We recognise the importance of welfare and safety of children while attending our church or any church clubs and activities.

Our Policy Statement reads: Jesus teaches us the value of children. We believe that children are a gift from God and therefore, we must share in prayerful and practical concern for their total welfare. In order to hold these values it is necessary for us to adopt clear principles and practices in relation to our work with children and young people.

To address this Policy Statement we have a clear Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy. This is in line with the Diocesan Policy and approved by the diocese.

This means that we have to ensure that all buildings where children meet are as safe as possible, such as:
• Have first aid kits
• Fire doors and extinguishers
• Child safe door locks, rules on how many leaders are required for the size of the group

In addition to this all Ministers, Readers, Church Wardens and Youth Leaders have:
• CRB checks (Criminal Records Bureau)
• Disclosure forms completed
• Two references
• Have read the Safeguarding Children Policy
• Have attended Diocesan training on Child Protection

This Policy also applies to this website, where we protect the identity of any child who appears in photographs appearing on the website.

If there are any questions regarding the safeguarding of children, please contact the Vicar through our “Contact us” page or speak to a Child Protection Co-ordinator (CPC). Contact details are available in each church.

While this is the local Anglican Churches' Safeguarding policy, the Methodist Churches work under a similar policy.