Safeguarding

SAFEGUARDING IS EVERYONE’S CONCERN

St Catherine’s Church is committed to ensuring that everyone is welcome and that all who attend this Church, or the activities hosted by our Church or Telegraph Hill Centre, are safe.

We have robust safeguarding polices in place and abide by Southwark Diocese’s A Safe Church. All staff and volunteers working with children or vulnerable adults have been vetted and DBS checked and have undergone safeguarding training. We also have a “whistleblowing” policy which encourages anyone to raise concerns without fear.

Church wardens are trained in fire evacuation and our premises are inspected regularly to ensure that they meet current building safety standards.

Central to our safeguarding policy is having 3 trained Parish Safeguarding Officers who meet regularly and oversee the Safeguarding work. If anyone feels uncomfortable or is concerned about anything you see related to any aspect of our work, please speak in confidence to one of these Officers:

Parish Safeguarding Officers

Lesley Marshall 07931 926 707

Churchwardens

David Whisson 07947028484

Steve Tomkins 07986587219

Vicar

Fr Stanley Njoka 07846759133

Diocesan Safeguarding Team contact numbers

Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser: Kate Singleton [email protected] 020 7939 9423 Mobile 07982 279713 (for urgent matters out of hours)

Assistant Diocesan Safeguarding Advisers

Marie Daly and Louise Vernon Marie Daly [email protected] 020 7939 9441 Mobile 07946 255295

Louise Vernon [email protected] 020 7939 9462 Mobile 07946 255622

A link to the latest edition of ‘A Safe Church’

For further information on our Diocesan policies and procedures follow this link: https://southwark.anglican.org/safeguarding/diocesan-policies-and-procedures

Other useful numbers

NSPCC Child Protection Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are worried about a child.

Child-line: 0800 1111 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are a child or young person and are worried about anything.

National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are experiencing domestic abuse.

Samaritans Helpline: 116 123 (open 24 hours). Phone if you feel you are struggling to cope and need someone to talk to.

Action on Elder Abuse Helpline: 080 8808 8141 ( free phone Monday to Friday 9- 5pm).