Safeguarding
We as a Church and as part of CofE have a safeguarding policy. Safeguarding is always included in our PCC meetings and taken most seriously.
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is everyone’s business
Protecting from abuse, neglect, harm, maltreatment, mental or physical cruelty, cohesion, bullying and key is too strict the vulnerable. So people can live safely and can be kept safe. Safeguarding means protecting a people’s health, wellbeing and human rights; enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. Free from fear of mental or physical abuse or exploitation.
Protecting vulnerable people is key. Throughout the Bible we’re given hundreds of examples of God’s heart for vulnerable people and the expectations he places upon communities and societies in how we should respond and treat people who are vulnerable or voiceless.
The key principals
Empowerment
One of the most important elements of safeguarding is empowerment,
Empowerment in safeguarding is all about giving individuals as much freedom and power over decisions made about themselves as is reasonably possible. Even those who are vulnerable can have an influence on how they are treated, which ranges from ensuring that they have given consent to giving them choices about how they might want to deal with a situation or approach their safeguarding needs in the future.
Prevention
Preventing neglect, harm and abuse is the core function of safeguarding, which makes prevention the most important element of safeguarding.
It is far better to take steps to prevent safeguarding issues from occurring rather than dealing with the situation when they do. Just as with healthcare and medicine in particular, the outcomes are far better when safeguarding issues are prevented altogether.
Protection
Protection refers to the core act of giving vulnerable people care and support when they need it. From physical to psychological abuse, the Care Act insists that those who deal with safeguarding be fully ready to give people protection through a range of different services and interventions.
Proportionality
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to safeguarding, particularly as many elements of it are hugely sensitive in nature. As a result, proportionality is considered an element of safeguarding, meaning that it’s important that every case is dealt with individually and with all the facts taken into account, without excessive intrusion.
Partnerships
Safeguarding should be a communal process rather than the sole responsibility of certain individuals. There are many reasons for this, with the most important being that safeguarding is simply more effective where partnerships are created and incorporated into practice.
Where the whole community is more involved, it’s more likely that those who deal with safeguarding will be effective in their roles and that neglect, abuse and harm are less likely to happen and more likely to be discovered
Accountability
Following on from the communal aspect of safeguarding is accountability. Accountability in safeguarding means that while safeguarding Officer is responsible for safeguarding, it’s up to everyone to do their part.