Safeguarding

What is safeguarding really about?

It is sometimes seen as a piece of necessary paperwork — annual training, DBS forms, policies that exist mostly to be filed away. The paperwork matters, and we do it carefully. But it is not what safeguarding actually is. Safeguarding is about looking after everyone in the community: the daily, attentive practice of recognising that we are all carrying our own histories and our own biases into the room, and that the work of being a safe community for each other is everyone’s job, not just the safeguarding officer’s. It is part of the gospel’s long-standing commitment to the protection of the vulnerable, and part of the Christian community’s ongoing repentance for the times when its institutions have failed to do that.

A church for everyone — what do we mean by that?

Safeguarding sits inside a wider commitment, which is worth saying out loud. We believe Beverley Minster is a church for everyone. The Diocese of York’s safeguarding training puts it like this: safeguarding is a theological imperative, rooted in the nature and love of God, and is worked out in practical commitments that give equal worth to every person. Our purpose as God’s Church is to create environments in which everyone is safe and can flourish — and that means everyone.

In practice, that means this is a church for the curious and the long-committed; for those of every age, from the babies in the crèche to those who have worshipped here for decades; for women and men and those whose experience of gender does not fit neatly into either box; for those who are gay, straight, single, partnered, married, divorced and widowed; for parents and carers, including those bringing children with additional needs; for people of every ethnicity, background and first language; for people with physical disabilities, sensory impairments, learning differences and neurodivergent ways of meeting the world; for those carrying mental ill-health and those holding others up through it; and for the great many of us for whom several of those descriptions overlap. There is, as the diocesan training puts it, more to each of us than meets the eye.

We are aware, too, that we sit inside a tradition and an institution that have not always held this commitment well. The wider Church has a painful record of failures around the dignity, inclusion and safety of those who have trusted it, and the work of repentance is ongoing. If something in your experience here suggests we are falling short of the welcome we describe, please tell us. The contacts below are open to that conversation as well as to safeguarding concerns in the narrower sense.

What are we committed to?

• Promoting a safe environment and a safe culture in the worshipping community.
• Safely recruiting and supporting all those with any responsibility for children or vulnerable adults.
• Responding promptly to every safeguarding concern or allegation, however small.
• Caring pastorally for victims and survivors of abuse, and for any others affected.
• Caring pastorally, and appropriately, for those who are the subject of safeguarding concerns or allegations.
• Responding appropriately to those who may pose a present risk.

In practice, anyone who works with children, young people or vulnerable adults at the Minster has been safely recruited with relevant checks and training. We have a clear safeguarding policy, reviewed annually, that follows the framework of the Diocese of York and the Church of England national guidelines.

What if I feel unsafe in our community?

There is a wider question worth naming directly: what to do if you feel unsafe in our community for reasons that do not amount to a safeguarding concern in the strict sense. Bullying, harassment, or behaviour that makes you feel unwelcome, demeaned or unsafe — these matter, and we want to know about them. The Diocese of York has a bullying and harassment policy that applies across diocesan life and is available on the diocesan website. If you would prefer to raise a concern outside the Minster’s own structures, the diocesan team will hear you confidentially.

What is White Ribbon?

The Minster is a partner of White Ribbon, a global movement dedicated to ending violence against women and girls by engaging men and boys as allies. Founded in 1991 in Canada, White Ribbon uses the white ribbon as a symbol of a public pledge: never to commit, condone, or remain silent about gender-based violence. Many in our congregations have made the White Ribbon promise.

Who do I contact with a concern?

If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of a child, young person or adult connected with the Minster, please speak to one of the people below. You can also use the safeguarding concern form on the Minster website, which is the preferred way to raise a concern in writing; the website also explains how to report a concern.

Section 25 of 26 in the Companion