Safeguarding

Healthy Boundaries Keep Everyone Safe

Good boundaries help us build strong, respectful relationships with everyone, clergy, staff, other volunteers, and the people we serve. It’s totally okay (and important!) to set limits that protect your comfort and privacy.

We all need to look out for what makes a relationship feel unsafe, anything that risks someone’s emotional, physical, or sexual wellbeing. Those kinds of relationships can deeply hurt a person’s dignity and confidence.

So, let’s be thoughtful and respectful about personal space and emotional limits, especially when it comes to adults, adults at risk, and children. Everyone deserves to feel safe and valued.

Being Your Best in the Role

Here are a few simple but important things to keep in mind while volunteering with us:

• Stick to the times and days you’ve agreed for your role.
• Stick to your role description and follow any legal responsibilities that come with it.
• Keep your personal contact details (e.g. your phone number, address) private, don’t share them with church or project users, or the public.
• Treat everyone with equal kindness and attention, no favourites.
• Respect people’s personal space and emotional needs.
• Speak in a way that’s calm, respectful, and non-threatening.
• Try not to let personal feelings get in the way of how you interact with others.
• When offering pastoral care or support, make sure it’s in a space that’s open, visible, and feels safe for everyone.
• Physical touch, like a comforting hand on the shoulder can sometimes be helpful, but always make sure it’s appropriate and respectful.
• Keep a clear boundary between your volunteer role and your personal relationships.
• If your volunteer role overlaps with other parts of your life (like being a friend or neighbour to someone you’re supporting), check in with your supervisor to help manage that.
• If a relationship starts to feel unhelpful or unsafe, it’s okay to step back, with guidance and support, we can help refer the person to someone else.
• Never use force, physical, emotional, or psychological, in your relationships with others.
• Remember — people may look to you as someone in a position of trust and influence, use that position with care, compassion, and humility.

Challenging Behaviours

Occasionally, you may come across someone whose behaviour is difficult to manage. “Challenging behaviour” might look like extreme anger, controlling behaviour, constant attention-seeking, shutting down completely, or trying to get revenge. These behaviours can feel tough, especially when they put someone’s safety at risk or make it hard for others to access support.

Before doing anything, talk it over with your supervisor. You don’t have to figure it out alone.

Challenging behaviour often has a deeper cause. Here are just a few possibilities:

• Biological — The person may be in pain or unwell.
• Social — They could be bored, craving connection, feeling out of control, or unsure how to fit in.
• Psychological — Maybe they feel lonely, rejected, labelled, or like their voice doesn’t matter.
• Communication — Sometimes behaviour is how someone tries to express a need or emotion they can’t put into words. Building trust with them is a great first step.
• Past trauma — You might not know their full story, but pain from the past can sometimes come out in the present.

By understanding where someone might be coming from, we’re better equipped to respond with patience, empathy, and support.

What to Do When Behaviour Gets Challenging

Sometimes things don’t go smoothly, and that’s okay. If someone’s behaviour becomes difficult to manage, here’s a simple plan to help you navigate the moment with care and confidence:

STOP

Step away from the situation as soon as possible. If you’re working with a child, gently pause your interaction but continue to supervise them. Then get help from your supervisor straight away.

THINK

Take a breath and think through what might be going on for the person. (Check out the earlier section on possible causes for challenging behaviour, there’s often more to it than meets the eye.)

ASSESS

Look at the situation calmly and carefully. Is low self-esteem or something deeper at play? What might they be feeling?

RESPOND

If you’re not sure how to handle things, or you’re feeling out of your depth call your supervisor. You’re not alone in this.

Depending on what’s happening, you might try one or more of the following:

1. Treat them with the same respect and kindness you’d offer anyone else, even if they’re not acting like anyone else right now.
2. Gently help them reflect on what’s going on, not just in their own actions, but in how others are responding too.
3. Don’t take it personally. Their behaviour probably isn’t about you.
4. Be clear and kind about what you expect but keep your expectations realistic and flexible.
5. Just be yourself. Use your natural strengths and personality.
6. Celebrate the positives! Offer encouragement and praise, sometimes directly, sometimes more subtly.
7. Take care of you. Talk things over with someone you trust, and build a little support circle for yourself too.

After It’s Over

Once the situation has calmed down, it’s important to write up what happened and share it with your supervisor. Keep a copy safe just in case it’s needed later.

Code of Conduct

The following outlines the expectation of clergy, employees, volunteers and contractors’ conduct and behaviour when working with children and adults at risk.

• Treat everyone with respect, setting a positive example for others.
• Respect personal space and privacy.
• Ensure activities involve more than one person being present, or where you are always within sight and hearing of others.
• Ensure any actions cannot be misrepresented by someone else.
• Challenge unacceptable behaviour such as bullying, favouritism, innuendo etc.
• Do not have inappropriate physical or verbal contact with others.
• Do not put anyone, including yourself, in a vulnerable or compromising situation.
• You must not keep allegations or suspected abuse secret. RECORD AND REPORT.
• If you are involved in a group or residential activities, please refer to Church in Wales guidance for full details.

The following are some handy Do’s and Don’ts, to help you follow the code. The list is not exhaustive, but it’s taken from our most common queries.

What you should do?

• Always put safety and wellbeing first—no exceptions.
• Read (and stick to) the risk assessment for the activity you are conducting.
• Make sure you’ve read (and stick to) the policies and procedures that help protect children and adults at risk. If you’re unsure, check in with your safeguarding officer.
• Be a positive role model and act in ways that reflect the Christian values we stand for.
• Let children have a voice, include them in decisions that affect them.
• Be open about where you are and what you’re doing. Keep an eye on where the children are and who’s with them.
• Don’t hesitate to ask for help, advice, or support if something doesn’t feel right.

