About Us > Safeguarding
Safeguarding of Children and Adults
Our Church must be a safe and welcoming place for everyone, and we all have a responsibility to keep it this way.
The safety of children, young people, and vulnerable adults is of the utmost importance to us at St. Patrick’s & St. John’s United Parish of Whitehead & Islandmagee.
We closely adhere to the Church of Ireland’s policies, guidelines and procedures on safeguarding and all who work with children, young people, and vulnerable adults at our two churches are AccessNI checked.
AccessNI checks enable safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. See here for more information about AccessNI.
The safeguarding guidance we follow applies to all aspects of our ministry and activities both within the Church, and parishioners’ homes. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of everyone in the Church to ensure that children and adults at risk of harm due to their personal characteristics and/or life circumstances are not left at risk of abuse.
For Safeguarding Guidelines, please refer to the Church of Ireland’s website and Church of Ireland Safeguarding Board. (Click on the highlighted websites to view them.)
