Safeguarding

We are committed to ensuring that the Diocese of Salisbury provides a safe environment for everyone, especially children and young people who may be at risk of abuse or neglect.

Here you’ll find advice, information, and resources to help parishes understand how to achieve the best possible standards of safeguarding, and signposting for those who may wish to access support.

If you are contacting the safeguarding team please be aware the best way to contact us is via email unless you have an urgent concern

Safeguarding Concerns

safeguarding@salisbury.anglican.org to speak to a caseworker or Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor regarding safeguarding concerns or ongoing cases. Or 01722 438651 and press option 3.

Administration related enquiries

safeguarding.admin@salisbury.anglican.org such as DBS Microsite or Dashboard. Or 01722 438651 and press option 1.

Safeguarding Training Enquiries

safeguarding.training@salisbury.anglican.org 01722 438651 and press option 2.

If your query is urgent or out of hours (5pm Friday to 10pm Sunday), please contact thirtyone:eight on 0303 0031111.

If someone is at immediate risk of harm, please call 999 in an emergency.

If you wish to report a concern, see advice under the 'Safeguarding in parishes' heading further down or the 'What to do if you have a concern' box immediately below.

Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse: Support options (video)

Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse (Church of England website)

Training
Calendar

Safeguarding Training and DBS Guide

What to do if you have a concern

Diocesan commitment to safeguarding

We follow the national legal and procedural framework for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and Church of England policy and practice.

We act promptly on any complaints made and work in close partnership with Police and Social Care where children or vulnerable adults have been harmed or are at risk of harm or mistreatment.

We care for those who have been abused in the past and provide a range of support and signposting for survivors and victims of Church related abuse.

We support national policy from the Church of England including following the practice guidance Responding Well to victims and survivors of abuse.

Further information on training (safeguarding roles and DBS checks)

Download the Training and DBS Matrix which gives a guide for the levels of training and DBS likely to be required for each role.

Access the latest diocesan safeguarding courses in the Events calendar or via our booking system.

Survivor care and support

If you are looking through this page it might be because something has happened to you, you are struggling and looking for support, or because you want to help someone close to you. Seeking support when you are struggling or thinking about speaking out about any kind of abuse, can often raise all kinds of emotions.

There may be many reasons why you have not spoken out before. It can feel overwhelming and frightening, but it can also be the first step towards support, healing, and recovery. You are not to blame for what happened to you.

You will be heard, be supported and have your concerns taken seriously no matter how recent or long ago and regardless of where the abuse took place. It is your choice who you share your experience with. Within your local church or Parish you may wish to speak to your Parish Safeguarding Officer or a member of the clergy. You may choose instead to contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team: Contact can also be made via the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisors.

Helpful organisations

• Safe Spaces- A free and independent support service providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused through their relationship with either the Church of England, the Catholic Church of England and Wales or the Church in Wales. They offer a helpline, a live web chat and website.

• The Survivors Trust - The largest umbrella agency for specialist sexual violence support services in Europe. They support survivors of any age who have experienced all forms of sexual violence, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation to access information, advice, support and therapy.

• MACSAS - Standing for Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, this charity supports women and men from Christian backgrounds who?have been sexually abused by Ministers or Clergy, as children or as adults. They offer support in a number of ways including a helpline.

• NAPAC – The National Association for People Abused in Childhood support adults who have suffered any type of abuse in childhood. They have a national free helpline and other support.

• Respond – Respond seek to support people with learning disabilities, autism or both who have experienced trauma in their lives through psychotherapy, advocacy, campaigning and other support.

• Life Signs – A user-led service offering support for those who self-harm.

• ManKind Initiative – a charity offering support for men who have suffered sexual or domestic abuse in the form of a help line, information and guidance.

• GALOP – Galop provides confidential and independent advice and support for LGBT+ people who have experienced sexual assault, abuse or violence. They provide a welcoming, inclusive and safe space to talk, whatever your sexual orientation or gender identity.

Domestic abuse support

These organisations offer support particularly for victims of domestic abuse:

• FearLess (Wiltshire) - A registered charity delivering support services to adults and young people experiencing the trauma of domestic abuse and sexual violence. FearLess delivers services across south-west England including in Wiltshire.

• PARAGON (Dorset) - Formerly You First, Paragon is a specialist team working together empowering change for individuals, families, and our communities. PARAGON is part of The YOU Trust and is their domestic abuse, sexual violence and stalking team.

• Hampshire Domestic Abuse Partnership The Hampshire Domestic Abuse Partnership is a group of local services in Hampshire working together to provide help and support for Victims and survivors of abuse, children living with domestic abuse, people who may be abusing or hurting someone and professionals seeking advice.

Safeguarding in parishes

There are a number of resources you can download for use within a parish context.

Policy for Responding to Domestic Abuse here.

Please be aware that the Channel Islands have different documents so please contact the respective island Safeguarding Lead for more information (see information in the Channel Island heading below).

Reporting a concern

If someone is at immediate risk of harm, please call 999 in an emergency.

All other safeguarding concerns within a parish should be brought to the attention of the Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO), Church Safeguarding Officer (CSO in Jersey) or parish priest in the first instance. They can then seek further guidance from one of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisors (DSA), contact details listed above, and refer to statutory agencies if appropriate.

