The Parochial Church Council of Christ Church Felling is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for everyone, especially for children, young people and vulnerable adults. It has adopted and approved the Church of England policy for promoting a safer church. This policy deals with all aspects of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
To discuss any safeguarding concerns relating to Christ Church Felling please contact either
- the Priest in Charge, Revd. Tom Worsley, on 07757949836,
Email: [email protected]
- the Parish Safeguarding Officer, Mr William Pine on 07432320431.
Concerns can also be raised with the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer, Mrs Beth Miller – she can be contacted as follows:
Address: Cuthbert House, Stonebridge, Durham DH1 3RY
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Mobile: 07968 034075
As the Safeguarding Officer is not available 24 hours a day. Here are the contact details of other agencies that are available to assist either on a 24-hour basis or through specialist helplines and services:
NSPCC Child Protection Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are worried about a child.
Child-line: 0800 1111 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are a child or young person and are worried about anything.
National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (lines free and open 24 hours). Phone if you are experiencing domestic abuse.
Samaritans Helpline: 116 123 (open 24 hours). Phone if you feel you are struggling to cope and need someone to talk to.
Action on Elder Abuse Helpline: 080 8808 8141 (free phone Monday to Friday 9-5 pm)
NAPAC (The National Association for People Abused in Childhood) 0808 801 0331 (Monday – Thursday 10am – 9pm Friday 10am – 6pm) or email [email protected]
The Survivors Trust: 08088 010818 (free 7 day a week helpline) or email [email protected]
Many victims and survivors may not wish to contact church representatives directly. There are a number of ways in which support can be accessed from outside of the church If you are a survivor of Church of England-related abuse and are in need of urgent or immediate support, please take a look at the Interim Support Scheme. If you would like additional support, you can also contact Safe Spaces, which is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused by someone in the Church or as a result of their relationship with the Church of England. As an alternative, you can contact MACSAS, which supports women and men who have been sexually abused, as children or adults, by ministers, clergy or others under the guise of the Church. There is also Survivors Voices, a survivor-led organisation that runs peer support groups for victim-survivors of all kinds of abuse, including faith-based abuse. It has a newsletter and other special events for survivors of abuse experienced in churches and other faith-based communities.
You may also wish to visit the House of Survivor website. This site has been published by two members of the Survivor Reference Group who are Survivors of Church of England based abuse. Its purpose is to provide helpful information for fellow Church abused survivors in various aspects of understanding or interaction with the Church and/or its representatives (legal, insurance, etc.).
For further information please also see the Diocese of Durham safeguarding pages: https://durhamdiocese.org/category/safeguarding/)
