At Grace Church Manchester, we believe that it is both our responsibility as active members in our local community and as those who love and serve the Lord to follow the latest safeguarding advice. As such, the church has robust policies along with procedures and guidelines in place, to ensure that good practice is followed.
Documents:
- GCM Adults Safeguarding policy 2024–25
- GCM Child Safeguarding Policy 2024–25
- GCM Children & vulnerable adults in public spaces – Risk assessment 2024-25
- Supporting those who present a risk to others
Grace Church aims to:
- Promote a safer environment and culture
- Safely recruit and support all those with any responsibility related to children and vulnerable adults within the Church
- Respond promptly to every safeguarding concern or allegation
- Care pastorally for victims/survivors of abuse and other affected persons
- Care pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns or allegations of abuse and other affected persons
- Respond to those that may pose a present risk to others.
Reporting abuse
If someone is in immediate danger or needs urgent medical attention, call 999.
If the situation you are reporting is not an emergency and you want to raise a concern or report abuse, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Officers:
Laura Likissa (Lead)
Matthew Annett (Deputy)
0161 531 8476
Alternatively, if you wish to report abuse or neglect of a child or an adult with care and support needs you can contact Manchester social services:
Finding support
There are a number of charities and organisations that can offer support to victims and survivors of all types of abuse outside of office hours, either on a 24-hour basis or through specialist helplines and services:
- Age UK is the leading charity for older people. You can contact Age UK for help, information and advice on 0800 678 1602, 8am-7pm, 365 days a year.
- Childline is a free, private and confidential service designed to help anyone under the age of 19 with any issue they’re going through. You can talk to their counsellors by calling 0800 1111, email or using a 1-2-1 chat.
- Hourglass (formerly Action on Elder Abuse) works to challenge and prevent the abuse of older people. Call their helpline on 0808 808 8141 or email .
- If you’re worried about a child or young person, you can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 for support and advice for free.
- There are services that can help if you’ve been sexually assaulted, raped or abused. These include Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust and Male Survivors Partnership.
- Refuge’s 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline (0808 2000 247) supports women fleeing domestic abuse and other forms of gender-based violence.
- Samaritans are available 24 hours a day for anyone who’s struggling to cope, who needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure. Call 116 123 for free
- Male victims of domestic abuse can call Men’s Advice Line on 0808 8010 327 or ManKind (0182 3334 244) for non-judgemental information and support.
- NAPAC supports adults recovering from childhood abuse. Call their free, confidential support line on 0808 801 0331