Last updated 23rd January 2023

Safeguarding Training Programme

Introduction

The Leadership Pathway is now available face-to-face and the Foundation and Basic Awareness courses are still available online (to see which course you are required to complete, please see the information below.

Safeguarding Sunday Message-Safeguarding in the church context

You can listen to Victoria Gibson talking about the importance of safeguarding in the Church on this Youtube clip. Victoria is the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel, Parish Safeguarding Officer representative.

Basic Awareness and Foundation Training

The Basic Awareness and Foundation training are available online through the national training portal. These are required to be completed for most roles, including anyone in a role which involves work with children, young people, or vulnerable adults, Churchwardens and PCC Members. Therefore if you have not yet done so, we would encourage you to complete these courses as soon as possible, you can access the training here. If you experience any problems with the registration process, please contact elearning@safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org as the training website is not managed by the Diocese of Blackburn.

The Leadership Pathway

The Leadership Pathway is about leadership and cultural change, the people who participate should be those who play a lead role in shaping the culture of the Church body concerned. This will usually include:

• Anyone holding the Bishop’s licence, commission, authorisation, or permission.
• Cathedral Canons (who are not engaged in the Senior Leadership Pathway)
• Safeguarding Officers in all Church bodies
• Honorary Bishops
• Teaching staff at Theological Education Institutions who are delivering the Leadership Pathway
• Safeguarding Lead in TEIs
• Bell Tower Captains and Safeguarding Leads within bell ringing groups (Clarification from the National Safeguarding Team: Tower Captains will undoubtedly shape the culture of the bell tower in which they are ringing, therefore they meet the criteria for participation in the Safeguarding Leadership Pathway. Safeguarding Officers within all church bodies are listed as required attendees for the Safeguarding Leadership Pathway and this would therefore include the safeguarding officer / lead of a bell ringing group.

Prior to completing the Leadership training, participants should complete or have completed the Basic and Foundation Course on-line.  

There will be some pre-course preparation and reading to complete prior to attendance, details of this will be sent to you in due course following registration.

Booking your course

All our Leadership Courses, DBS Lead Recruiter Training and Parish Safeguarding Induction courses are booked through Eventbrite. Please click on the link below to go to the landing page for the diocese and then scroll down to current events and select your preferred course to book on :

Eventbrite Bookings 

Safer recruitment and people management

The Church of England is committed to promoting a safe environment and culture across all Church Bodies for children, young people and vulnerable adults. 

An essential part of this commitment is ensuring that all those who work or volunteer with vulnerable groups are suitable for the role they will carry out. 

There is new safer recruitment and people management training course for everyone with responsibility for recruitment, including the recruitment of volunteers which can be accessed here. 

Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse

This new course aims to help participants develop a greater understanding of what Domestic Abuse is, who it affects, as well as its impact on individuals, children, the wider family, and the community. The resources and training you can access here will equip you and your church to engage positively with the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults in both a practical and theologically informed way.