Home Safeguarding and Abuse Concerns

Safeguarding and Abuse Concerns

The Diocese of Durham takes the safeguarding of children, young people and adults very seriously..

Safeguarding means the action the Church takes to promote a safer culture. This means we will promote the welfare of children, young people and adults We work to prevent abuse from occurring, seek to protect those that are at risk of being abused and respond well to those that have been abused. We will take care to identify where a person may present a risk to others, and offer support to them whilst taking steps to mitigate such risks.

Reporting Concerns

If you are concerned that a child or vulnerable adult has been harmed or is at risk of harm, do not hesitate to contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser for advice and support. If you wish to report an allegation of abuse from the past, or in the present, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your information will be treated appropriately and kept confidential.

Beth Miller – (Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser)

Address: Cuthbert House, Stonebridge, Durham DH1 3RY

Email: [email protected] | [email protected]

Mobile: 07968034075

If you are unable to speak to the Safeguarding Adviser and a child, young person or adult is at immediate risk of harm please call 999.

Complaints about how a safeguarding matter has been dealt with:


If you are not happy about how a safeguarding matter has been dealt with and you cannot resolve the issue or concern with the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser you should, in the first instance, contact the Independent Chair of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Group;

Simon Hackett – (Independent Chair of Safeguarding Advisory Panel)

Address: Cuthbert House, Stonebridge, Durham DH1 3RY

You may also report any concern using the Diocese’s “Whistleblowing” policy here.

Please see below four tabs which when you click on the one you require will provide you with all the information you need to implement good safeguarding practice in your parish.

Policy and Practice Guidance for Parish Implementation

Please find below the main policies for implementation within your parish.  To access the documents click on the name of the document you wish to access and this will take you to the full document which is on the Church of England website.

  1. Diocesan Safeguarding Policy 
    This document completely replaces Safe and Secure. Please make sure you delete Safe and Secure, and use this document now.   The policy will be reviewed annually and you can always ensure you are using the most up to date version by checking the front cover, which will indicate the year and version:  this document states Version 2019.1 .; if it is revised during the year, the new document will be Version 2019.2, etc.  The most up to date version will always be on the website.
    Click here for Model Parish Safeguarding Policy
    Click Here for Introduction to the Diocesan Safeguarding Policy 2018
  2. Parish Handbook. 
    This document supports and supplements the Diocesan Policy and is a resource to enable you, as a parish, to ensure you have in place all you need to, to make your church as safe as possible. The Handbook is helpful working tool, and does not need formal adoption by the PCC.The handbook comes with a variety of proformas for your use to make it as easy as possible to have the correct paperwork in place. All the proformas are in word format for ease of use and can be found here.
  3. Promoting a Safer Church; House of Bishops policy statement (2017)
    Please see page 24 of the above document for information on putting the policy into  practice.  In order to formulate an action plan please complete the Parish Checklist which can be found in the tab entitled Supporting Documents click here.   Completion of this document will enable you to form a parish action plan.  The link at the end of page 24 will take you to the full set of National Polices and Practice Guidance
  4. Safer Recruitment Practice Guidance (2016)
    The appendices referred to in this document can be found in word format for parish use in the tab entitled Supporting Documents click here.
  5. Responding well to domestic abuse practice guidance (2017)
    Please see Appendix 5 in Supporting Documents Tab, click here for an example of a Parish Statement on Domestic Abuse.  Also in this section you will find a document entitled What you need to do in Parish, for information on how to implement this policy at a local level.
  6. Key roles and responsibilities of church office holders and bodies practice guidance (2017)

 

Training

All details about safeguarding training can be accessed here.  To book a place on any of the training courses listed below please email [email protected] stating the date of the course you wish to attend, your name, your parish, the role(s) you take in that parish and a contact number for you.

2019 Safeguarding Training Programme

National Policy and Practice Guidance

Please follow this link to access all the National Church of England Policy and Practice Guidance in relation to safeguarding.

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