392 294929

Diocesan Safeguarding Email (Non-Urgent Contact): SafeguardingEnquiry@exeter.anglican.org