Safeguarding
Here at Christ Church we take the safety of children, young people and vulnerable adults very seriously. We are committed to making Christ Church a safe space and to dealing openly and transparently with any issues raised.
Our Parish safeguarding Co-Ordinator at Christ Church is Sarah Bevan (07949524188). She works closely with our senior clergy to provide all the necessary safeguarding support, and ensure advice and guidance relating to children, young people and vulnerable adults at Christ Church Summerfield is adhered to. Sarah will liaise with the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor and Statutory agencies as appropriate.
The care and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults involved in the activities of Christ Church is also the responsibility of the whole Church. Everyone who participates in the life of the Church has a role to play in promoting a safer Church for all.
If you would prefer to contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, Steph Haynes, please call: 07342 993 844.
Unaccompanied Children and Youth at Worship Gatherings
We encourage parents and children to attend worship gatherings together, as we believe that our worship and prayer together will strengthen family bonds. However, we recognise that a number of children and young people take the initiative to attend worship gatherings by themselves.
During the groups that take place in gatherings, children and young people are under the care of responsible leaders and helpers. However, these groups do not run for the whole of the gathering, and the nature of a public worship gathering is such that we cannot control who is in attendance. There is an inherent risk to children in such an environment. We mitigate the risk by adopting the following procedures for unaccompanied children and young people:
Children aged 5 and under must be accompanied by an adult. NB- an adult must be someone aged 18+.
Children aged 6-11 (in primary school) who attend church without an adult will have their names added to an Unaccompanied Children List at Child Check-In. They will then be under the care of the Emerging Generation Pastor(or another responsible adult) for the duration of their time at church, not including the time they are in their groups.
Unaccompanied youth (in secondary school) must complete and return a parental permission form for Sunday mornings to include permission for members of the youth group to attend church without an accompanying adult. The option will also be given for parents to give permission for their youth to travel home unaccompanied. The youth will need to inform the Emerging Generation Pastor or Senior Pastors that they are leaving the church site.
Involvement of other adults: The adult staffing the Child Check-In desk must ask all children if they have come with an adult in order to add names to the list.
Welcome team members receive some safeguarding training to be aware of the issues relating to children arriving on their own, leaving the main church to go to the toilet, leaving the building during service times and other safeguarding issues.