Safeguarding

For non-emergency reporting of safeguarding concerns please contact one of our Diocesan Safeguarding Officer, Neil Spiring or Assistant Safeguarding Officer, Peter Hurd (click or scroll down).

In an emergency where there is imminent risk of significant harm, please contact the police on 999 or your local social services department.

During Office Hours please see the team's contact details below. 

For Out of Hours and weekend emergencies please call the Emergency Safeguarding number 0303 003 1111 (option 2).

This number will take you through to Thirty One Eight (thirtyoneeight.org/, formerly CCPAS), who will register your call and help with your emergency. We have an information sharing agreement with Thirty One Eight so that any details given will be forwarded onto the Diocesan Safeguarding team so we can follow up with you if necessary. You can choose to remain anonymous if you wish to when making the call but we will not be able to get any follow up information.

The Diocese of Lichfield and the Church of England treats the duty of care it owes to children entrusted into our care very seriously.

The safety and security of children is of the utmost importance and guidelines and policies are part of the processes that have been adopted to ensure that all children taking part in activities in our churches may do so in a loving, caring and safe atmosphere. In order to ensure this we have a Diocesan Safeguarding Policy and we recommend that every parish have a Safeguarding Policy as outlined in the House of Bishops revised Policy document Promoting A Safer Church 2017.

Past Cases Review 2

The Diocese of Lichfield took part in Past Cases Review (PCR) 2 - the most extensive review of safeguarding records ever conducted by the Church of England across all dioceses. Our diocesan PCR2 Executive Summary was published on 5 October 2022 alongside the national report.

Survivor Strategy

The Diocese of Lichfield is committed to responding well to all those who have suffered abuse, regardless of the type of the abuse, when or where it occured. 

Click for Survivor and Disclosure Guidance.

Parish websites

If you are in the process of updating your parish's safeguarding information on your website you will need to include the following information:

"(Name of Church) is committed to Safeguarding and has adopted the National and Diocesan Safeguarding Policies. Our Parish Safeguarding Officer is (Name of Parish Safeguarding Officer) and can be contacted on (Enter a contact telephone number).

In an emergency where there is imminent risk of  harm to a child or vulnerable adult, please contact the police on 999 or your local social services department."

You also need to ensure that the policies have actually been ratified and adopted by the PCC and that this is recorded in meeting minutes. 

Safeguarding Training

Basic Awareness (formerly C0, Foundations (formerly C1) Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment and People Management modules are now available online. 

You can download our full Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework 2021-2024.

The Latest Safeguarding Policy Documents

...are published on the Safeguarding Key Resources page.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

All DBS applications are now completed online and processed by ThirtyOne:Eight please click on the DBS Key Resources page for further information.

New guidance has been issued regarding safeguarding and DBS requirements for those standing for election or re-election as church warden. Click here.

Diocesan Safeguarding Team

We have a Diocesan Safeguarding Team working together to cover all areas of Safeguarding and their work is overseen by the Diocesan Safeguarding Panel which meets quarterly, with an independent chair. The Panel acts in a support and scrutiny role to ensures the Diocese complies with its legal responsibilities. The terms of reference for the Safeguarding Panel can be downloaded here.

St Marys House
The Close
Lichfield WS13 7LD

Safe Spaces: an independent service supporting survivors of church-related abuse

Launched in September 2020, this service offers support to survivors of church-related abuse whether or not a report has been made. From 9th January 2023, Safe Spaces will be managed by First Light. First Light is an independent organisation with over 25 years’ experience in supporting those who have experienced or are experiencing sexual abuse and/or domestic violence and abuse, including survivors and victims of church-related abuse. They provide confidential, independent and specialist support; this support is trauma-informed and victim-led. As previous, Safe Spaces will continue to offer emotional support and advocacy services for victims and survivors of church related abuse. 

Support from Safe Spaces may involve:

• A space to be listened to and heard.
• An individualised communications plan – where service users may say how and when they would like contact.
• A risk assessment and personalised safety plan.
• Psychoeducational support.
• Safety and stabilisation.
• Advocacy around reporting to Churches and statutory services.
• Signposting to other support services.

Whilst support can be therapeutic in nature, it is distinct from counselling. Victims and survivors wishing to access counselling services will be supported to consider the options available to them, including NHS, Church and voluntary sector provision.

The Safe Spaces Services telephone number is now  0300 303 1056. 
Opening hours will be extended to Monday to Friday 9am – 9pm, Saturday 9-1pm and Sunday from 1-5pm (excluding bank holidays, subject to review) The new email address is safespaces@firstlight.org.uk and the website can be found at  safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk 

Useful Phone Numbers