Our commitment

Preston Vineyard Church is committed to doing all we can to ensure;

1. the provision of a safe and caring environment for children, young people and any adults with care and support needs.
2. that children and adults with care and support needs are not subject to any form of abuse or harm (verbal, physical, emotional, sexual or neglect) within our ministries;
3. that where instances of abuse are discovered, clear appropriate procedures are followed;
4. the implementation of a procedure to assess workers suitability to work with children. This will involve prospective workers completing a Disclosure Form for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). A decision will be made by the relevant leaders about their suitability for the posts after the church has had feedback from the DBS. Where there is evidence of a criminal record, the Safeguarding Coordinator in conjunction with the relevant leaders will decide upon the appropriateness of the person in question for the role they have applied for. 
5. that workers are provided with safeguarding training and support to help them to undertake their role;
6. good links are maintained with the statutory authorities and other external agencies (e.g. Lancashire County Council and thirtyone:eight (formerly CCPAS))

The primary responsibility for care and protection of children rests with their parents and/or carers. However, whilst children are involved in activities under the direct supervision of Preston Vineyard Church their safety is our responsibility (where events are online, such as Zoom groups, this is not the case. Preston Vineyard Church is responsible for providing a safe and secure online environment, but cannot be regarded as having full supervision of children when they are not physically in our care). 

We accept the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Human Rights, which states that everyone is entitled to “all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.  We also concur with the Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that children should be able to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. They have a right to be protected from “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s), or any other person who has care of the child.”  

The Care Act 2014 sets out a clear legal framework for how local authorities and other stakeholders should protect adults at risk of abuse or neglect. These safeguarding duties include the requirement for a multi-agency, local adult safeguarding system that seeks to prevent abuse and neglect, and stop it quickly when it happens. We accept the rights of adults with care and support needs to live free from neglect, exploitation, and abuse are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998. Specifically, an adult with care and support need’s right to life is protected (under Article 2), their right to be protected from inhumane and degrading treatment (under Article 3), and their right to liberty and security (under Article 5). 

As a Leadership we have therefore adopted the procedures set out in this safeguarding policy in accordance with statutory guidance.  We are committed to build constructive links with statutory and voluntary agencies involved in safeguarding. 

Key definitions

 

• Child or young person
  Anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday.

 

• Adult with care and support needs
  Anyone aged 18 or over who is unable to look after their own well-being, property, rights, or other interests and is at risk of harm (either from another person’s behaviour or their own behaviour) due to disability, illness, physical or mental infirmity. 

 

• Workers
  Any staff, trustee or volunteer of Preston Vineyard Church

 

• Safeguarding
  Ensuring the protection against harm, and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. 

 

• Child Protection
  This is an integral part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.

• Significant Harm
  Harm to a child who meets the criteria for an application to court under Section 31 of the Children Act 1989. Harm means ill-treatment, or impairment of physical or mental health, or physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. 

• Immediate Danger
  This is where there is an emergency or life-threatening situation, other people are, or may be, at risk – including children – and where sharing the information could prevent a serious crime, or a serious crime has been committed. Immediate Danger can be used as a justification to step in, without an adult’s consent, to raise a concern with relevant statutory authorities.

• Child and Adult abuse
  Children and adults may be vulnerable to neglect and abuse or exploitation from within their family and from individuals they come across in their daily lives. Abuse can take a variety of different forms, including:  sexual, physical, emotional abuse, and neglect  exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups, trafficking and modern slavery, online abuse, sexual exploitation, influences of extremism leading to radicalisation, domestic abuse, financial abuse, discriminatory abuse, organisational abuse. Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable and consideration should also be given to the unborn baby. Full definitions of types of abuse are available in Section 2. 

• Vulnerable Person/s
  Where both children and adults with care and support needs are concerned, they are referred to as vulnerable persons.

Leadership

Preston Vineyard Church is a charity and is therefore governed by Charity Law. The Charity Commission stipulates that the ultimate responsibility for running a charity rests with the trustees. At Preston Vineyard Church they make policy decisions that ensure our accountability to our beneficiaries, the Charity Commission, Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland, and the public who attend our activities. 

