safeguarding
News, Training
The safeguarding office maintains regular contact with clergy and volunteers in key safeguarding roles through the provision of quarterly newsletters. Previous editions from the last 6 months can be accessed here
and Development
The safeguarding office maintains regular contact with clergy and volunteers in key safeguarding roles through the provision of quarterly newsletters. Previous editions from the last 6 months can be accessed here
NATIONAL DAYS OF PRAYER
We are keen to raise awareness about the following days of prayer, although please note the actual date can vary:
February – international Day of Prayer for Victims of Trafficking. Josephine Bakhita is the Patron Saint of Human Trafficking. St. Josephine was born in 1869 and died in 1947. She was later beatified in 1992 and canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. Please find attached prayers x2 for St. Josephine Bakhita which can be used to remember victims of trafficking.
May – national Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse, supported by the Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Further information and material to support this day can be found here
https://www.cbcew.org.uk/day-of-prayer-for-survivors-of-abuse/
The safeguarding team arranges, delivers and enables access to suitable and relevant safeguarding training, using in person events as well as online provision. In more recent years, online safeguarding awareness sessions have been organised (covering topics including domestic abuse, economic abuse, Safe Spaces and fraud and cybercrime) with a more recent focus on ensuring that all clergy and religious are up to date with national safeguarding training, delivered by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency. Following a series of 5 events organised in October and November 2002 and January, February and March 2023, all clergy and religious are expected to have completed this training which includes 3 leadership modules.
In February of this year, the office provided safeguarding training for the Called and Equipped lay ministry course and received the following feedback:
‘That was a great session’
‘The best and most positive safeguarding training I have ever experienced’.
‘Brilliantly presented and so informative’.
‘Sometimes you feel that the amount of knowledge that you have is sufficient for you until you actually do this course and realise that it’s far from that’.
‘Really impressive and well worth attending’.
‘Very interesting and inspiring course’.
TOWARDS A CULTURE OF SAFEGUARDING
The Church has a responsibility to ensure all those who undertake work in the name of the Church are adequately trained in safeguarding matters. We all have a role to play and it is for this reason that the following e-learning package has been made available as part of the Church’s commitment to safeguarding and is free of charge to access.
Training modules include; Child Exploitation, Child Protection, Domestic Abuse: Children and Young People, Mental Capacity, Online Safety, Safeguarding Adults, Understanding Anxiety, Low Mood and Depression and Self Harm. To access this training please register your interest by emailing safeguardingadmin@northamptondiocese.com
ADDITIONAL ONLINE SAFEGUARDING TRAINING RESOURCES
The safeguarding office is pleased to promote the following e-learning training that is available for anyone across the Diocese to access through the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP). The NSCP offers a wide range of modules including; Awareness of Domestic Violence and Abuse, Awareness of Forced Marriages, Child Poverty, Child Sexual Exploitation, E-safety, Fabricated Illness, FGM, Gang Related Issues and County Lines, Hidden Harm – the effects of parental problem substance use on children, Level 1, 2 and 3 in Safeguarding Children, LGBT Awareness, Modern Slavery and Trafficking, Radicalisation and Extremism, Safeguarding and Leadership, Safeguarding Children in Education, Safer Recruitment, Self- Harm, Sexual Health, Suicidal Thoughts, Supporting Teenagers and Young People, Toxic Trio, Working with Children with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities. Details as to how to register for this training can be accessed here: Introduction to E-learning document for NSCP.
Details as to how to register for this e-learning training can be accessed here: Introduction to E-learning document for NSCP.
The following online training is also available:
E-Learning for ACT: Action, Counter, Terrorism
This learning will give you a greater awareness of ACT which could benefit you as a member of the public and also as your role in your parish. The training takes approximately 45 minutes and you can print off supporting materials and your certificate when you have completed the training. The course includes an introduction to terrorism, identifying security vulnerabilities, how to identify and respond to suspicious behaviour or item, what to do in the event of a bomb threat, firearms or weapons attack. Please use this link to access the training: https://ct.highfieldelearning.com When registering for the training, please specific your area of business as places of worship.
DOMESTIC ABUSE
The Domestic Abuse Group of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has issued guidance on how parishes can support victims of domestic abuse which can be found using the following link https://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/our-work/domestic-abuse/
The National Board of Catholic Women has published (August 2020) a practical booklet on domestic abuse, entitled, ‘Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse’, which can be downloaded here. The booklet seeks to raise awareness within the Catholic community of domestic abuse and the impact upon victims and their children and offers pastoral care and guidance.
DEMENTIA AWARENESS
The following e-learning course is available through the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) which aims to raise awareness of dementia and can be accessed using this link
SURVIVOR ENGAGEMENT
Understanding the needs and experiences of survivors of abuse is crucial for an organisation that is open to learn, welcoming and committed to providing a safe system for all those that are part of it. A webinar recording on the subject of survivor engagement in faith based organisations, from 2020, can be found here, although you may also need to register (free) to access the recording https://www.scie.org.uk/safeguarding/faith-groups/survivor-engagement
SEXUAL ABUSE
The following resource is available through the independent education charity, Inform, on the topic of Sexual Abuse framed by Faith or Belief. Please follow this link to access the 2020 seminar.
SAFEGUARDING ADULTS
A number of training presentations are available through the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Adults Board’s weeks of learning in 2021 and 2022 and includes the following subject areas; modern slavery, voice for victims and witnesses, adult risk management, mental health – integrated response hub, cyber and fraud awareness, homelessness, an introduction to safeguarding adults and mental capacity. Recordings of the presentations are available here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI61Tfl_j5nlNXnfXwmEWosSnyuCx35Eu
STOLEN LIVES
Root & Branch is an international forum for reform and renewal, ‘working to make the church a safe, just, inclusive, and welcoming church’. As part of their work, they have published learning resources which includes a series of talks called Stolen Lives (five survivor-led talks on abuse of power and its cover-up in the church) and Reclaiming Stolen Lives (two talks focused on actions that we can take to break through the silence and avoidance surrounding abuse and contribute to change), featuring Fr. Hans Zollner, German Jesuit priest, theologian and psychologist, Professor at the Gregorian University in Rome.
Recordings of both series can be accessed using this link https://www.rootandbranchsynod.org/stolen-lives
Additional useful Resources
The Domestic Abuse Group of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has issued guidance on how parishes can support victims of domestic abuse which can be found using the following link https://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/our-work/domestic-abuse/
The National Board of Catholic Women has published (August 2020) a practical booklet on domestic abuse, entitled, ‘Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse’, which can be downloaded here. The booklet seeks to raise awareness within the Catholic community of domestic abuse and the impact upon victims and their children and offers pastoral care and guidance.
The following e-learning course is available through the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) which aims to raise awareness of dementia and can be accessed using this link
Understanding the needs and experiences of survivors of abuse is crucial for an organisation that it open to learn, welcoming and committed to providing a safe system for all those that are part of it. Please use click here to watch a webinar recording from 11 December 2020 on the subject of survivor engagement in faith-based organisations.
A further development resource is available through the independent education charity, Inform, on the topic of Sexual Abuse framed by Faith or Belief. Please follow this link to access the July 2020 seminar.