Responsible Caring Group
RESPONSIBLE CARING GROUP
This group, a sub-committee of the PCC, has been set up at All Saints’ in accordance with diocesan guidelines. Its rôle is to oversee the safeguarding, care and nurture of the children, young people and vulnerable adults within our church community and those who work with them.
[Children and young people are defined as being under 18 years of age; a definition of ‘vulnerable adults’ can be found at Appendix 1 ]
Membership of the RCG:
Deirdre Wheeler (chair), John Charlewood, Ray Gunn-Russell, Keith Kennils, Enid Mitchell, Roger Rayner, Heather Gunn, Lesley Atkinson and Tom Onions as an Associate.
We all share responsibility for all decisions, but Keith has special expertise in processing Criminal Record Bureau clearances and John is our Health and Safety expert. A photo of the group is posted at the back of the church.
Key information:
The Diocesan Child Protection Officer:
The Reverend Jean Skinner (tel. 0191 2363474, email: revjeanskinner@yahoo.com
Newcastle Diocesan Child Protection Policy and Guidelines (revised 2008):
- a hard copy is available in the parish office
- they can be downloaded from the diocesan website, ‘youth’ section www.newcastle.anglican.org
The rôle of the RCG – a general guide:
- to draw up, present to the PCC for authorisation and review at regular intervals a parish Child Protection policy (Appendix 2) and post copies prominently in church and in the church hall.
- to meet regularly (about every 2 months) to monitor CP issues (e.g. CRB checks, the safe running of Young Saints, Health and Safety issues for young people’s groups, services to people in the parish, etc.)
- to ensure that the PCC has a list of all leaders of young people’s groups and has authorised them in their rôles.
- to be available to any member of All Saints’ who may wish to raise an issue.
Over recent months and years we have been greatly concerned with ensuring that those working with young people or vulnerable adults should obtain CRB clearance as soon as it is needed. (The categories of people who need clearance are set out in the Archdeacons’ briefings in the People and Places section of the diocesan guidelines and are shown here at Appendix 3.) Disclosures have to be updated every 5 years.
Currently some 92 people at All Saints’ are cleared for their work here.
The next stage is to familiarise ourselves with the new CRB form, ready particularly for any new volunteers who will need clearance.
Following that we will undertake any training required to enable us to put the new safeguarding and vetting procedures in place when the national guidelines are finalised.