Pascale Westbury is the trustee and safeguarding lead with the lead responsibility for safeguarding within the church. Day to day responsibility for carrying this work out has been delegated out to Preston Vineyard’s deputy safeguarding coordinator, Katie Williams. Pascale can be contacted via: pascale@manchestervineyard.org and Katie can be contacted at hello@prestonvineyard.church .

Safeguarding Coordinator

Preston Vineyard’s Safeguarding Co-ordinator has designated responsibility for devising and implementing the Safeguarding Policy and is nominated by the Leadership to act on its behalf in dealing with allegations, concerns, suspicions or disclosures. This responsibility includes making referrals to statutory authorities and liaison with other external organisations such as thirtyone:eight (formerly the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS)). 

Another significant aspect of this role is to raise the awareness of workers at Preston Vineyard Church to recognise the needs of children and adults with care and support needs and to take appropriate action when a safeguarding issue arises. This occurs through the training and support available to those who work directly with vulnerable groups, which takes the shape of a two hour training session (which is refreshed every two years), as well as a recap of our Preston Vineyard Church Practice Guidelines (Appendix A) before every session we run. Part of the Coordinator’s role is to ensure that this training and support takes place. 

The Safeguarding Coordinator is also responsible for following the procedures and policies in place in response to concerns relating to the welfare of or possible maltreatment of children or adults with care and support needs within the church. This involves keeping clear, secure and safe records of reported allegations or suspicions. Their role is to keep the child or adult with care and support needs central to all decision making. Within the safeguarding role is both the need to be an advocate for those requiring protection within the church and, where appropriate, the need to liaise with statutory authorities and other agencies, and inform the insurance company and safeguarding trustee who may need to liaise with Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland if necessary. 

Safe recruitment

The following five stage process will take place:

1. A potential worker is identified and referred to the ministry leader who has a casual interview with the potential worker to assess suitability. (The ministry leader will enquire about previous experience, and inform them of the recruitment process).
2. Ministry Leader informs the Safeguarding Coordinator, who emails the potential worker a Safeguarding Pack consisting of the Safeguarding Policy (including Preston Vineyard Church Practice Guidelines, Appendix A), a Self Declaration Form (which includes a space to sign to confirm they understand the Safeguarding Policy) and DBS form to complete.
3. Their identity documents are checked by the Safeguarding Coordinator and a reference is sought from their Small Group Leader, or another appropriate leader in Preston Vineyard Church who has known them for more than 6 months. If this cannot be found an exterior reference is sought to assess their suitability (usually a previous church where this is relevant). 
4. Applicant joins a team for a probationary period whilst being monitored in their role, and supervised by someone who has a DBS check, in any room they are in with vulnerable persons. During this time (maximum three serves) their DBS form is processed and their references are checked and followed up if necessary. 
5. On receipt of a clear DBS certificate, satisfactory reference/s, and a successful probation period, the applicant will become a full team member. If there are any grounds for concern at any stage of the recruitment process, these will be discussed fully with the applicant and an appropriate course of action decided upon. 

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are essential for safe recruitment of workers whom Preston Vineyard Church permits and entrusts to work directly and on a regular basis with children and on programmes specifically designed for adults with care and support needs  (of which we do not have any currently).
  
  Employers can only apply for a check where the position or role meets certain eligibility criteria. For workers at Preston Vineyard Church who are engaged in carrying out unregulated activity, we will apply to the DBS for enhanced checks. However, most of our workers carry our regulated activity (due to the nature of their activities, which can include toileting and changing), and we will therefore apply to the DBS for enhanced with barred list checks. We provide thirtyone:eight (who we use to process our DBS checks) with the role description of each worker, and they make the final decision on which level of check each individual requires.
  
  The Senior Pastors, Safeguarding Coordinator and trustees of Preston Vineyard Church are also required to have an enhanced DBS check due to the work with children. 

A criminal record will not automatically preclude someone from serving as a trustee or working with children or adults with care and support needs. When a disclosure form is returned which contains a criminal record, the Safeguarding Co-ordinator will talk to the relevant leaders about the information which has been received. Advice will then be taken from our advisors (thirtyone:eight) and a decision will be reached about whether the information will stop the person from being allowed to serve or not.

The self-declaration form does not replace the need for a DBS certificate, but can be used to obtain information about an applicant’s background/experience that do not feature in the DBS process, and to clarify that consent is given to the organisation taking steps to clarify information arising on a DBS disclosure. 

