If you are concerned that someone you know is thought to be at risk of immediate harm then call the police immediately on 999 without delay. Following notifying the police you should then notify the parish safeguarding officer and the Guild safeguarding officer.
The Winchester and Portsmouth Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers is committed to work with the national legal and procedural framework for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults alongside the Church of England policy and practice.
To contact the safeguarding officer with any queries, concerns or to report something, please email direct: safeguarding@wpbells.org
April 2023 Safeguarding Update
As some members may have seen, there has been an exchange recently on the email list regarding some churches wanting to implement much tighter safeguarding restrictions, which includes the use of character references and interviews for current ringers and those wanting to learn. This requirement has come from an updated “safer recruitment” guideline published by The Church of England which covers amongst other things how to manage volunteers within the church. To accompany this was a “Parish Safeguarding Handbook” which clearly states the term bellringer under the list of people considered volunteers, and to whom the guideline should apply. This was circulated to the various Diocesans who then used it to form their own updated guidelines. It is then for each church and PCC to interpret and implement these guidelines as they see fit and within the W+P Guild there is already a vast range of ways this is currently being done. In some towers they are already referencing current and new ringers and have very efficient and well tested ways of doing this. In other towers there is an agreement to apply such requirements on the tower captain only but not on other ringers. In some towers there currently is not any exchange between the ringers and the church regarding safeguarding.
What is most clear is that it is the responsibility of the individual church and PCC to decide how to apply these rules, and this should be done in a constructive way with the ringers. Until the church approach the ringers I would suggest for now if you are following the below safeguarding advice then no issues should occur. If the church or PCC do approach the ringers to discuss safeguarding then having active proof that the tower is aware of safeguarding and has plans in place to protect ringers, should hopefully be enough to detract from the need for more strict measures.
If any tower does face a situation where you are contacted by the church and PCC with discussion on the requirement for references for ringers or equally any new requirement is discussed, then please do contact me. I can then support you with details of the arrangements other towers have implemented within the Guild, which have been shown to work efficiently, and we can work together to satisfy any requirements or concerns the church may have.
Safeguarding is the principle that all people, including children and vulnerable adults, should be treated with respect, and kept safe from harm, injury, abuse, or neglect. It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure safeguarding is implemented and that we look out for one other. Safeguarding also involves us working together to create environments whereby all persons are safe and know that any concerns about welfare will be addressed appropriately.
Good safeguarding is essential to keep our hobby a safe one for all those who wish to take part, but safeguarding doesn’t need to be unnecessarily restrictive or damaging to issues such as recruitment and retention. If we all have an awareness of safeguarding and make sure we implement sensible measures together, we can ensure that all people are protected and can enjoy bellringing together.
Firstly, and most importantly make sure your tower has a named safeguarding lead, who is responsible for making sure the tower is following all the suggested guidelines. Once appointed this person should then have contact with the church safeguarding officer so that the two people can contact each other where needed. A key element of good safeguarding is good communication, so ensuring this channel exists with the church is essential.
Secondly make sure all the band are aware of the Guild Safeguarding Policy (link below). This outlines the recommended training requirements for all members of the band. The most important part of this document which I draw your attention to is the table at the very end. This table very clearly outlines what the minimum recommended training requirements are for each member within a tower as already agreed with the diocesan safeguarding teams. For the avoidance of doubt, a reminder that it is the churches responsibility to undertake (and pay for) the suggested DBS checks. Anyone who needs a DBS check should liaise with the relevant church safeguarding officer to arrange this.
Finally make sure your tower has a written document in place that is reviewed and updated at least yearly, which outlines what the key safety principles are within your tower, that you are following to ensure everyone is kept safe. This should include areas such as; no person to be in the tower alone, no under 18s to be present without either parental supervision OR with a signed permission to ring form, alongside other practical measures which we all do already to keep ourselves safe.
There is a big push nationally and within the church to improve safeguarding practice in all areas, as for many years people have suffered unnecessary harm due to the lack of awareness of the safeguarding principles. Just because your tower hasn’t been aware of safeguarding before doesn’t mean you now don’t have a duty to become involved and to improve your own practices. The very fundamental basis of safeguarding is wanting to care for the wellbeing of our fellow ringers, so this is something we should all want to do anyway. Safeguarding exists to protects everyone and by working together we can ensure all ringers are safe and can enjoy bellringing together.
The other real risk of doing nothing is that with the increased focus from the church, if you are approached and know nothing about safeguarding, have nothing documented at all and appear to be ignoring safeguarding advice then the risk is the new safer recruiting guidelines which are much more restrictive will simply be applied word for word without constructive agreement. If, however you are a safeguarding aware tower, and already have measures in place for safeguarding then it is more likely you won’t have any issues.
The Guild has an elected Safeguarding Officer who is there to support all towers within the Guild with any safeguarding matters, and to act as a liaison between the Guild and the local Diocesans. If you have any questions or concern, please do contact the Safeguarding Officer