Faith and Community Groups

Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership has been working with members of faith and community groups for many years to:

• Keep up to date about the safeguarding issues within faith and community settings.
• Engage all faith-based organisations to effectively safeguard children.
• Raise awareness with faith-based organisations of the types of harm that have occurred to children, how they can help prevent harm from happening in their setting and respond to any concerns raised with them.
• Promote positive links between faith-based organisations and their local community services such as schools.
• Raise awareness in local communities about keeping children safe and the role of faith-based organisations.
• Reassure parents and carers about what they should do if they are worried about a child and how concerns are looked into.

This mirrors national initiatives encouraged within ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018’.

“Churches, other places of worship and faith-based organisations provide a wide range of activities for children and have an important role in safeguarding children and supporting families.”  

DDSCP has developed a strategy document to explain the work of the ‘Faith and Community Setting Working Group’. 

Derby Safeguarding Children Board Multi Faith Strategy

Child Protection Training has taken place and further training for teachers and volunteers who provide religious education to children has taken place and further training is planned.

To help organisations develop their own policy outlining how they will protect children within their setting a Model Child Protection Policy has been written:

Model Child Protection Policy for Faith Organisations

An audit tool has been developed to ensure that faith and community settings are clear about how to help keep children and vulnerable adults safe. 

Audit Tool for Safeguarding Adults and Children in Faith Settings

Child Protection Training has taken place and further training for teachers and volunteers who provide religious education to children has taken place and further training is planned. Designated Safeguarding Leads within faith and community settings are also encouraged to attend free multi-agency safeguarding training such as the 'Everybody's Business' course provided by DSCB. 

A Guide developed by Law for Life to explain to Roma parents how the child protection system works in the UK Using the google translate facility via the website site map this guide can be translated into to many European language. Unfortunately Google translate does not yet have the facility to translate into Romanese. The company who developed the film is keen to have the guide translated into Romanese as soon as possible. 

Guidance has been written and circulated about effective ways to work with families where an interpreter is required. 

Derby Safeguarding Children Board Guidance when Working with Interpreters

Bookmarks are given to Year 6 pupils on an annual basis explaining that all children have a right to safety under both UK legislation and the international United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child 1991. There is a bookmark for children Multi Faith Bookmark for Childrenand also a bookmark for adults Multi Faith Bookmarks for Adults.

Citizenship training is offered to parents arriving in Derby from overseas in conjunction with the New Communities Achievement Team.