The process of checking workers is an on-going one. Preston Vineyard Church renews checks on workers after 3 years of service. A DBS check forms only one part of the recruitment process. Other valuable parts of the recruitment process include references from Small Group leaders or a third party (and, in some cases, an application and interview process). 

As per advice sought with thirtyone:eight, if Preston Vineyard Church becomes engaged in regular activity engaging specifically with adults with care and support needs, Preston Vineyard Church will apply for DBS checks for all relevant workers involved. All workers will be subject to an enhanced with barred lists check. 

Identifiers

Identifying abuse and neglect in children and adults

The following definitions have been taken from the Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 document. 

• Physical abuse is a form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness within a vulnerable person.
• Psychological and Emotional Abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a vulnerable person such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on their emotional development. It may involve conveying that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. 

It may include not giving the vulnerable person opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on them. More specifically for children, these may include interactions that are beyond their developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing them participating in normal social interaction. 

It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may also involve serious bullying (including cyber bullying), causing a vulnerable person (whether child or adult) to frequently feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of a vulnerable person. 

Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment, though it may occur alone. This may include threats with intention of causing harm, abandonment, isolation, or humiliation which may result in the vulnerable person feeling in a low mood, under-valued, or unnecessarily dependent on the perpetrator. With adults with care and support needs in particular, this may take the form of emotional blackmail, harassment or humiliation (bullying), intimidation, unreasonable demands.

• Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the person is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. In sexual abuse against children, they may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse. Sexual abuse can take place online, and technology can be used to facilitate offline abuse. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.
• Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a vulnerable person’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of their health or development. Neglect may also occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. 

Neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: 

• Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home, or abandonment); 
• Provide protection from physical and emotional harm or danger; 
• Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of adequate care-givers)
• Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a vulnerable person’s basic emotional needs.

In addition, in the case of adults with care and support needs:

• Individuals can experience lack of choice, verbal abuse or lack of social interaction, failure to ensure appropriate levels of privacy and dignity, poor surroundings, and over or under protective practices. 

• Financial or material abuse (adults with care and support needs) is considered as the unauthorised extraction of the adult’s resources, or their resources being withheld or misused by someone else, and theft. Possible indicators of financial or material abuse may include but are not limited to;
• Lifestyle does not reflect known income
• Unexplained withdrawals from account
• Unexplained or sudden inability to pay bills etc

Spiritual Abuse

• Spiritual abuse is linked with other forms of abuse and could be defined as an abuse of power, often in the name of God or religion, which involves manipulating or coercing someone into thinking, saying or doing things without respecting their right to choose for themselves. This can occur within family relationships as well as within church leadership.
• This abuse may include: manipulation and exploitation, enforced accountability, censorship of decision making, requirements for secrecy and silence, coercion to conform, control through the use of sacred texts or teaching, requirement of obedience to the abuser and the suggestion that the abuser has a ‘divine’ position. 

Digital Safeguarding

Information communication technology (ICT) can be used to facilitate a wide range of abuse and exploitation, including bullying, online based physical abuse (such as children constrained to fight each other or filmed being assaulted), radicalisation, sexual exploitation, or exploitation for criminal purposes. 

If a worker suspects that a child or adult with care and support needs at risk is being, or has been, subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse through the use of ICT, they must complete a disclosure form and follow the same procedure as they would for any other form of abuse. 

Identifying abuse and neglect in adults

The Care Act 2014 defines the following ten forms of abuse and neglect that  can affect adults. It also states that it isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list and  that abuse and neglect can take many forms: 

Physical abuse: including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of  medication and restraint. 

Psychological abuse: including emotional abuse, humiliation, threats of harm  or abandonment, coercion, intimidation, isolation, harassment and cyberbullying. 

Neglect or acts of omission: including ignoring medical, emotional or physical  care needs; failure to provide access to appropriate health, care, support or  educational services; not meeting basic needs such as food, warmth and  shelter. 

Sexual abuse: including rape, sexual harassment, indecent exposure, sexual  assault, sexual photography and inappropriate looking, touching or sexual  teasing. 

Financial or material abuse: including theft, fraud, coercion in relation to  finances including wills, property, inheritance or transactions and misuse of  possessions or benefits. 

Domestic abuse: including control and coercion, psychological, physical,  sexual, financial abuse and so called ‘honour’ based violence. 

