Patty has stepped down as our PSO. At present :
The safeguarding Officer is the Revd. Alison Hardy, email revalisonhardy@gmail.com phone 01665 571314.
The named person for initial contact is Henry Playle email henry.playle123@btinternet.com
You can see the former guide to PSO duties or the 2021 PCC Report.
St Michael’s Church, part of the Diocese of Newcastle, is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults and creating protective and supportive environments where all people, and especially those who may be vulnerable, are able to worship and pursue their faith journey in safety.
We follow the national legal and procedural framework for safeguarding children and adults, and Church of England policy and practice, and have fully adopted The Church of England’s Safeguarding Policy for children, young people and adults, available online as a pdf. Further information from our Diocese about safeguarding can be found on the relevant part of the Diocesan website. We hope that if you or anyone you know has been affected by abuse within the Church, we will be able to give you the confidence to speak out. Further information about the process of reporting abuse can be found in the the downloadable leaflet (pdf), “You Will Be Listened To“.
If you have any safeguarding concerns about an adult or child, you can contact the NSPCC’s dedicated helpline for concerns within the Church of England on 0800 802 020. This is a free, 24 hours service where you can speak in confidence. Alternatively, you may wish to contact a member of the St Michael’s Safeguarding Team.
In the first instance a concern should be reported to the Parish Safeguarding Officer. The Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor should then be contacted immediately.
The process for raising concerns can be seen here Responding to Concerns or Allegations of Abuse 10 November 2021 and the form for reporting concerns can be seen here Parish Incident Report Form 20 November 2021. You can view or print these by clicking the highlighted links.
Parish Safeguarding Officer
The current Parish Safeguarding Officer for St Michael’s Church is Patty Everitt.
Patty can be contacted about any safeguarding concern anyone might have either within or outside the church community.
Tel: 07768 869 551 Â | Â Email: patty@patty-everitt.co.uk
Vicar (retired January 2022)
The Vicar of St Michael’s Church was the Rev’d Canon Paul Scott.
Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser
Carol Butler, a specialist in safeguarding and risk management, is the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser. She’ll have overall responsibility for the strategic and operational activities of the team and is accountable to Bishop Christine.
Carol can be contacted about any safeguarding concern anyone might have either within or outside the church community.
Tel: 07825 167 016Â |Â Email: c.butler@newcastle.anglican.org
Other members of the Diocesan Safeguarding Team can be contacted on the “Meet the Safeguarding Team”> page of the Diocesan website.
The National Safeguarding Team can be contacted on the Church of England website, which also contains the phone numbers for helplines run by specialist agencies.
The information on this page is also reproduced in pdf format in our Safeguarding Contacts document (pdf, or alternatively in Word format).
The Church of England Diocesan guidance can be found here Promoting a Safer Church.
The Church of England’s Safeguarding Policy Statement for Children, Young People and Adults, the Parish Safeguarding Handbook, can be seen here.
St Michael’s policy for the recruitment of ex-offenders can be seen here .
