Safeguarding

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

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 Safeguarding Coordinator is (Name of Safeguarding Coordiantor) and can be contacted on (Enter a contact telephone number)."

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) and Foundations (formerly C1) Safeguarding sessions 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. This independent service is run by the charity Victim Support and funded by the Church of England together with the Catholic Church in England and Wales and the Church in Wales. It is free to access via telephone, email or web-chat.

Tel: 0300 303 1056 (answerphone available outside of opening times)
Email: safespaces@victimsupport.org.uk
WebChat - via the Safe Spaces website

Useful Phone Numbers