Here is a flowchart showing what to do if you have a concern.

If your concern relates to the PSO, CSO or parish priest, please contact the DSO directly. There may be other occasions where someone may have a safeguarding concern but does not want to discuss this within a parish context. If this is the case, the DSA can be contacted directly.

Regular Safeguarding updates

The Safeguarding Team send out email updates at bi-monthly intervals. Sign up for future updates.

Parish Safeguarding Handbook

This essential handbook summarises the safeguarding responsibilities of parishes, as outlined in the House of Bishops' Safeguarding Policies and Practice Guidance. You can view an online version of this handbook here or purchase a copy from Church House Publishing. Information in the handbook is subject to change and there may be some slightly different policy requirements in Salisbury Diocese in regards to training. For up to date information always check our Training Matrix on our website.

Promoting a safer church poster (without space for a church logo)

This poster provides an at-a-glance summary of the Church of England's policy statement on safeguarding. It is designed to help congregations promote and publicise the policy in the local church. You can download a copy of this poster already populated with Salisbury Diocese DSA information, or you can purchase an A3 poster from Church House Publishing.

Promoting a safer church poster (with space for a church logo)

This poster provides an at-a-glance summary of the Church of England's policy statement on safeguarding. It is designed to help congregations promote and publicise the policy in the local church. There is a space in the top left-hand corner for your church logo.

Model Parish Safeguarding Policy

At the heart of any intention to safeguard children and vulnerable adults in church is a Parish Safeguarding Policy. Your Parish Safeguarding Policy should be displayed in every place where activities involving children and/or vulnerable adults could take place, such as within the church and on church hall noticeboards. The safeguarding policy should be reviewed, signed and dated annually and the copy on display should be updated following every review.

Download the Model Parish Safeguarding Policy.

Model Parish Checklist

This is a short summary of what a parish needs to do to meet its safeguarding requirements.

Model Parish Safeguarding Concern Recording Template

This document is for recording any safeguarding concerns your parish may become aware of.

Safeguarding in the Channel Islands

The Deaneries of Jersey and Guernsey are currently undergoing the process of being formally attached to the Diocese of Salisbury. Some functions such as safeguarding, finance and administration were transferred to Salisbury in October 2020, followed by pastoral care being handed over at the beginning of 2021.

The legal transfer will be enacted on the receiving of the Order in Council during 2022.
More information regarding safeguarding on the respective Islands can be accessed here: Deanery of Guernsey (including Alderney and Sark) and the Deanery of Jersey.

The Channel Islands follow National Church of England safeguarding guidance and policies unless their own Island legislation dictates otherwise. Both Islands have their own Safeguarding Handbook (Guernsey) and Safeguarding Policy (Jersey) which can be found on their respective Deanery websites.

Safeguarding contacts:
Guernsey

Deanery Safeguarding Officer
Jersey

Deanery Safeguarding Officer

Safer Recruitment and DBS checks

Safer Recruitment is a set of principles to help make sure staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Safer recruitment fulfils two important functions. It can identify at an early stage people who should not be working with children, young people or vulnerable adults.

It also sends a clear message to the wider community that should they attempt to do so, such people will be identified and prevented from taking on roles of trust.

Your DBS Microsite

Within the Diocese of Salisbury each Parish has their own 'Microsite' which is essentially a dashboard with DBS information about your staff and volunteers.

Access the site and login.

Each Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) or DBS Verifier has an individual log in to the Microsite. If you require a log in, or for queries related to the Microsite, please email the Safeguarding Team

Below are a number of short instruction videos designed to guide you around the Microsite.

Session 1 - Introduction
Session 2 - Adding a New Person
Session 3 - Initialising a New DBS?
Session 4 - The Update Service and Checks?
Session 5 - Ongoing Checks, Corrections and Historic Checks
Session 6 - The Process for Verifiers Session
Session 7 - How an applicant completes their DBS application on APCS

Safer Recruitment Resources

For an overview of Safer Recruitment within the Church of England and a checklist of elements involved in the process, please see Section 5 of the Parish Safeguarding Handbook.

The key policy and guidance document agreed by the House of Bishops is Safer Recruitment Practice Guidance.

On the Church of England website in the Safeguarding E-manual, under 'Safer recruitment and People management guidance', there are a number of useful templates including a model volunteer job role, an application form, model interview questions and a letter of appointment.

At the start of the process where an individual is going to work with vulnerable people, they should be asked to complete a ‘Confidential Declaration’ form. In essence this form asks them if there is any reason why they should not be working in the role they are applying for. It can help identify any issues that might need resolving at an early stage.

Take a look at our DBS Training and DBS matrix.

Disclosure and Barring Service

A Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS) check is one element of safer recruitment as it provides criminal records information about a person held by the police and government departments.

There are different levels of DBS checks (Basic, Enhanced, and Enhanced with Barring) which can be applied for depending on the role the person is going to be undertaking.

We have designed a matrix which gives an indication of the minimum level of check required for each role: download a copy of the Training and DBS Matrix.

Within Salisbury Diocese we use a company called APCS to process our checks.

Safeguarding Annual Report

Annual Report 2023

Contact the Safeguarding Team

Get in touch

For non-emergency advice and support outside of the teams working hours, please contact thirtyone:eight on 0303 0031111.