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Parish Church ofSt Mary the Virgin, Lewisham
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Safeguarding

Safeguarding at St Mary's

The care and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults is the responsibility of the whole church.

Our commitment

St Mary’s follows the safeguarding policy and practice guidance of the Church of England and the Diocese of Southwark. Everyone who works with children or with adults at risk in this parish is safely recruited, trained, and checked through the Disclosure and Barring Service, and the Parochial Church Council reviews our safeguarding arrangements every year.

If you are worried about someone

You do not have to be sure, and you do not have to go through the parish. Any of these can be contacted directly.

  • Police and emergency services

    If a child or adult is in immediate danger, or a crime is happening now.

    Telephone
    999

    Do this first. Do not wait for anybody in the parish, and do not stop to record anything here.

  • Southwark Diocesan Safeguarding Team

    The diocese's own safeguarding team. Every concern raised in the parish is referred to them, and you can go to them directly instead if you would rather.

    Telephone
    0207 939 9441 — Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
    Email
    [email protected]

  • Lewisham children's services (MASH)

    Concerns about anyone under 18. The local authority, not the church, decides whether a child is at risk.

    Telephone
    020 8314 6660
    Email
    [email protected]

  • Lewisham adult social care (Adult Gateway)

    Concerns about an adult at risk — through age, illness, disability or circumstance.

    Telephone
    020 8314 7777 — office hours, option 1
    Out of hours
    020 8314 7766 — out of hours
    Email
    [email protected]

    For anything that is not an emergency, complete the concern form and send it to the Adult Gateway.

  • NSPCC helpline

    For advice when you are not sure whether something is a concern. You can report anonymously.

    Telephone
    0808 800 5000 — Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm
    Email
    [email protected] — 11am to 4pm, seven days a week

    An email sent outside those hours is not received at all — the NSPCC will not know you tried. Outside them, use another contact on this page.

Report a concern to the parish

If somebody is in immediate danger, ring 999 instead. This form is read when somebody next opens it, which may not be today.

If your concern is about the Vicar or the Parish Safeguarding Officer, please do not use this form

It goes to them, and it should not go to the person it is about. Contact the Southwark Diocesan Safeguarding Team directly instead. They are independent of this parish, they expect concerns of this kind, and nobody here needs to be told first.

Otherwise: if something has worried you and you are not sure whether it matters, please tell us anyway. Working out whether a concern is serious is our job rather than yours, and nobody has ever been thought foolish for raising one.

What kind of concern is this?

If you are not sure, choose safeguarding. Nobody minds it being sorted out at our end.

In your own words. Dates, places and anything said are useful if you have them, but write what you have rather than waiting until you can write it properly.

A name if you know it. “A boy in the choir” or “the lady who sits at the back” is genuinely enough.

Only so we can come back to you if we need to.

What you send goes to the Vicar and the Parish Safeguarding Officer. If your concern is about either of them, do not send it here — contact the Southwark Diocesan Safeguarding Team directly, using the details above the form.

A safeguarding concern is also referred to the diocesan safeguarding team — that is a duty rather than a decision, so we would rather you knew it now than found it out afterwards.

This check confirms you are a person rather than a program, so the office is not buried in automated messages. If it will not let you through, please telephone or email the parish office instead — that always works.

If you would rather speak to somebody, ring 020 4630 7051.

Concerns about this parish

A concern about anything that happened at St Mary’s, or about anybody who serves here, will be taken seriously. You can raise it with the Southwark Diocesan Safeguarding Team directly, without telling anyone in the parish first.