We aspire to be a loving community, offering a welcoming environment in which everybody can flourish. Safeguarding involves keeping both children and ‘adults at risk’ safe from harm.
A child is legally defined as someone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. An ‘adult at risk’ is someone aged 18 or over, who by reason of mental or other disability, age, illness or other situation, are permanently, or for the time being, unable to take care for themselves, or to protect themselves from significant harm, abuse or exploitation.
Whatever the demographic of your church community, safeguarding is vital. In Wales, every church has charitable status, and therefore falls under regulatory direction of the Charity Commission. The serving Elders and Minister in each church have ‘primary responsibility’ for safeguarding in their church. This includes a duty to ensure compliance with legislation, policy and procedures. Safeguarding resources for churches (including policies, procedures and contact information) are available from Church House. Please also see Safer Election of Elders. A link to Wales Safeguarding Procedures can be found here.
Diana is the Safeguarding Officer for the National Synod of Wales and can be contacted by email or phone on 07883 361093. Judy is the Deputy Safeguarding Officer and can be contacted by email or phone via the Synod Office on 029 2019 5728.
Safeguarding Training
Safeguarding training is regularly available for all those working with children, young people and adults at risk, and is also important for ministers and elders. Our training is designed to: :
- equip you to create a church culture that is safer for all
- inform you about safeguarding issues relevant to your context
- alert you to statutory safeguarding requirements
- enable you to respond appropriately
The URC National Synod of Wales has recently revised its training to align with the national safeguarding training, learning and development standards developed by Social Care Wales. The revised training replaces content that has been delivered by the Synod in the past. Therefore everyone is advised that they need to complete the revised training, irrespective of how recently they completed safeguarding training with the Synod.
GROUP A TRAINING*
All volunteers or employees working in a third sector organisation in Wales need to complete Group A training.
Group A training will enable you to
- know what the term safeguarding means.
- know what to look out for.
- know who to report to.
Group A training is delivered online and can be done at a time that suits you. Here is a link to Group A Training. This training should take between 30 – 60 minutes to complete. When you complete this training, please remember to download a certificate of completion, note the date you completed Group A Training, and notify the Synod Safeguarding Officer at safeguarding.urcwales@urc.org.uk that you have completed the course.
Group A training should be completed before you do Intermediate/Group B training.
*Group A training replaces Foundation Training.
INTERMEDIATE /GROUP B TRAINING Group B training is for those in the URC who work or volunteer with people in a group setting or on a one-to-one basis. This group includes elders, ministers, children and youth workers, warm space helpers, church safeguarding coordinators and others.
Group B training will be delivered in two formats: remote or on-site, and comprises of 3 modules.
NB: If you work or volunteer for another organisation in Wales and have already completed Group B safeguarding training, you need to provide evidence of this to the Synod Safeguarding Officer, and then only need to complete Module C.
Click here for dates, venues and booking details
ADVANCED/GROUP C TRAINING
Group C training is for people in the URC with greater responsibility for safeguarding. They make decisions about keeping people safe, and take a prominent role in safeguarding decisions. The content for this training is in the process of being finalised.
UK National Safeguarding Team
The URC National Safeguarding Team also offers a programme of training sessions on a variety of topics. Visit www.urc.org.uk/safeguarding for the latest details.
Padlet
Patlet Safeguarding resources are now available here
Creating a church culture that is safer for all
Mental Health Resources
If someone you know is struggling with their mental health, it may be appropriate to signpost them to one of a range of services that NHS Wales offers. These are listed here.
If you are looking for resources to help you support someone experiencing mental health issues, Rethink, has a range of useful factsheets on different topics available to download. Their resources can be found here.