The Trustees of The Living Well have adopted the safeguarding policies and procedures of the Church of England and the Diocese of Canterbury. These are set out in the Diocese of Canterbury guidelines, ‘Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults from Harm’.
In particular we are committed to:
- The safeguarding of all those who come into our care particularly those who are vulnerable
- Carefully selecting and training paid and voluntary staff who might come into contact with those who are vulnerable, using the Disclosure and Barring Service amongst other tools, to check their sustainability
- Responding without delay to every complaint made which suggest that any person may have been harmed
- Co-operating fully with the police, local authority, church authority or any other appropriate statutory body in any investigation
- Ministering appropriately to anyone who has experienced abuse
- Extending pastoral care to those who have offended against children or vulnerable adults whilst ensuring that children and vulnerable adults are protected from them
Here at The Living Well we seek to provide a safe space to all who come, and to treat individuals with respect, dignity and confidentiality.
- We will not disclose that an individual is known to us, or provide any information about that person, except in an instance where we have been told that serious injury or harm will be caused to another individual/or the person themselves; a disclosure of child abuse; knowledge that a miscarriage of justice will occur; that one of our team is summoned by a Court of Law or that terrorist acts have been disclosed.
- In the event of any such circumstances being disclosed we follow the procedures outlined in the Canterbury Diocesan Guidelines, ‘Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults from Harm’ (a copy is available in the office) and would refer to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.
- If you would like further explanation, or to discuss this, please do ask a member of the team who will be happy to help.
We have appointed Reverend Lorraine Apps Huggins as our Safeguarding Coordinator (telephone 01304 842847).
Approved by the Trustees of The Living Well on 1st June 2019.
Anyone may speak to the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisors:
- Fiona Coombs – 07548 232395. Email: fcoombs@diocant.org
- Paul Brightwell – 01732 384734 or 07398 009951. Email: pbrightwell@diocant.org
Other helpful contacts
- Samaritans – 116 123
- National Domestic Violence Helpline – 0808 2000 247
- Rising Sun (Domestic Violence and Abuse Service in East Kent) – Crisis Line 01227 452852 (Mon – Fri 9.00 am – 4.30 pm)
- One Stop Shops (‘drop-in’ sessions providing free advice from a variety of agencies; legal aid, housing, finance and counselling etc.) – visit http://www.domesticabuseservices.org.uk and search by area
- NHS Mental Health Crisis – 111 Option 2
- National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – 0808 800 5000
- Victim Support – 0808 16 89 111
A pdf version of this document is available here.