Clergy

Each Parish Priest takes prime responsibility for Safeguarding in the parish. A key step in showing his commitment to keeping the parish safe is his appointment of a Parish Safeguarding Coordinator (PSC) who will possess all the necessary qualities to be effective and will support him with the management of Safeguarding in the parish. His monitoring of Safeguarding, in close collaboration with the PSC, will ensure that risks can be identified, managed and prevented. The Parish Priest’s thorough selection process and ongoing encouragement of volunteers in supporting various parish groups and ministries will provide a strong platform for your parish’s well-trained and committed group of people to go forward and confidently keep others safe.

The Parish Priest and PSC should meet on a regular basis to discuss safeguarding in the parish.  In particular they should consider:

• The encouragement and safe recruitment of new volunteers
• The completion of Risk Assessments for all activities concerning children, young people and vulnerable adults
• The completion and submission of the Annual Parish Safeguarding Audit
• The development of the Parish Safeguarding Action Plan
• Checks on Visiting Clergy
• Any issues of concern

Sacristies

It would be useful to have a copy of the Visiting Clergy poster on the wall of the sacristy Visiting Clergy sheet ).  A record of all visiting priests is to be maintained lGuidance on Visiting Clergy.