Safeguarding
In the Catholic parish of St Francis Xavier’s in Hereford we are committed to the safeguarding, care and nurture of everyone within our church community. We recognise the need to protect our children and young people, as well as anyone who might be vulnerable at any time. We are committed to ensuring an environment where all people and especially those who may be vulnerable are able to worship and pursue their faith with encouragement and in safety. As such, the policies and procedures related to Safeguarding approved by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales and adopted by the Archdiocese of Cardiff have been put into practice within our parish.
This commitment flows from the fact that we are all made in the image of God and the Church’s common belief in the dignity and uniqueness of every human life.
Each child, young person and vulnerable adult has the right to the highest level of care, protection, love, encouragement and respect that we can give. (A “vulnerable adult” is a person aged 18 or over who, by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness is, or may be, unable to take care of him or herself against “significant harm” or “exploitation”).
In all Catholic parishes, the parish priests are responsible for the safeguarding of all within the parish community. This means that Father James and Father John have had extensive training to enable them to develop best practice and ensure the parish adopts all statutory regulations in line with Safeguarding. In addition, there is a lay member of the congregation to support them – Parish Safeguarding Representative.
At St Francis Xavier’s, this is Mrs Kathy Weston. My role is to support the parish priests in establishing best practices of safeguarding for all within the parish to enable us in achieving this mission. I hope to support Father James and Father John by:
-
Promoting information about safeguarding and its importance within the parish. You will see an area in the Narthex outlining various pieces of information including my contact details, which will also appear in each Newsletter.
-
Providing relevant information and updates through the parish website.
-
Ensuring the parish fulfils its statutory duties with regard to Safeguarding and those holding positions of trust have the necessary information, training and checks required to safely carry out their roles within the parish.
-
Supporting with risk assessments of trips and events held within the parish.
We might assume that Safeguarding relates only to children but this is not the case. Statistics tell us that children and young people, those with a disability or older members of our community are within the groups most at risk. If you have any concerns at all or anything you would like to discuss regarding safeguarding – past or present - please see me at mass or contact me
Alternatively, you could phone the parish office (01432 273485). Hopefully I can be of help or direct you to someone who can.
Thank you and God bless,
Kathy Weston
For more information about safeguarding from the Archdiocese of Cardiff- Menevia, please click here