As mentioned in Chris Mews’ article in The Ringing World in September (page 904), Chris has prepared a new set of guidance on safeguarding;

• Full document available here – This includes the guidance and 3 appendices.
• sections of the guidance are available on the stewardship and management resources page (on the Tower Operation tab)

The guidance and appendices are also available separately so that they can be customised as necessary and used appropriately.  Appendix A is a sample role description for completion for a bell ringing leader, Appendix B is a sample role description for completion for a safeguarding officer of a society, Appendix C  is a good practice guide for display in your tower (after removing any other out of date guidance that may be there).

Please note the following from the guidance – “Most ringing towers come under the jurisdiction of the Church of England, Church in Wales and Scottish churches all of which have common requirements. The UK legal requirements extend to other denominations and secular rings, whilst churches and ringing establishments outside the UK will be subject to local laws. In all cases ringers should maintain good practice principles whenever dealing with young and vulnerable persons.”

May we take this opportunity to thank Chris Mew for all the work that he has done for the Council and ringers more generally for many years. As he said in his article, he is handing over this responsibility at the end of 2019.

Alison Hodge, SM Workgroup Lead ()