Modern Slavery: including forced labour and domestic servitude, human  trafficking and coercing, deceiving or forcing someone into a life of abuse,  servitude and inhumane treatment. 

Discriminatory abuse: including harassment, slurs and unfair treatment based  on race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or  religion.

Some observable indications that a child or adult with care and support needs may be being abused

• Unexplained or suspicious injuries such as bruising, cuts, or burns, particularly if situated on a part of the body not normally prone to such injuries
• Explanations around injuries or circumstances that are inconsistent 
• Unexplained changes in behaviour or emotions such as becoming very quiet, withdrawn or displaying sudden outbursts of temper
• Inappropriate sexual awareness
• Bleeding or pain in the genital or rectal area 
• Engaging in sexually explicit behaviour or sexually explicit talk, inappropriate to a child’s age. 
• Distrust of adults or those in authority, particularly those with whom a close relationship would usually be expected. 
• Difficulty in making friends
• Mental health struggles and instability 

• Low self esteem and lack of confidence
• Tearfulness
• Aggressive or challenging behaviour
• Attention seeking behaviour
• Self-harm
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Unexplained paranoia 

• Uncharacteristic eating disorders, depression and suicide attempts 

Other indicators of abuse

• Growing concern. There may be occasions when a worker has a definite or growing concern in relation to a vulnerable person. These concerns may be based on a number of signs and symptoms that something is not right and that the vulnerable person may be being subject to some form of maltreatment. See the definitions listed above. 

• A third party concern. Someone else may raise concerns about a vulnerable person to a member of the team. Their concerns may be based on a number of factors such as observations of unusual or inappropriate behaviour or a direct allegation which has been made to them. 
• Personal disclosure. A vulnerable person may make a disclosure themselves about maltreatment to a worker. They may confide that they are being abused or that they are behaving or intending to behave in a way that harms themselves or intentionally puts themselves at risk of harm. 

In all cases disclosures must be reported to the Safeguarding Coordinator as per the reporting procedure below. 

Recommended Procedure for workers in the event of Disclosure or Suspicion of Abuse 

If a vulnerable person makes a disclosure of suspected abuse to a worker, it is important that they act appropriately:

• The recipient of the information should listen carefully to what is being said
• Never promise to keep a secret
• Be attentive, calm and reassuring 
• Take what is said seriously
• Tell the vulnerable person that they are right to tell a trusted adult
• Avoid asking closed or leading questions, let the person speak freely without interruption
• Explain the need to inform someone else what has happened for their safety and protection
• Do not seek to confront or approach the named or suspected person in any way. 

If the disclosure is made by a child, workers have a duty to ensure that the information is shared (steps below) in order to keep the child safe. If a child requests confidentiality, workers must explain Preston Vineyard’s requirements, for example, ‘I have a duty to ensure that you are safe, so I need to pass this on’. 

If the disclosure is made by an adult with care and support needs, workers have a duty to pass on information if someone is at immediate risk of harm (see definition above), and to encourage and support the adult to share information and seek support. Workers must ask for the adult’s consent to take up their concerns. If the adult does not agree, or if employees do not believe that the adult has capacity to make a decision about consent, they must consult with Preston Vineyard’s Safeguarding Coordinator.

The Worker must then then follow the following steps: 

• The worker should record as accurately as possible what has been said on a disclosure form (Appendix B or C). This should include, where possible, the vulnerable person’s own words and any body language observed. The date, time and location of the disclosure should be noted. 

• The worker must ensure the information and Disclosure Form is passed on to the Safeguarding Coordinator as soon as possible. Immediate reporting without delay is vital to ensure that the correct course of action is put in place as quickly as possible. Where a safeguarding Coordinator is not immediately available, they may pass it on to their ministry leader, who then takes responsibility for passing it on. 

• The Safeguarding Coordinator will deal with an incident appropriately according to their role. All concerns regarding children will be followed up. For adults, only where there is consent, will there be any further action, unless an emergency or life-threatening situation is suspected. 

Immediate Danger

In extreme circumstances, if the vulnerable person is perceived to be in immediate danger either from themselves or another person the police should be contacted and advice sought without delay. The Safeguarding Coordinator should then be informed. 

