Safeguarding

Promoting a Safer Church

Our full policy is quite a few pages long and can be requested from Gill Wadeson, but here is a quick summary.

Haverhill Methodist Church Safeguarding Policy – Summary

Core Aim: To create a safe, welcoming, and caring community that protects all children, young people, and vulnerable adults from harm, while valuing the dignity and grace of every individual.

Immediate Response & Pastoral Care

Zero Tolerance & Fast Action: All allegations or concerns of abuse are responded to without delay, working in partnership with police and social services.
Healing & Risk Management: The church is committed to supporting and working towards healing with survivors. It also safely manages individuals who present a known safeguarding risk using strict risk assessments, statutory referrals, and safeguarding contracts.

Key Contacts & Reporting

Church Safeguarding Officer: Gill Wadeson (Adults & Children). Responsible for overseeing the policy, keeping records, arranging training, advising workers, and ensuring external groups use appropriate policies.
Formal Complaints: Must be addressed directly to the Superintendent Minister, Revd Moses John (or District Chair Revd Helen Hollands if the complaint is against the Superintendent). The Safeguarding Officer must be informed of any issue to ensure prompt protective action is taken.

Safer Recruitment & Training

All workers and volunteers are subject to safer recruitment procedures, including DBS checks and assigned supervision.
Safeguarding training is mandatory and must be completed within the first 6 months of appointment.
Pastoral visitors receive specialised training upon appointment and DBS checks if their specific tasks require it.

Strict Good Practice Rules

Working Alone: Do not work alone unseen with a child or vulnerable adult unless absolutely necessary for pastoral reasons. In such cases, a written log detailing the date, time, and place must be recorded and kept.
Assessments & Guidelines: Premises and activities are risk-assessed annually. A "Good Practice" leaflet must be given to all workers and reviewed yearly.
Transport & Off-Site Events: Any church-organized transport requires documented checks for vehicle suitability, insurance, and appropriate drivers/escorts. Off-site events require prior risk assessments and notification to the Church Council Secretary (Gill Wadeson).
External Groups: The church retains safeguarding responsibility for ecumenical events. Outside hirers must agree to the church's policy or prove they have an appropriate one of their own.

Policy Oversight: Safeguarding is an agenda item at all Church Council meetings. The full policy is reviewed annually.

Next formal review date: January 2027

Hello and welcome to our church, i'm Moses John. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 5 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service. It is a great way to meet people, or simply take time to find your bearings. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10:30am with a warm welcome from one of our team members. Then follows a time of sung worship, led by our band. We typically have 2 or 3 songs lasting approximately 20 minutes. Sometimes a person might pray out loud or read a small passage from the bible. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. One of our leaders will then give a sermon that is bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.

What about my children?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche - 0 to 3 years old. Must be accompanied by their parent/carer.
Splash - Age 3 to School year 2
Xstream - School years 3-6
Grid - School years 7-11

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, prayer, music, craft, games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

Getting Connected

Small Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Small Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.