Safeguarding Policy
Grace Church Global Safeguarding Policy
Date of Issue: 1st June 2025
Review Date: 1st June 2026
Approved by: Church Board of Truste
Location: United Kingdom
1. Policy Statement
Grace Church Global is committed to the safeguarding and protection of all children, young people, and vulnerable adults. We believe that every individual, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation, or identity, has the right to be protected from harm, abuse, neglect, and exploitation. We recognise our duty of care and responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of those entrusted to our care, and we are committed to providing a safe, caring, and nurturing environment where the love of God is demonstrated practically.
2. Purpose of this Policy
– To ensure the safety and wellbeing of children, young people, and vulnerable adults who are part of Grace Church Global.- To provide leaders, volunteers, and staff with clear guidelines on identifying and reporting concerns.- To ensure all leaders and workers understand their legal and moral responsibilities.- To work in partnership with statutory authorities where appropriate.
3. Legal Framework
This policy has been developed in accordance with the following UK legislation and guidance:- The Children Act 1989 & 2004- The Care Act 2014- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023- Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024- Protection of Freedoms Act 2012- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006- Data Protection Act 2018 (UK GDPR)
4. Definitions
– Child: Anyone under the age of 18.- Vulnerable Adult: A person aged 18 or over who may be in need of community care services due to disability, age, or illness, and who may be unable to protect themselves from harm or exploitation.- Abuse: Can include physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, spiritual abuse, domestic abuse, and financial abuse.
5. Responsibilities
5.1 Church Leadership Team:- Oversee safeguarding within the church.- Ensure policy implementation and periodic review.- Appoint and support a Safeguarding Coordinator.5.2 Safeguarding Coordinator:- Named individual: [Insert Name]- Point of contact for safeguarding concerns.- Ensure concerns are reported appropriately and followed up.- Keep confidential records of concerns.- Liaise with statutory authorities as needed.5.3 All Church Workers and Volunteers:- Attend safeguarding training.- Read and adhere to this safeguarding policy.- Report concerns promptly to the Safeguarding Coordinator.
6. Recruitment and Training
– All staff and volunteers working with children or vulnerable adults will: – Undergo a safer recruitment process. – Provide references. – Complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (Enhanced where applicable). – Complete regular safeguarding training (minimum every 2 years).
7. Code of Conduct
– Treat everyone with respect and dignity.- Always work in pairs or visible areas when working with children or vulnerable adults.- Avoid any unnecessary physical contact.- Never engage in rough play, sexually provocative games, or inappropriate conversations.- Maintain clear boundaries.- Never promise confidentiality when a safeguarding concern is disclosed.
8. Responding to Concerns
– Listen without judgment or interruption.- Do not promise confidentiality.- Report immediately to the Safeguarding Coordinator.- Record the disclosure factually using the church’s safeguarding concern form.- If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
9. Record Keeping
– All concerns are documented clearly, dated, and signed.- Records are stored securely in a locked cabinet or password-protected digital file.- Access to records is restricted to the Safeguarding Coordinator and church leadership where necessary.
10. Whistleblowing
Grace Church Global is committed to an open and transparent culture. Anyone with concerns about the behaviour of a leader, worker, or volunteer should report it directly to the Safeguarding Coordinator or Senior Pastor. If necessary, they may report directly to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or NSPCC.
11. Partnership with Parents and Statutory Bodies
We work in partnership with parents and carers and value transparency. However, where a child or vulnerable adult is at risk, the church has a duty to act in their best interest and may need to refer concerns to statutory services without parental/carer consent.
12. Online Safety
Where online or digital platforms are used (e.g. Zoom, livestreams, social media), Grace Church Global will:- Obtain parental consent for children’s participation.- Use church-managed accounts and devices where possible.- Monitor online interactions.- Prohibit private messaging between leaders and children.
13. Review and Communication
This policy is reviewed annually or after a safeguarding incident, whichever comes first. It is communicated to all staff, volunteers, and church members via:- Church noticeboards and welcome packs- Website: www.gracechurchglobal.com. Regular safeguarding training sessions to be provided.
14. Contact Information
Designated Safeguarding Coordinators:
Name: Pastor Paulette Morris and Yvonne Guy.
Email:safeguarding@gracechurchglobal.com
Phone: 01924 1924724967
Local Authority Safeguarding Team:
Bradford Safeguarding Team – Phone: 01274 431077
NSPCC Helpline: Tel: 0808 800 5000 Website: https://www.nspcc.org.uk
15. Policy Agreement
This policy has been approved and adopted by the Leadership Team of Grace Church Global on:
Date: 1st June 2025
Signed:
Name: Dr David Kaluba (Senior Pastor)
Privacy Policy
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service Privacy Policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Contact forms
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Analytics
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.