Safeguarding concerns every one of us. Our clergy and lay people strive to make our Church and our faith communities as safe and welcoming a place for everyone as possible and to constantly endeavour to protect children and vulnerable adults.

 Pope Francis has asked that families are made aware that they have a right to expect to be safe and secure in “our Father’s house”. The Bishops of Scotland and the Archdiocese of Glasgow are committed to this.

 Safeguarding in the Catholic Church means doing everything we can to protect our children and vulnerable adults. With our safeguarding procedures and the commitment of so many volunteers, we focus on making our parishes among the safest environments for those who are vulnerable. We do this by having a safe system of recruitment for clergy, religious, employees and our volunteers. This includes PVG checks, references and safeguarding training. We have a reporting system so people can come forward with any concerns, be listened to and have those concerns acted upon. As an Archdiocese, we set high standards and we commit to maintaining these high standards.

 Safeguarding also includes the care and support of survivors, their families and our Parish and Faith Communities, we continue to make this a priority.

 In this Archdiocese, we have a dedicated Safeguarding Team based at the Curia offices and they can be contacted by e-mail or phone to advise on any safeguarding matter.  You can find details on the Safeguarding page of the Archdiocesan website and on the poster at the back of the Church.

Every parish has trained Safeguarding Co-ordinators. Alongside the Parish Priest they ensure the safe recruitment of volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults. In this Parish of……, our Parish Safeguarding Coordinator(s) is/are …………..  Their name(s) and contact details are also on the poster at the back of the Church.

All the work and developments in Safeguarding within this Archdiocese is overseen by a group of lay safeguarding experts from Survivors Organisations, Health, Education, Social Work and the Police who form the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Group and advise the Archdiocese on Safeguarding matters.

All of our Parishes and the Archdiocese are audited annually by the independent Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency.  Their contact details are on the Archdiocesan website and both they and the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland publish the results of the audits each year. In addition to the audit, each Parish and the Archdiocese prepare an Action Plan to outline how they will continue to improve practice for the coming year.

Information on developments and advice on good practice is contained in our quarterly newsletter which is provided to all Parishes and is on the Archdiocesan website.

The Archdiocesan Safeguarding Team would like to thank all parishioners for their care and diligence in safeguarding matters, for holding children and vulnerable adults at the centre of our work and for creating a culture of safeguarding within our Church.