Safeguarding Workshops

On Saturday morning, we will be offering three workshops by members of our Safeguarding Team on the following topics:

10:00 – 10:45

Workshop 1: The role of the Designated Person for Safeguarding (DPS)

Led by Nicky Gibbard and Keith Baldwin

What are the responsibilities of the DPS? How do they differ from the responsibilities of the minister? What are the supports available to you?

This brief seminar will consider the main roles and responsibilities that the DPS needs to know:

• What are the first tasks to complete once in role;
• To whom do you report safeguarding concerns, is it the same reporting route for children and adults;
• Who else needs to know? The role of the safeguarding team contrasted with the role of minister;
• Effective record keeping and storage 

11:00 – 11:45

Workshop 2: Risk assessment and safeguarding contracts

Led by Rachel Stone and Rachel Swaby

In what situations would a church need to put a safeguarding contract in place? How do we make sure that we understand where the risks lie?

This short seminar will give you the chance to find out more about:

• how to use our new safeguarding risk assessment tool;
• how to develop a safeguarding contract that minimises risk and allows an individual to continue to attend your church;
• liaising with statutory agencies, eg LADO, probation officers and support officers;
• how to set up a monitoring and support group

If you are a DPS, safeguarding trustee or minister, this session will introduce you to some of our new guidance and materials, and help you feel more confident about safeguarding risk assessment.
 

12:00 – 12:45

Workshop 3: Reporting concerns to the statutory authorities

Led by Anna Macfarlane and Tim Presswood

Which statutory agencies do we report safeguarding concerns to? How can we be sure we are doing the right thing when other people have different opinions? How do we help people to be safe when they don’t want us to act?

In this seminar we will take some time to think about:

• what we mean by the term ‘statutory agencies’ and how is best to contact them;
• when we might need to seek consent to make a referral or report a concern and who that consent should be sought from;
• what information might be useful to have to hand when making a referral or report;
• how to recognise when the voices of other people cloud our judgement about a safeguarding concern

This session will help those in the DPS role to build their knowledge about engaging with statutory agencies and empower them to apply the church safeguarding policy consistently, seeking support from the regional association safeguarding lead when needed.