This responsibility rests with anyone who is faced with a vulnerable person in this extreme circumstance in any church ministry activity. Such circumstances may occur when a vulnerable person presents as so physically harmed as to require immediate medical attention, or emotional trauma is apparent. Other circumstances may be if the next time that the vulnerable person meets the alleged abuser there is a real possibility of severe physical harm or death. If the vulnerable person is displaying suicidal thoughts this may also fall within this category. 

The matter should also be reported to the Safeguarding Coordinator as soon as is practicable after contact with the police. This is both for support purposes for the referrer, and also to ensure that safeguarding procedures are being followed within Preston Vineyard Church. 

Adults with care and support needs

Making a referral for an adult with care and support needs

If the adult consents to safeguarding procedures and a referral, workers must take action on the same working day that the concerns were noted and consent obtained. 

If the adult does not consent to contacting other agencies, and has the mental capacity (see below) to make that decision, employees must provide information and advice to the adult. This must include a summary of the concerns and advice of other services that the adult may choose to access. 

Assessing mental capacity

In order to assess the mental capacity of an adult, workers should apply the two-stage test by answering two questions. 

1. Is there an impairment of, or disturbance in the functioning of a person’s mind or brain? This could be due to long-term conditions such as mental illness, dementia, or learning disability, or more temporary states such as confusion, unconsciousness, or the effects of drugs or alcohol. 

If the answer to the above is ‘yes’, workers then must consider:

1. Is the impairment or disturbance sufficient that the person lacks the capacity to make a particular decision when they need to? A person is unable to make their own decision if they cannot do one or more of the following:  
1. understand information given to them
2. retain that information long enough to be able to make the decision
3. weigh up the information available to make the decision
4. communicate their decision – this could be by talking, using sign language, or even simple muscle movements such as blinking an eye or squeezing a hand.

Every effort must be made to find ways of communicating with someone before deciding that they lack capacity to make a decision based solely on their inability to communicate. The Safeguarding Coordinator may need to involve family, friends, carers, or other professionals. The assessment must be made on the balance of probabilities, for example, is it more likely than not that the person lacks capacity? 

Workers must be able to show in their records (Appendix C) why they have come to a conclusion that capacity is either present or lacking for the particular decision. 

If an adult at risk of abuse is perceived to lack the mental capacity to make the decision regarding a referral, workers and the Safeguarding Coordinator must consider what is in the adult’s best interests. 

A referral without an adult’s consent must be made in cases where there is immediate danger. This is where there is an emergency or life-threatening situation, other people are, or may be, at risk – including children, and where sharing the information could prevent a serious crime, or a serious crime has been committed.

Response to a disclosure 

The Safeguarding Coordinator’s role in relation to Disclosure or Suspicion of Abuse: 

1. Collect and clarify the specific details of the allegation or suspicion. 
2. If the disclosure/suspicion is new, take appropriate advice. If it relates to an ongoing situation, use discretion to decide whether advice is needed after every concern is raised or not. 
3. Keep a clear and confidential record of what has taken place, what advice has been sought and given, what from external agencies (e.g. thirtyone:eight or Lancashire County Council), and what action has been taken. 
4. Ensure that the referrer receives feedback where appropriate. 
5. Decide whether a referral needs to be made to local authority Children’s Services or not, and record the decision made and the details..
6. Ensure that support arrangements are in place for the worker involved if necessary. 

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)  for Lancashire County Council has the responsibility to oversee allegations against members of staff working with children and young people across all organisations. This responsibility relates to any allegation or concern about the conduct or behaviour of a person who works with children and/or young people. 

These procedures should be used when an allegation is made that a worker has:

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) service provides management and oversight of individual cases of allegations of abuse made against those who work with children.

The LADO must be contacted when you have received any allegation or concern about a worker who has:

• Behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed a child
• Possibly committed a criminal offence against, or related to, a child; or
• Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children
• Behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children

In all cases all the general principles outlined below will apply. 

The Safeguarding Coordinator should:

• confirm the child(ren) are safeguarded
• obtain a written account of the allegation from the person to whom the allegation was made. (If the allegation was made against the Safeguarding Coordinator, the Safeguarding Trustee would complete the process). 
• record details of any potential witnesses
• record the details of any discussions and the rationale for any decisions that have been made about the child(ren) and/or adult.

