Young people willing to give of their time and talent.

Gap year, students, professionals — anyone able to give at least 20 hours a week.

UK nationals, Europeans, and internationals all welcome.

New partnerships are always emerging.

Who is this policy for?

This policy is for anyone working under the umbrella of Chartwell Ministries. This includes volunteers, representatives, staff, and trustees.

Chartwell Ministries recognises that its volunteers, representatives, staff, and trustees often work in partnership, so disclosure of a safeguarding concern may occur through more than one organisation's safeguarding channel. Any safeguarding concern identified by a Chartwell Ministries volunteer, representative, staff member, and/or trustee should be disclosed through Chartwell Ministries and the procedures outlined here followed. The safeguarding officer(s) for Chartwell Ministries will then decide on the appropriate next steps and liaise if necessary with their counterpart in the partner organisation.

Overseeing safeguarding

The Chair of the Board is responsible for ensuring the appropriate implementation and ongoing administration of Chartwell Ministries' safeguarding policy. This includes ensuring regular updates and distribution of the policy, recruitment of Safeguarding Officers, allocation of resources towards safeguarding training, and monitoring that workers and volunteer teams working with children have regular DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks.

The following statement has been agreed by the board of trustees: Chartwell Ministries is committed to the safeguarding of children and adults with health and support needs, as well as ensuring their well-being.

Specifically

• →We recognise that we all have a responsibility to help prevent the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect of children and young people (those under 18 years of age), and to report any such abuse that we discover or suspect.
• →We believe every child should be valued, safe, and happy. We want to make sure that children with whom we have contact know this and are empowered to tell us if they are suffering harm.
• →All children and young people have the right to be treated with respect, to be listened to, and to be protected from all forms of abuse.
• →We recognise that we all have a responsibility to help prevent the physical, sexual, psychological, financial, and discriminatory abuse and neglect of adults who have care and support needs, and to report any such abuse that we discover or suspect.
• →We recognise the personal dignity and rights of adults who find themselves victims of forced marriage or modern slavery and will ensure all our policies and procedures reflect this.
• →We believe all adults should enjoy and have access to every aspect of the life of Chartwell Ministries unless they pose a risk to the safety of those involved.
• →We undertake to exercise proper care in the appointment and selection of all those who work with children and adults.

We are committed to

• →Following the requirements of UK legislation in relation to safeguarding children and adults, as well as good practice recommendations.
• →Respecting the rights of children as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• →Implementing the requirements of legislation in regard to people with disabilities.
• →Ensuring as far as possible that everyone working under the Chartwell Ministries umbrella adheres to the agreed procedures of our safeguarding policy.
• →Keeping up to date with national and local developments relating to safeguarding.
• →Supporting the Safeguarding Officers in their work and in any action they may need to take in order to protect children and adults with health and support needs.
• →Supporting parents and families; nurturing, protecting, and safeguarding children and young people.
• →Supporting, resourcing, training, monitoring, and providing supervision to all those who undertake this work, and supporting all in the organisation affected by abuse.
• →Adopting and following the 'Safe and Secure' safeguarding standards developed by the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service.

We recognise

• →Children's Social Services has lead responsibility for investigating all allegations or suspicions of abuse where there are concerns about a child. Adult Social Care has lead responsibility where there are concerns about an adult with care and support needs.
• →Where an allegation suggests that a criminal offence may have been committed, the police should be contacted as a matter of urgency.
• →When working outside of the UK, concerns will be reported to the appropriate agencies in the country in which we operate and their procedures followed. We will also report concerns to Chartwell Ministries' board of trustees.
• →It is our conviction that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

We will review this statement and our policy and procedures annually.

Safeguarding Officers

If you have any concerns for a child or adult with care and support needs, then speak to one of the following who have been approved as Safeguarding Officers for Chartwell Ministries:

Prevention

Safer recruitment

Chartwell Ministries will ensure that all volunteers, representatives, staff, and trustees are trained, supported, and supervised to uphold the principles of safeguarding outlined in this policy. All receive regular safeguarding training and are asked on an annual basis to read this safeguarding policy and confirm it has been understood.

Safeguarding culture

We recognise that Chartwell Ministries' volunteers, representatives, staff, and trustees may hold a position of trust with others, including sometimes vulnerable people. We are committed to a culture that is proactive in safeguarding children, young people, and adults at risk — through ongoing training and development, appropriate supervision, regular team meetings where concerns can be raised, promoting safeguarding with partner organisations, and ensuring a mechanism exists for anyone to raise legitimate concerns with impunity.

Working with contractors

Chartwell Ministries commits to take all reasonable measures to ensure high safeguarding standards of the contractors we use, including ensuring they can comply with the standards outlined in this policy.

Ministry partners

Chartwell Ministries commits to doing everything we reasonably can to ensure that ministry partners are making donations without coercion, within their means, and with a sound mind. If we have concerns, we will err on the side of caution and endeavour to ascertain more information — while respecting the rights and privacy of the individual and acting in a non-discriminatory manner. We have the right to refuse a donation.

Definitions of abuse

There are broadly ten different types of abuse: physical abuse, domestic violence or abuse, sexual abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, financial or material abuse, modern slavery, discriminatory abuse, organisational or institutional abuse, neglect or acts of omission, and self-neglect. People can be subject to a number of different abuse types at any one time. Safeguarding also means keeping children and vulnerable adults safe from the risk of radicalisation and reporting any concerns that an individual is potentially being drawn into extremism or terrorist activity.

Responding to allegations or suspicions

If our volunteers, representatives, staff, or trustees suspect abuse — whether involving someone from Chartwell Ministries, a partner organisation, or anyone else — they should follow the procedures below. Under no circumstances should anyone carry out their own investigation into an allegation or suspicion of abuse. If anyone, including a young person, is at immediate risk of harm, call 999 immediately.

Respond

Reassure the person that you have to pass the information to the Safeguarding Officer, who may need to pass it to the relevant authorities, and that it will only be shared with those who need to know. Stay calm, take what they say seriously, and do not express shock, judgement, or fear. Do not jump to conclusions. Never stop someone freely recalling events, but don't push them to tell you more than they want to. Avoid asking too many questions — use only basic questions (who, where, when) and never put words into their mouth. Reassure them they are not to blame and were right to tell you.

Record

Record your conversation as soon as possible (preferably within an hour). Write down exactly what was said in as much detail as possible, what you said in reply, what was happening immediately beforehand, your impressions of body language and tone (clearly distinguished from what was said), any visible injuries observed (do not examine them), any witnesses, and the time and date — then sign it and store it securely until it can be held by a Safeguarding Officer. Keep all handwritten notes, even if subsequently typed.

Report

Report concerns as soon as possible to Danny Aanderud or Heni Hadler (Safeguarding Officers). If the allegation implicates both Safeguarding Officers, the report should be made to the local Children's or Adult Social Services or the Police. The Safeguarding Officers have been appointed by the Board of Trustees to act on their behalf in dealing with allegations or suspicions of neglect or abuse, including referring the matter to the statutory authorities.

Pastoral care

Chartwell Ministries recognises the importance of pastoral care for those affected by abuse. We may not be positioned to provide pastoral care directly, but we will do everything reasonably possible to ensure that individuals affected by abuse are able to access appropriate pastoral care.