Safeguarding at St Robert's

Bishop Marcus promises, on our behalf, that "we will defend, protect and safeguard the sacred value of human life from its beginning until its natural end, particularly the lives of those who are vulnerable and most at risk.”

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and it is our legal, moral and Christian duty to protect all from harm to the best of our ability, especially those who are young or at risk.

To help us achieve this we follow the policies, guidance and recommendations of the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) which can be found at the link below.

Parish Safeguarding Representatives

The Parish Safeguarding Reps at Our Lady Immaculate and St Robert are Mick Hopwood and Michael and Eileen Gilhooley. Mick can be contacted directly on the link below.  They work very closely with our Diocesan Safeguarding Team at Hinsley Hall, a link to whose website is also below.  The Diocesan Safeguarding Team is led by The Diocesan Safeguarding Co-ordinator, Mary Kearney.

It is essential that we create a safe environment within our parish. To help achieve this we adhere to the Safer Recruitment of parish volunteers using the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). There are different DBS requirements depending on the volunteer role within the Parish.

The Parish Safeguarding Reps will advise and process applications for volunteer posts in conjunction with the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.   All personal details remain confidential and are retained at Diocese.

Once an application has been finalized all volunteers should undertake a short training module available on the CSSA website, below, to help understand, identify and raise safeguarding concerns (This is also accessible via the Training tab under Resources in the main menu) 

Reporting Immediate Safeguarding Concerns

If you have information of a safeguarding nature where a child or adult at risk is in immediate danger or requires immediate medical attention call emergency services on 999

Other ways to raise a concern about possible abuse.

Parish Safeguarding Rep, contactable below

Diocesan Safeguarding Team, link below, or tel 0113 261 8046

NSPCC helpline, link below, tel 0808 800 5000 or help@NSPCC.org.uk

Police on tel 101

North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership, link below, or tel 0300 131 2 131 (outside normal business hours this same number will connect you to the Social Services Emergency Duty Team)

National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247