They should not attempt to:

• investigate the allegation
• interview the child(ren)
• interview the subject
• interview potential witnesses

The Local Authority Designated Officer should be informed of all allegations that come to the Safeguarding Coordinator’s attention and appear to meet the criteria outlined above, so that they can consult other statutory agencies as appropriate.

Referrals to the LADO Officer must be made within 1 working day of an allegation being made. All referrals need to be made using the LADO referral form. It is essential that all sections of the form are completed.

The referral form can be found at  Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) – Lancashire County Council (at the bottom of the page)

On receipt of the referral, the LADO  will contact the Safeguarding Coordinator and:

• confirm that the child(ren) have been safeguarded
• consider whether further information is needed
• discuss details of the allegation taking into account the thresholds for Designated Officer involvement
• determine whether there is sufficient evidence or information to indicate whether the allegation is unsubstantiated or false
• determine whether multi-agency investigation of the allegation and/or risk of harm to child is indicated
• consider whether suspension of the individual is appropriate and discuss whether the employer has reached a decision about this.

Once an allegation has been made, the LADO’s role is to:

• capture and co-ordinate the sharing of all the information relating to the case with the officers and agencies that need to be informed
• provide advice and guidance to the employers or voluntary organisation
• monitor and track the progress of the case through to its conclusion, with the aim to resolve it as quickly as possible.

In addition to dealing with individual cases, the LADO  must also look at emerging patterns of behaviour.

In the case of an allegation at Preston Vineyard Church all concerns and information would in the first instance go to the Safeguarding Coordinator. A referral is made to the LADO when information suggests that an adult who has contact with children may have either behaved in a way that has harmed/may have harmed a child, possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child, or behaved in a way that indicates the unsuitability of that person to work with children.

Vineyard National Safeguarding Team (NST)

As part of a national movement we keep an open line of communication with the VCUKI NST to inform them of all serious safeguarding concerns or incidents that occur within Manchester Vineyard. The table below shows where we would contact VCUKI NST to let them know about an incident or concern. 

Incident Type	VCUKI Reporting Requirement	VCUKI Involvement
Level 1 Incidents:  Suspected neglect of an individual, taking place outside of the church environment.  Bullying, violence, or sexually inappropriate behaviour identified among the attendees of a church child or youth group.  An allegation of abuse against a congregation member (with no leadership responsibilities) which has taken place outside of the church premises or church organised activities.	No requirement to report to VCUKI. Feel free to call to access support and advice.	On hand to offer advice and support if requested.
Level 2 Incidents:  An allegation of abuse against a congregation member (with leadership responsibilities) which has taken place outside of church premises or church organised activities.  An allegation made against a member of staff (non-pastoral) about abuse which has taken place outside of church premises or church organised activities.	Report to VCUKI as soon as possible	VCUKI will offer clear help and guidance to support the church’s Safeguarding Lead in the role that they need to perform.
Level 3 Incidents:  An allegation of abuse made against a Senior Pastor or senior/pastoral member of staff.  Allegation of abuse taking place on church premises or within church organised activities.	Report to VCUKI as an immediate priority	VCUKI will offer comprehensive guidance and direction on the action that needs to be taken. Members of the National Safeguarding Team will come alongside the church’s Safeguarding Lead to help with the safeguarding process.

Preston Vineyard Church Activities

Children’s and Youth Activities 

All significant activities at locations are risk assessed, (example in Appendix D) to ensure children are safe and their attendance is logged. Safeguarding training is mandatory for all new workers, and ongoing workers every 2 years. Our Safe Session Guidelines are repeated before every session before each session with children or vulnerable adults.

Keeping Information Safe

All personal information is kept safe, in line with our Data Protection Policy. This document outlines how personal information will be collected, stored and used, including information regarding children and young people. It outlines the procedures used by Preston Vineyard Church, and how they are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018. 

This policy is available to view upon request. 

