The Dublin Unitarian Church provides a Sunday Club for children from approximately 4 to 14 years of age during the Sunday Service.  There is an additional programme, the Coming of Age Programme, for children aged approximately 11 to 13 years which meets with the Minister on separate occasions.

Sunday Club is a programme that includes discussion on the theme of the service, art, crafts, games and other child-led activities. Children gather in the church vestry for part of the Sunday Service. The programme is led by two volunteers who are members of the church community. Parents of children with special needs are invited to attend.

In order to ensure the safety of the children, the following protocols are followed:

• The leaders of the programme must be garda vetted.
• Two leaders must attend each session.
• Where a child has to leave the room, they do so with a second child and/or a leader as necessary. A leader is not alone with a child.
• The children must be able to use the toilet independently. In the case of a child with special needs, a parent or guardian should attend.
• A fire-drill protocol is displayed prominently in the Vestry where the session is held and children and volunteers are reminded of this.

Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, the Children First: National Guidance and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our service:

• Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers and volunteers of a child availing of our service.
• Procedure for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children.
• Procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including the identification of the occurrence of harm.
• Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla.
• Procedure for maintaining a list of the persons (if any) in the relevant service who are mandated persons.
• Procedure for appointing a relevant person.

All procedures listed are available upon request.

We recognise that implementation is an ongoing process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service. This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed in January 2022, or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

Signed: Denise Dunne, Chairperson Managing Committee, Dublin Unitarian Church, 112 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, D02 YP23

For queries, please contact Minister Bridget Spain at revbspain@gmail.com