Safeguarding 

Safeguarding at Trinity Church Buxton is everyone’s responsibility because at heart safeguarding is about how we love and care for one another. The Bible regularly commands Christians to care for one another and to care especially for vulnerable people. This includes children, young people and vulnerable adults. Although the language of safeguarding today is different from the way caring for one another is expressed in the bible, the command to care is clear. This is our motivation for prioritising safeguarding: it is an expression of our Christian faith lived out in church life.

All our staff and volunteers have completed safeguarding training provided by the Church of England. Trinity Church Buxton has a clear structure of support within all areas of ministry for reporting safeguarding concerns. Please speak to or contact any of our safeguarding team with your comments, concerns or questions.

Our commitments to safeguarding include:

• Maintaining a safe environment for all our meetings and groups
• Being thoughtful about recruiting volunteers and staff, particularly those who work with children, young people and vulnerable adults. All volunteers and staff are required to complete training provided by the Church of England and where recommended will complete an enhanced DBS check
• Making it our priority to care for victims and survivors of abuse
• We will also care for people who are the subject of concerns or allegations of abuse
• We have a policy to respond to anyone who may pose a present risk to others
• We want to hear your concerns about safeguarding matters and commit to respond promptly to every concern or allegation

The Church Council has overall responsibility for ensuring have a healthy safeguarding culture and has appointed the Safeguarding Team and together they ensure that the Safeguarding Policy is communicated to staff and volunteers, and followed.

The Church Council has adopted the House of Bishops’ ‘Promoting a Safer Church: Safeguarding Policy Statement’, and the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding which may be found on the Church of England’s website. These form the basis of the Trinity Church Buxton safeguarding policy which we work to locally. The current policy is available here.

Our Parish Safeguarding Link is Elizabeth Gilmour, who may be contacted at church or by email: safeguarding@trinitychurchbuxton.org.uk

Our Safeguarding Team is:

	Elizabeth Gilmour Parish Safeguarding Link	Anna Watkin Safeguarding Co-ordinator (Children)	Maria Todd Safeguarding Co-ordinator (Vulnerable Adults)	Kate Smith Safeguarding Administrator

If you have a Safeguarding concern, please click here to view the flowchart of who to contact.

You can find out Safer Recruitment Policy here. (Please note: we are currently updating this policy to reflect the new Church of England Safer Recruitment and People Management Policy which can be found here.)

Please click the links below for the Derby Diocese Safeguarding information:
Parish Safeguarding Handbook
Promoting a Safer Church