Contact us at:

St. Stephen's Church

St. Stephen's Street

Worcester WR3 7HS

Please do not send important correspondance to the church as we have no postal box, please email for alternative address if required.

Please note that these are all personal phone numbers.  

There is no phone in the church.

Reverend Lindsey Coulthard          

Assistant Curate 

Tel: 07879 366294  

Email: revlindseyc@gmail.com

Ruth Scotson
Churchwarden

Tel: 07971 430758

Email: ruth.scotson@gmail.com

Kevin Maltby
Churchwarden

Tel: 07891 386063

Email: kevinmaltby@hotmail.com

Michelle Walsh

Parish Administrator 
Tel: 07961 097497  

Email: mwalsh.ststephens@outlook.com 

St Stephen's PCC takes the safety of everyone within the church very seriously and expects that everyone will work within the church safeguarding policy. In particular, the church expects anyone who becomes aware of a safeguarding risk or of actual abuse, to immediatley report it.

Coronavirus - Some useful information and links.

NSPCC -  Coronavirus - Advice for parents and carers
 

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/coronavirus-advice-suppport-children-families-parents/

The Church of England - Safeguarding and Cornavirus.

https://www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding/safeguarding-and-coronavirus-covid-19

Coronavirus - Scammers and Fraudsters

Worried? Need to Talk?  If you do not feel safe, or you are worried that someone you know is not safe, call one of the people under "Local Contacts", or one of the numbers listed under "Helplines".  If you are a child or younger person, call Childline on 0800 1111.  (It's free, and you don't have to give your name.  All day and night.)                                                                                                                                    If you are in danger (or know that someone else is) call the Police on 101.

Barbourne St. Stephen Parochial Church Council (PCC) Policy on Safeguarding Children

The Parish of Barbourne St. Stephen’s nominated Children’s Parish Safeguarding Officer, Carol Amos, can be contacted via the Vicar

The following policy has been agreed and implemented by the PCC.

1. We are committed to the safeguarding and care of the children within our church community

2. We are aware of and will implement the House of Bishops’ Safeguarding Children Policy Protecting All God’s Children (2004) 4^th Edition 2010, and the diocesan policy and procedures. Copies of these can be accessed on the Diocese of Worcester website  www.cofe-worcester.org.uk. We will work closely with the Bishop’s Adviser for Child Protection

3. We will ensure that lay ministers, volunteers and paid workers who work with children are carefully selected and trained using the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), amongst other tools, to check the background of each person as outlined in the diocesan procedures. We will expect the Diocese to do likewise in respect of ordained and licensed ministers

4. We will respond without delay to every complaint made that a child for whom we are responsible may have been harmed or is in significant danger, reporting it to the relevant authorities as required

5. We will fully cooperate with statutory agencies during any investigation into allegations concerning a member of the church community. We will inform the statutory agency of any suspected criminal offences or concerns that we are made aware of in respect of our contact with children

6. We will offer informed pastoral care to any child, young person or adult who has suffered abuse and provide them with details of local and national support agencies

7. We will support any member of our church community known to have offended against a child and supervise any contacts they may have with the church, ensuring proper and appropriate preventative safeguards are in place

8. We will review this policy annually and, as part of this, check that all our procedures and activities involving children, including the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) process and checks, are up to date

9. We will review our insurance policy for those working with children ensuring we adopt the advice in the House of Bishops’ Policy www.cofe-worcester.org.uk

10. A copy of this Policy will be displayed on the Parish Notice Board

The PCC has identified the following activities involving children and young people to which the House of Bishops Policy applies as follows. The persons named are responsible for implementing this policy for their area of activity on behalf of the PCC  

1.       Sunday Stars for families with young children meet in the Church Hall on the first Sunday of the month between 9-9.30am. The person responsible is Lindsey Coulthard

2.       Regular Services. Children of all ages are welcome to any of our regular services.  For younger children, it is expected that parents will want to remain with their children.  The person responsible is The Vicar (or in a vacancy the Church Wardens and PCC)

3.       Little Stars is a parent/carer group that meets weekly, every Thursday in term time, in the Church. The person responsible is Michelle Walsh

4.       Choir Church services, and practice (where applicable). The person responsible is the Organist, or where no Organist is present, The Vicar

5.        Bellringers. The person responsible is Beryl Thorp or Sue Kington

6.       Social activities including functions in the Church Hall for all users other than private family functions such as children’s birthday parties

This Policy was reviewed and agreed at the PCC meeting held on July 19^th 2023

We, the PCC, agree to review and update this policy annually

Signed by:

PCC Chair/Vicar: Rev. Andy Todd

Churchwarden: Kevin Maltby                                     Ruth Scotson

Children’s Parish Safeguarding Officer: Carol Amos