The Catholic Parish of
Saint John Henry Newman

 Covering most of East Leeds

Parish Magazine - Nov/Dec 2004

Page 9 of 21 Read 1732 Times

Child Protection In The Parish


Every parish must now have a lay person Child Protection Representative.

My name is Margaret Ryan. I live in Austhorpe Road, Crossgates Leeds 15.

ChildProtection@st-theresas.co.uk

I am the appointed Child Protection Representative for our parish of St Theresa’s. Many parishioners may know and recognise me from my photograph, but for those whom don’t I would like to provide a few basic details about myself.

I am married to Tony and we have lived in the parish for 32 years. I am a qualified social worker and professionally I worked in a Child Protection Team at St James Hospital for approximately 10 years until I retired 2 years ago.

In the near future, I hope to introduce myself and meet personally with other parishioners involved with children and young people’s groups.

If any parishioners would like to discuss the purpose of my role in more detail, please do contact me at home or alternatively consult with Father Phil or Father Michael.

A comprehensive description of the role is detailed opposite; it is taken from the document “The Pastoral Care of Children & Young People", accepted by the Conference of Bishops of England & Wales.

Parish Child Protection Representative


The role of the Parish Child Protection Representative is to help the parish community to be aware of child protection issues and to guide those working with children and young people so that policies and procedures are understood and followed. He or she will also need to make sure that any concerns, or allegations of possible harm to children, receive a prompt response and are referred appropriately.

These responsibilities will include:


  1. Keeping an-up-to date record of children’s activities within the parish, together with details of the helpers involved.
  2. Keeping in touch with leaders of these groups, to help them ensure safe practice, following the principles of ‘Safe from Harm’
  3. Making sure that all volunteer and paid staff are recruited according to Diocesan policy and acting as ‘verifier’ when Criminal records Bureau checks are established.
  4. Ensuring that parishioners know that, together with the parish priest, the Representative is available to be consulted initially on child protection matters.
  5. Keeping in touch with the Diocesan Child Protection Development Officer as necessary



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Published Mon 27th Dec 2004 18:21:50

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