Appendix

A – Preston Vineyard Church Practice Guidelines

B – Child Disclosure Form 

C – Adult Disclosure Form 

Appendix A

Preston Vineyard Church Practice Guidelines

All workers are strongly advised to adhere to these principles of good working practice outlined below wherever possible:

1. Treat all children with warmth, respect and dignity relevant to their age.
2. Be aware of your language style, voice tone, body language, and dress may be perceived by children.
3. Best practice is to ensure that you are never alone with a child where your activity cannot be seen. 
4. Touch should be related to the child’s needs (not the workers) and be within sight of other DBS workers.
5. Touch should be age-appropriate and generally initiated by the child rather than the worker.  (N.B. In the case of babies, they will initiate the need for a cuddle, usually by crying)
6. Team members should support one another in the area of physical contact. They should be free to help each other by pointing out anything that could be misconstrued.  
7. Under no circumstances should physical punishment be used.
8. Where a child requires the toilet the following should apply:
1. Nappies will not be changed by workers – only by the child’s parent or carer.
2. Ideally, children will have use of their own exclusive toilet within the area of the building they use. Where this is not possible, a team member will take a group of children to the nearest toilets. They will check that the toilets are clear of other adults. 
3. Children under 4 who need to be assisted in the toilet will be taken by 2 adults or in a group. 
4. It is ideal that children are fully toilet trained, if they are not then the rules applying to nappy changing apply – parent or carer will be contacted.
9. Always ensure parents or carers are contacted and present where removal of a child’s clothing is essential, other than help with going to the toilet (e.g. soiling of clothes – or a medical accident). 
10. Children’s groups should be staffed according to the following widely recognised minimum ratios of adults to children:
1. Age 0-2 yrs: 1 adult to 3 children
2. Age 2-3 yrs: 1 adult to 4 children
3. Age 3-5 yrs: 1 adult to 8 children
4. Age 5-17 yrs: 1 adult to 8 children

N.B. Where possible, we will look to work to higher ratios.

1. Children or young people attending a group should not be left alone at any time.
2. Mobile Phones should not be used for personal calls. Calls concerning emergency matters arising in activity time can be made to Pastoral staff. All photographs / video of children should be taken on a designated device with the permission of the Group Leader. They should be sent to the Communications lead who will upload them, and delete from personal devices. 
3. Any internet use during a session should be safe, appropriate and closely monitored. 
4. Serious concerns about another workers behaviour should always be reported to the Safeguarding Officers

Behaviour to Avoid

Workers should NOT engage in any of the following behaviour:

1. Participation in physical or sexually provocative games, however “innocent” they may appear.
2. Inappropriate or intrusive touching of any form, including roughhousing/ horseplay.
3. Intimidating, ridiculing, belittling or apparent rejection of a child or young person.
4. Making racist, sexist or discriminatory remarks of any kind.
5. Showing favouritism to any child or young person.
6. Invading the privacy of children either toileting, changing, washing or showering.
7. Making sexually suggestive remarks to or about young people – even in “fun” is absolutely unacceptable.
8. Allowing young people to develop excessive attention seeking behaviour – especially if it is of a sexual or physical nature.

Additional activities 

Where additional activities, trips or socials are organised for the children/young people, the group leader should arrange adequate supervision for those attending.  It is recommended that when planning and undertaking additional activities the following guidelines should be followed:

A Risk Assessment is completed for each activity.

1. Young People up to the age of 18 must have a completed parent consent form before being allowed to attend a trip.
2. When transporting children, workers should try to avoid being left alone with one child in the car.  If this is unavoidable, ask the child to sit in the back.
3. When planning residential holidays, workers (i.e. those over 18) should not sleep in the same room as children/young people.
4. Workers should be aware of the potential dangers involved when meeting with young people in a one on one situation at home or on trips.  They should consider taking steps to avoid such dangers i.e. meeting in a public place, informing others of the meeting, leaving the door to a room open if appropriate.

Appendix B

Child Protection Disclosure Form 

 

Date
Person reporting concern
Name of child/children involved
Details of incident including what was said, who was present, time and occasion of disclosure/incident, what happened
Action required
Report to Local Authorities required?

 

Form completed by  ___________________________________________________________________________ 

 

Date ________________________

 

Signed _________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Appendix C

 

Adult Disclosure Form 

Date
Person reporting concern
Name of adult/adults involved
Details of incident including what was said, who was present, time and occasion of disclosure/incident, what happened
Action required
Adult is able to consent for themselves? Yes or No. If no, please explain how you have come to this conclusion.
Adult has consented to this information being shared with the local authorities?
Report to Local Authorities required?

 

Form completed by  ___________________________________________________________________________ 

 

Date ________________________

 

Signed _________________________________________________________________________________________