Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
Safeguarding
At St John’s Church Felbridge, we are firmly committed to safeguarding all members of our church community, especially children, young people, and adults who need support.
The Safeguarding team, consisting of Nick Wooldridge, Julie Legg, and Sheila Drury, meets regularly and submits a report to every PCC meeting. The team works very closely with the leaders of the children's and young people’s groups and the pastoral care team. Safeguarding is a regular topic of prayer at St John’s, and we also participate in the CofE’s annual Safeguarding Sunday initiative, encouraging the whole congregation to be aware of their role in keeping everyone safe.
To safeguard children, young people and adults needing support, we engage fully with Southwark Diocese safeguarding policies and procedures and have a rigorous process to ensure our staff and volunteer teams are prepared for their roles, primarily by carrying out DBS checks and online safeguarding training courses. DBS checks and safeguarding certificates are updated every three years, as per Diocesan guidance. In addition, we hold a safeguarding training morning for staff and volunteers each year, which achieves three objectives: for team members to come together to pray specifically about safeguarding; as an update and refresher of the principles and practice of safeguarding, and to broaden our understanding of potential safeguarding risks so that we can discharge our duty to those in our care as well as possible. In recent training mornings, we have learnt how to recognise and respond to situations that might involve domestic abuse, modern slavery and exploitation, and being scam-savvy online. Raising awareness of such issues helps equip our volunteer team with improved understanding and resources to protect those they work with, whether in individual homes or church groups.
One essential element of safeguarding individuals of any age is confidentiality, and we maintain careful records which are securely stored. Anyone who comes to a team member with a safeguarding concern or query can be assured that conversations will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and respect. Action will be carefully and sensitively considered, often after consultation with the Diocesan Safeguarding team and in line with the Diocese’s policies.
All youth and children's teams members are DBS checked and have regular safeguarding training.
Contacts at St John's
- Parish Safeguarding Officer: Julie Legg email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Assistant Parish Safeguarding Officer with responsibility for DBS checks: Sheila Drury email:
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Responding to safeguarding concerns or allegations
If there is an immediate danger to a child or vulnerable adult, call 999.
Most situations are not emergencies, and you should follow these three steps, maintaining confidentiality at all times:
- Observe or listen carefully
- Write it down
- Pass it on immediately to the Parish Safeguarding Officer or the Vicar or contact the Safeguarding team at Southwark Diocese and no one else.
Should you have any specific concerns or questions, please get in touch with our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Julie Legg, via email at
Southwark Safeguarding Team Contacts
The Southwark safeguarding team has moved to a new process for managing incoming enquiries, which is supported by a duty system. This will enable more efficient prioritisation and processing of incoming referrals, concerns and enquiries. The team can be contacted for advice and support via the following routes:
Safeguarding referrals / general enquiries:
Safeguarding training enquiries:
Admin and DBS enquiries:
For urgent out-of-hours advice: (Mon to Fri, after 5 pm / weekends and bank holidays) please contact 020 3874 6743.
Emergencies: If you suspect you or someone is at risk of immediate harm, phone 999.
If you are worried that a child, young person, or adult is at risk of being harmed, abused or neglected, contact social services within your local authority area. You can find your local council via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council
Support Services
A wide range of local support can be accessed by inputting a postcode into the following resource.
Hub of Hope – UK’s leading support database, provided by a national mental health charity and brings local, national, peer, community, charity, private and NHS services together in one place for the first time, accessed via the following link: https://hubofhope.co.uk/
Helpline information
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NSPCC Child Protection Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are worried about a child.
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Child-line: 0800 1111 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are a child or young person and are worried about anything.
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National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are experiencing domestic abuse.
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Samaritans Helpline: 116 123 (open 24 hours). Phone if you feel you are struggling to cope and need someone to talk to.
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Hourglass (formerly Action on Elder Abuse) Helpline: 080 8808 8141