What You Mustn’t Do:

• Be alone with a child or adult at risk.
• Sleep in the same room as a child or adult at risk.
• Help with personal care tasks (like changing clothes or toileting) that a child or adult at risk can manage themselves.
• Contact a child (under the age of 13), or adult at risk outside of hours or alone (including via social media, texts, phone calls, or in person). Children 13 and over may give their consent to be contacted electronically with various safeguards in place. This communication should always be in a group chat with another leader. Permission should be obtained from both the child and their parent/guardian and the parents should be added to the group chat as well. The child should sign up to a code of conduct including appropriate behaviour and agreeing to not share content or individual contact details from the group conversation.
• Take photos or videos of a child or adult at risk without written permission from their parent/guardian.
• Share private information unless it’s required by law or policy.
• Transport a child without prior consent of their parent or guardian.
• Transport a child alone.

Absolutely Never:

• Shame, humiliate, belittle, or degrade a child or adult at risk
• Use offensive, inappropriate, or discriminatory language with or around others
• Touch a child or adult at risk in a way that’s unnecessary, uninvited, inappropriate, or culturally insensitive.
• Act in any way that might be seen as provocative, inappropriate, or grooming.
• Start or pursue a sexual relationship, or any kind of exploitative or abusive relationship with an adult at risk or child.
• Support or join in with behaviour that’s illegal, unsafe, or abusive.
• Treat children or adults at risk unfairly or favour some over others.
• Smack, hit, or physically punish a child or adult at risk
• Physically restrain or isolate a child or adult at risk unless absolutely necessary to keep them or others safe.
• Have inappropriate conversations with a child or adult at risk, whether in person, online, or by phone.
• Use technology to harm, exploit, or harass a child or adult at risk
• Make complaints that are false, mean-spirited, or deliberately misleading.

More information can be found in the Church in Wales document “Promoting Safer Practice for Children and Adults at Risk” here: Promoting Safer Practice for Children and Adults at Risk

Keeping Children and Adults at Risk Safe

In the Church in Wales, including in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, the safety, wellbeing, and protection of children and adults who may be at risk is a top priority.

That’s why we have a clear Provincial Church in Wales Safeguarding Policy. It lays out exactly what’s expected of everyone, clergy, staff, and volunteers, when it comes to safe behaviour and care.

It’s also important to know that there are laws in place to protect children and adults at risk. Welsh Government has produced the Wales Safeguarding Procedures as statutory guidance for anyone working with children or adults in Wales whether in a paid or unpaid role. The Wales Safeguarding Procedures build on the statutory guidance of The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to provide clear guidance and expectations for safeguarding both adults and children. For further information on the full Church in Wales Safeguarding Policy including its legal framework please visit the up-to-date policy and procedures here: Safeguarding - The Church in Wales

We’re here to support you so that you always feel confident, clear, and capable in how you serve. If anything ever feels unclear or concerning, don’t hesitate to speak to your safeguarding officer or a member of the Provincial Safeguarding Team. You can find contact details on the safeguarding policy poster displayed in your church or church hall.

Reporting Harm or Risk

All suspicions, concerns, knowledge, disclosures or allegations of abuse should be reported to the Church in Wales Provincial Safeguarding Team or, in an emergency, to the statutory authorities.

If you have information about a safeguarding situation where a child or adult is in immediate danger or requires urgent medical attention, please call the emergency services on 999 — DO NOT DELAY.

If you think that a child or adult is at risk of harm but is not in immediate danger, please call the local authority social services department.

Safeguarding Checks — Working with Children, Young People and Adults at Risk

At the heart of the Church in Wales is a deep commitment to safeguarding, particularly when it comes to children and adults at risk. Depending on your volunteer role, you may need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check before you begin.

A DBS check helps ensure that those working with children or adults at risk are suitable for their role. Your supervisor will let you know if a DBS check is required for your position, and they will guide you through the process. For volunteers, this check is free of charge.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks

Some volunteer roles may also require an Enhanced DBS, depending on the nature of the work. This is part of the Church’s safeguarding measures and is carried out in accordance with UK legislation and the Church in Wales Safeguarding Policy.

Again, your supervisor will inform you if this applies to your role and will support you through every step of the process.

All information from these checks is treated with the utmost confidentiality and in line with data protection law.

We really appreciate your co-operation with our safeguarding practice; this helps us build a safe and trustworthy community for everyone.

Volunteers Under 18

If you are under the age of 18, you must seek written permission from your parent/guardian to undertake volunteer roles.

Volunteering is an important part of the personal development of young people, and there are many under-18s involved in volunteer roles across the diocese. When you are working with young people it is important to remember that they are still classed as a child and all policies relating to children, for example, safeguarding, consent, travel, photo and communication, apply to them as well. Young volunteers must also be included as children in your child to adult ratios for events as children not as adults.

Ensure that young volunteers are given roles appropriate to their ability and that they are overseen by an adult volunteer to ensure that they are comfortable throughout. Instructions and expectations should be shared clearly prior to engaging in an activity, and an opportunity should be given to feedback. Young leaders should be trained with a basic level of safeguarding including how to recognise and what to do if a child shares something of concern. Any discipline or constructive feedback should be shared with another leader present, or their parent/guardian if preferred by the young leader.

There should be a clear break in age between the young people in the group and young leaders, and young leaders should not enter into a romantic relationship with anyone in the group.

Ensure that young leaders are offered regular breaks and that these are enforced over longer time periods. No young leaders should be alone with either children or one-to-one with adult volunteers.