We are committed to ensuring that the Diocese of Salisbury provides a safe environment for everyone, especially children and young people who may be at risk of abuse or neglect.
Here you’ll find advice, information, and resources to help parishes understand how to achieve the best possible standards of safeguarding, and signposting for those who may wish to access support.
If you are contacting the safeguarding team please be aware the best way to contact us is via email unless you have an urgent concern
safeguarding.admin@salisbury.anglican.org such as DBS Microsite or Dashboard. Or 01722 438651 and press option 1.
If your query is urgent or out of hours (5pm Friday to 10pm Sunday), please contact thirtyone:eight on 0303 0031111.
If someone is at immediate risk of harm, please call 999 in an emergency.
If you wish to report a concern, see advice under the 'Safeguarding in parishes' heading further down or the 'What to do if you have a concern' box immediately below.
Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse: Support options (video)
Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse (Church of England website)
Safeguarding Training and DBS Guide
What to do if you have a concern
We act promptly on any complaints made and work in close partnership with Police and Social Care where children or vulnerable adults have been harmed or are at risk of harm or mistreatment.
We care for those who have been abused in the past and provide a range of support and signposting for survivors and victims of Church related abuse.
We support national policy from the Church of England including following the practice guidance Responding Well to victims and survivors of abuse.
Survivor care and support
If you are looking through this page it might be because something has happened to you, you are struggling and looking for support, or because you want to help someone close to you. Seeking support when you are struggling or thinking about speaking out about any kind of abuse, can often raise all kinds of emotions.
There may be many reasons why you have not spoken out before. It can feel overwhelming and frightening, but it can also be the first step towards support, healing, and recovery. You are not to blame for what happened to you.
You will be heard, be supported and have your concerns taken seriously no matter how recent or long ago and regardless of where the abuse took place. It is your choice who you share your experience with. Within your local church or Parish you may wish to speak to your Parish Safeguarding Officer or a member of the clergy. You may choose instead to contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team: Contact can also be made via the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisors.
Safeguarding in parishes
There are a number of resources you can download for use within a parish context.
Policy for Responding to Domestic Abuse here.
Please be aware that the Channel Islands have different documents so please contact the respective island Safeguarding Lead for more information (see information in the Channel Island heading below).
All other safeguarding concerns within a parish should be brought to the attention of the Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO), Church Safeguarding Officer (CSO in Jersey) or parish priest in the first instance. They can then seek further guidance from one of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisors (DSA), contact details listed above, and refer to statutory agencies if appropriate.
Here is a flowchart showing what to do if you have a concern.
If your concern relates to the PSO, CSO or parish priest, please contact the DSO directly. There may be other occasions where someone may have a safeguarding concern but does not want to discuss this within a parish context. If this is the case, the DSA can be contacted directly.
Download the Model Parish Safeguarding Policy.
The legal transfer will be enacted on the receiving of the Order in Council during 2022.
More information regarding safeguarding on the respective Islands can be accessed here: Deanery of Guernsey (including Alderney and Sark) and the Deanery of Jersey.
The Channel Islands follow National Church of England safeguarding guidance and policies unless their own Island legislation dictates otherwise. Both Islands have their own Safeguarding Handbook (Guernsey) and Safeguarding Policy (Jersey) which can be found on their respective Deanery websites.
Safeguarding contacts:
Guernsey
Jersey
Safer Recruitment and DBS checks
Safer Recruitment is a set of principles to help make sure staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Safer recruitment fulfils two important functions. It can identify at an early stage people who should not be working with children, young people or vulnerable adults.
It also sends a clear message to the wider community that should they attempt to do so, such people will be identified and prevented from taking on roles of trust.
Access the site and login.
Each Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) or DBS Verifier has an individual log in to the Microsite. If you require a log in, or for queries related to the Microsite, please email the Safeguarding Team
Below are a number of short instruction videos designed to guide you around the Microsite.
Session 1 - Introduction
Session 2 - Adding a New Person
Session 3 - Initialising a New DBS?
Session 4 - The Update Service and Checks?
Session 5 - Ongoing Checks, Corrections and Historic Checks
Session 6 - The Process for Verifiers Session
Session 7 - How an applicant completes their DBS application on APCS
The key policy and guidance document agreed by the House of Bishops is Safer Recruitment Practice Guidance.
On the Church of England website in the Safeguarding E-manual, under 'Safer recruitment and People management guidance', there are a number of useful templates including a model volunteer job role, an application form, model interview questions and a letter of appointment.
At the start of the process where an individual is going to work with vulnerable people, they should be asked to complete a ‘Confidential Declaration’ form. In essence this form asks them if there is any reason why they should not be working in the role they are applying for. It can help identify any issues that might need resolving at an early stage.
There are different levels of DBS checks (Basic, Enhanced, and Enhanced with Barring) which can be applied for depending on the role the person is going to be undertaking.
We have designed a matrix which gives an indication of the minimum level of check required for each role: Download the Safeguarding training Matrix and DBS Matrix
Within Salisbury Dicoese we use a company called APCS to facilitate our checks. APCS are one of the largest Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) umbrella bodies in the country, processing many thousands of DBS disclosures every year for all sectors. Security of personal information is paramount to them. To ensure protection of your data APCS utilise an ISO27001 compliant data centre. An Industry recognised accreditation ensuring your data remains private.
Safeguarding Annual Report
Contact the Safeguarding Team
| For non-emergency advice and support outside of the teams working hours, please contact thirtyone:eight on 0303 0031111. |