Updated May 2023

Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland (VCUKI) takes the safeguarding of children, young people, and adults very seriously.

We believe that we are God’s children, empowered by his Spirit, to extend his Kingdom together, everywhere and in every way. That we are called to serve people, especially the poor and vulnerable, and communicate the goodness of Jesus with compassion and generosity.

As a family of churches, we have a duty to promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults. We believe that we should work together to prevent abuse from occurring and that we should seek to protect those that are at risk of being abused and respond well to those that have been abused. The welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults at risk is always paramount and should take precedence over all other considerations.

We have a dedicated safeguarding team working in partnership with local Vineyard churches across all our locations to help provide a safe environment in which children and adults can develop physically, intellectually, and spiritually. We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice regularly. Should you wish to have a copy of our National Safeguarding Policy or the Safeguarding Plan for an Event that we run please email: [email protected]

Local Vineyard Churches have their own Safeguarding policies and practices tailored to their activities. To find out more about your local churches Safeguarding measures please view their website or contact their church office.

If you need to raise a safeguarding concern please contact the National Safeguarding team at [email protected] or by calling 01482 462690
If you believe a child or adult is at risk of immediate harm, please telephone the police on 999 as soon as possible.

If you are a survivor of abuse or have been affected by abuse in any way, here are links to other organisations that maybe helpful:

• Thirtyone:eight
thirtyoneeight.org  

• Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC)
acc-uk.org

• British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) 
bacp.co.uk

• Samaritans 
samaritans.org

• The Survivors Trust 
thesurvivorstrust.org

• Minister & Clergy Sexual Abuse Service (MACSAS) 
macsas.org.uk

• National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC)
napac.org.uk 

• The National Domestic Violence Helpline
nationaldahelpline.org.uk

• Restored
restored-uk.org

• Respect Men’s Advice Line
mensadviceline.org.uk

• Man Kind Initiative
mankind.org.uk

• Press Red
pressred.org