Safeguarding Statement

The Community of Christ Prince of Peace is fully committed to safeguarding at New Dawn in the Church Walsingham and all its other events; so as to ensure a safe, caring, and charitable environment for all, particularly children, young people, and adults at risk.
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As an integral part of our mission, our safeguarding policies and procedures are adopted and implemented according to the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency.
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Recognising the dignity and rights of all vulnerable people, our highest priority is our duty of care to safeguard, protect, and promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Therefore, our leadership team and all volunteers are fully committed to ensuring and maintaining a Christ-centred, safe, attentive, and compassionate environment.
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Working closely with statutory authorities, we are fully committed to 1) promoting the referral pathway for victims and survivors of abuse 2) responding promptly and appropriately to any allegations of abuse 3) supporting victims and 4) ensuring perpetrators are held to account.
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Gary Stephens, Leader of The Community of Christ Prince of Peace & CEO of New Dawn Walsingham

The Community of Christ Prince of Peace

Children, young people and vulnerable adults safeguarding policy

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Mission Statement

The Community of Christ Prince of Peace (Registered Charity Number 1002998) is a Catholic Charity. Taking the prophecy of Pope Saint Leo XIII: “When England returns to Walsingham, Mary will return to England”, our vision is the Catholic reversion of England. To achieve this vision, our mission is the annual New Dawn in the Church Pilgrimage, Walsingham.

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The purpose of this policy statement is

To protect children, young people and vulnerable adults who receive services from The Community of Christ Prince of Peace (including New Dawn in the Church Walsingham as the primary project/trading name of the organisation) from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services.
To provide staff and volunteers, as well as children, young people, their families and vulnerable adults, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to Safeguarding.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of The Community of Christ Prince of Peace, including senior managers and the board of trustees, paid staff, and volunteers.

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Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults in England.

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Supporting documents

This policy should be read alongside our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related documents:

Role description for the designated safeguarding officer
Dealing with disclosures and concerns
Managing allegations against staff and volunteers
Recording concerns and sharing information
Record keeping of allegations and disclosures
Code of conduct for staff and volunteers
Expected behaviours for those who use our services
Photography and sharing image guidelines
Safer recruitment
Induction, training, supervision and support
Online safety
Anti-bullying
Managing complaints
Whistleblowing
Health and safety
Adult to child/young person supervision ratios

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We believe that:

Children, young people and adults at risk of harm should never experience abuse of any kind.
We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults, to keep them safe and practise in a way that protects them.

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We recognise that:

The welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults is paramount in all the work we do and all the decisions we take.
Working in partnership with children, young people, vulnerable adults, their families, carers and agencies is essential in promoting their welfare.
We uphold the dignity of every person, irrespective of their age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We uphold the fact that they have an equal right to be protected from all harm.
We recognise that some children, young people or vulnerable adults may be additionally vulnerable because of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

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We will seek to keep children, young people and vulnerable adults safe by:

Valuing, listening to and respecting them.

Appointing a nominated safeguarding lead (for children, young people and vulnerable adults), a deputy and a lead trustee/board member.
Adopting safeguarding best practice, through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures.
Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
Safe recruitment of all staff and volunteers ensuring all necessary checks are made.
Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
Having a clear way for children, young people, vulnerable adults, their families, and carers/parents to report concerns.
Reporting concerns to relevant agencies when needed, involving children, young people and vulnerable adults, parents, carers and families appropriately.
Using our procedures to manage allegations about staff and volunteers when needed.
Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment.
Effectively dealing with bullying if it happens.
Ensuring we have effective whistleblowing and complaints measures in place.
Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, vulnerable adults, staff, volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people, vulnerable adults, families, parents/carers treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

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Contact Details

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Nominated Safeguarding Lead

Miss Chenade Callaghan

‍+447864 005827 | safeguarding@newdawn.org.uk

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We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on 17th March 2023.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT A CHILD OR YOUNG PERSON’S WELFARE AT NEW DAWN?

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1. A person has concerns about a child/young person’s welfare at New Dawn.

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1.1 If concerned about a child’s immediate safety, contact Norfolk Constabulary (Police) immediately on emergency number 999.

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2. Person discusses with Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO): Miss Chenade Callaghan (safeguarding@newdawn.org.uk).

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2.1 If there are no longer concerns after discussing with the DSO, DSO to document the conversation. No further child protection action is required, although may consider other agencies which could offer support to the child/young person and their family.

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3. If the DSO still has concerns, DSO to contact Norfolk County Council Children’s Social Services on telephone number 0344 800 8020.

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4. Social Worker and DSO decide on next course of action within one working day.