Child Protection Policy

Parishes need to be aware of the risks involved with activities and how to minimise these risks to ensure safety for all involved: the parish, the workers and the participants.

Obligations under the Children's Act and Safety Checking

The Methodist Alliance has drafted a Child Protection Policy which provides guidance for parishes and their people who work with children to create a safe environment for children.  It is a tool that protects children and staff by defining what action is required to keep children safe.

Your parish can use the Child Protection Policy to help build a strong culture of child protection and wellbeing.  The policy outlines the roles and responsibilities of people in your parish, including safe recruitment of staff and volunteers, and provides definitions of different types of abuse, indicators of abuse, confidentiality and information sharing, and how to report concerns.

In the draft policy, replace "??? Parish" with your parish name

Are you aware of inappropriate behaviour?

Please keep our children and vulnerable people safe and let the appropriate people know about inappropriate behaviour. Report inappropriate behaviour with our online form.

Templates are available for parishes to display their own complaints posters.

Police Vetting

Mission Resourcing coordinates police vetting - read more here.

All people working with children and young people need to be safety checked by 1 July 2019.

Further safeguarding work

"The Methodist Church is committed to safeguarding as an integral part of its life and ministry. Safeguarding is about the action the Church takes to promote a safer culture. This means we will: 

• • promote the welfare of children, young people and adults
  • work to prevent abuse from occurring
  • seek to protect and respond well to those that have been abused."