Safeguarding

The St Martin’s Guild is committed to ensuring that our procedures comply with the safeguarding guidelines issued by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR), the Dioceses, and legal requirements.

The Guild appoints a Safeguarding Officer annually who also provides guidance and assistance to SMG members regarding Safeguarding issues if able to do so. If not, they will refer SMG members in need of assistance to the appropriate sources of guidance.

Policies, forms and templates

SMG Safeguarding Policy as adopted 15 May 2021 (PDF – 448KB)
SMG Social Media and Online Activities Policy as adopted 15 May 2021 (PDF – 256KB)
SMG Online Activities Permission Form (PDF – 201KB)

Guidance (issued January 2024):

Bellringers are allowed to ring in a bell tower by permission of the incumbent/priest-in-charge/PCC. A PCC is therefore:
* responsible for ensuring that their bell ringers have safeguarding arrangements in place in accordance with House of Bishop’s safeguarding policy and guidance. This applies even if ringers have no connection to the church other than bell ringing.
* Bell ringers are subject to the commitments and procedures set out in the parish safeguarding policy and should report concerns – including when a person known to pose a risk to others wishes to join the group – to the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer via the Parish Safeguarding Co-ordinator (or directly, as appropriate).
* The PCC is responsible for ensuring bell ringers carry out a risk assessment, implement the Church’s Code of Conduct and undertake safeguarding training and DBS checks:

Basic Awareness:
ALL ringers

Foundations:
ALL Tower Captains
Bell ringers supervising or teaching under 18s

Leadership:
Tower Captains of ‘major’ towers, (e.g. Cathedral) and/or with young (under 18) bell ringers in their tower

Enhanced DBS check:
Required for Tower Captains/bell ringers who are supervising or teaching young (under 18) ringers.

Where bell ringers practice/ring weekly a check of the barred list for the child workforce is also required.

Training
As the diocese has stated, all bellringers should undertake basic awareness training. This is on line via the Church of England portal – the link is: https://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/

The guide to using the portal is: https://www.cofebirmingham.com/content/pages/documents/guide-to-using-the-training-portal-and-creating-a-profile-edited-june-2023.pdf

CCCBR resources
The Central Council have safeguarding resources available on their website. Resources can be found at: https://cccbr.org.uk/safeguarding/

The Code for Ringing which they have produced is a template, which can be freely used and adapted by towers and ringing societies who wish to develop their own code of conduct. It summarises the values of the ringing community and its expectations of all who ring, in their interactions with other ringers and when representing ringing at large. It states the following:
* Every ringer, ringing leader and ringing society plays their part in creating a safe, welcoming environment and in representing ringing to both church and public ,
* This recommended checklist for ringing societies summarises the values of the ringing community and its expectations of all who ring, in their interactions with other ringers and when representing ringing at large.

ALWAYS

1.Create a tower environment where all feel safe, respected, welcomed and valued.

2.Create a positive learning environment where feedback is timely and supportive

3.Respect your surroundings, the tower, church and the community where you ring.

4. Understand and observe others’ personal boundaries.

5. Ring responsibly, with the well-being of your band and visitors in mind.

6. Look out for others’ safety, raise concerns promptly and know what to do if you witness unacceptable behaviour.

7. Make sure all your interactions, online or in person, show empathy and courtesy.

8. Consider the impact of your words and actions on others; apologise if you’re at fault.

9. Uphold the safeguarding policies of your parish and the ringing societies to which you belong.

10. Take pride in being part of the ringing community.

NEVER

1.Engage in, trivialise or endorse any form of abuse, bullying or harassment, or let these

go unreported.

2. Engage in banter or language which could make someone feel demeaned, threatened or unwelcome, whether in

person, by phone, online or via social media.

3. Undermine, ridicule or intimidate a less experienced ringer.

4. Personalise disagreements; deal with the issue, not the person.

5. Allow your decisions as a ringer to be compromised, by prejudice or any other cause.

6. Act unlawfully in your role as a ringer or in a way that brings ringing into disrepute.

If you witness unacceptable behaviour and are not sure how to respond, contact your parish or association safeguarding officer. Where someone is in immediate danger or requires urgent attention, call your local authority’s children’s or adult social services team, or the police on 999.

Where ‘vulnerable adults at higher risk of abuse’ (e.g. those with care and support needs) are being supervised/taught, consult the Parish Safeguarding Co-ordinator/diocesan safeguarding team re DBS eligibility.