Safeguarding

For non-emergency reporting of safeguarding concerns please contact one of our Safeguarding Advisers (listed below)

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 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, 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.

Neil Spiring - Senior Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor

Office: 01543 306147
Emailneil.spiring@lichfield.anglican.org

Neil Spiring is the Senior Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor and Team Leader working on Diocesan Safeguarding Policy Development, casework, issues regarding Adults at Risk and Children as well as being available to parishes, both clergy and Parish Safeguarding Coordinators to give advice on day to day issues of concern along with Peter Hurd (ADSA) and Kim Hodgkins.

 

 

 


Peter Hurd - Assistant Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor 

Office: 01543 221105
Mobile: 07494 884930
Email: peter.hurd@lichfield.anglican.org

Peter Hurd is the Assistant Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor and an experienced, qualified Social Worker. Peter is deputy for Neil Spiring, when he is not available, as well as working on casework, safeguaring issues involving Children and Adults at Risk and supporting parishes with safeguarding advice. Peter is working alongside Kim Hodgkins and Julia Dixon as part of the Diocesan Safeguarding Team. 

 

 

Kim Hodgkins - Safeguarding Officer

Office: 01543 306099

Mobile: 07944 910934
Email: kim.hodgkins@lichfield.anglican.org

Kim Hodgkins working alongside the DSAs with casework and to support Clergy, Parish Safeguarding Coordinators and parishes in Safeguarding matters relating to children.

Julia Dixon - Safeguarding Training Advisor

Email: julia.dixon@lichfield.anglican.org
Mobile: 07896 448248

Julia Dixon joined the team in January 2019 and takes the lead on developing and monitoring our training programme. Her role allows dedicated support to ensuring that we are able to maximise training capacity and ensure that we can continually evaluate and improve this part of our service.

 

Sue Lord - DBS Administrator


Email: dbs@lichfield.anglican.org
Office: 01543 221506

Working days: Monday pm, Tuesday,  Wed pm

Sue is the first point of contact for queries (that are not covered in the DBS - key resources page)about DBS applications submitted through the diocese.

 

The team are based at the diocesan offices in Lichfield, though all spend a greater or lesser proportion of their time out and about, meeting clergy and parish safeguarding advisers, delivering training locally and working with other professionals on casework.

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

  Office hours Out of Hours Tel 
(before 9am, after 5pm and at weekends)
Emergency 
(immediate risk)

General Numbers

     
Police 101 101 999
Healthcare 111 111 999
Diocese Safeguarding Number 01543 306030 0303 003 1111 (option 2) N/A

Childrens Safeguarding Phone numbers

     
Staffordshire/Stoke Childrens 0800 1313126 0345 604 2719 999
Shropshire Childrens 0345 678 9021 0345 6789040 999
Telford and Wrekin Childrens 01952 385385   999
Walsall Childrens 01922 658170 01922 653555 999
Wolverhampton Childrens 01902 555392 01902 552999 999
Sandwell Childrens 0845 113 5000 0121 569 2355 999

Safeguarding Adults numbers

     
Staffordshire Adults 0345 604 2719 0345 604 2719 999
Stoke on Trent Adults 0800 561 0015 01782 234234 999
Shropshire Adults 0345 678 9021 0345 6789040 999
Telford & Wrekin Adults 01952 385385   999
Walsall Adults 0300 555 2922 01922 653555 999
Wolverhampton Adults 01902 551199 01902 552999 999
Sandwell Adults 0121 569 2266 0121 569 2355 999

Past Cases Review 2 in the Diocese of Lichfield – Executive Summary

All dioceses took part in the Church of England’s Past Cases Review (PCR) 2 including the Diocese of Lichfield which is home to more than 500 churches in Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire and the Black Country. Lichfield Diocese was also one of seven dioceses asked to carry out further work to provide an updated and comprehensive version of the first Past Cases Review published in 2010.

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