This is a summary of the response the Executive received when asking all ANZAB towers to tell us about their policy's with regards to Safeguarding, and their tower's authorities' policies.

Please note, this is NOT ANZAB's policy on Safeguarding. These are merely guidelines that we suggest towers follow. Of course, the overriding factor is fitting in with the tower authorities and their policies that each individual tower must follow.

A number of dioceses seem to indicate that they want all adult members of the band to have Working With Children Checks (or your local equivalent). Some only require this from anyone who would be teaching a learner. All of these checks should be registered with the authorities.

The important thing to keep track of is when a new member of the band joins and they are made aware of the tower/authorities' policies and fill out any paperwork that is required. They should also be made aware of who in the church/civic centre to go to if there are any Safeguarding issues. Working With Children Checks expire after a number of years. Towers and individual ringers should keep track of their records to make sure any checks are still valid.

When teaching a child or vulnerable adult there should be at least two teachers present. Ideally at least one of the learner's parents should be given an introduction about ringing and the risks involved, etc. They should be encouraged to attend practices where practical, at least initially. They should also be made aware of who in the church/civic centre to go to if there are any Safeguarding issues.

Ideally the teachers should be one male and one female where practical. In a way to head off any future issues, it's recommended to record teaching sessions including when they happened and who was present. A number of towers already record all ringing that takes place – this will just fall naturally into the existing record keeping.

ANZAB Executive
October 2019

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