a safe place
God created the human race in his image. An image that should be treated with dignity, care, compassion and value.
No one should have to deal with the trauma of abuse in all its forms. That is why safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults is a priority for us. We follow the Diocese of Guildford's Safeguarding Guidelines and Requirements and Promoting a Safer Church: The Church of England’s Safeguarding Policy for children, young people and adults.
Contacts for Safeguarding Concerns:
Parish Safeguarding Officer: Julie Gale
Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser: Jackie Broadfoot 07918 559387 (24 hours)
Local Authority Adults & Children's Social Care: 0300 470 9100
In an emergency, call 999
For further information, guidance and resources, please vist the Church of England website.
Are you a survivor or victim of church related abuse? Could you help the Diocese of Guildford to learn from the past and protect the future?
The Diocese of Guildford is currently reviewing all its records, across all 162 parishes, to ensure that all safeguarding concerns and allegations have been identified, reported, and appropriately actioned. Critical to this, is the voice of survivors and victims. The Diocese of Guildford wants to listen to and to learn from your experiences and ensure that your voices are heard throughout this review process.
Coming forward
Anybody who would like to give information or make disclosures about church-related abuse is asked to contact Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, Jackie Broadfoot (jackie.broadfoot@cofeguildford.org.uk/ 07918 559387).
Support is available
The Diocese recognises that coming forward may be extremely difficult and dedicated support has been set up for you. Two confidential listening services have been set up, for those people who have experienced church related abuse but who might want to talk through their experiences and feelings before taking any next step. To find out more about the support available click here.
Building the safest community we can
We want to be a place where people feel safe. Safe to talk about past trauma and seek help. Bishop Andrew, Diocesan Bishop for the Diocese of Guildford explains why we are doing this: “It is important we do everything we can to make our churches the safest places they can be. Safe means different things to different people but this review will help us to ensure that the concerns reported to our churches have been dealt with properly, and the care taken and the support given is of the high quality that people rightly deserve. We have learnt from a previous review that that survivors and victims’ voices are critical, and I would urge you to come forward.”