These documents provide support and guidance for those working with children and young people in a Yearly Meeting led Quaker setting and may be useful for adapting for your own events.

The policies, procedures and guidance documents are regularly revised and updated. If you are responsible for activities with children or young people and would like a copy which can be adapted for local or regional youth events please go to https://groups.quaker.org.uk/groups/safe where the documents are saved as Word files.

In the process of adapting these documents remember to check that you are meeting the requirements of your insurers, your organisation and the venue that you are using.

Policy areas

    Equalities

    The equal opportunities check list provides a starting point for incorporating equal opportunities into work with children and young people. This check list includes a summary of Britain Yearly Meetings statement of equal opportunities, the policy which governs centrally managed work.

    Equal opportunities check list

    Volunteer involvement

    The Yearly Meeting volunteer involvement policy sets out the procedures and guidance to manage and support volunteers in their service to the Yearly Meeting. This includes the responsibilities of the organisation and also the responsibilities of the volunteers.

    How to implement the volunteer involvement policy is outlined in the document “Processes". Further guidance is included in the documents “Volunteer references" and “Complaints procedures". Additional guidance on working with young people as volunteers can be found in the “Guidelines for working with young people as volunteers". Role outlines and forms are provided as examples of the questions that might be asked and process to follow when recruiting and appointing volunteers.

    These could be adapted for area and regional use. Word versions of these documents can be found at https://groups.quaker.org.uk/groups/safe.

    Yearly Meeting volunteer involvement documents

    Policy

    How to

    Example role outlines

    Example offers of service forms

    Example volunteer agreement forms

    Example volunteer induction

    Participation

    Participation is about engaging with the experiences and concerns of young Quakers who are active members of the Quaker community and organisation. It is about ensuring children and young people are heard and have the opportunity to contribute to Quakers.

    The participation policy outlines how we are committed to do this at Yearly Meeting led events. A theological basis for young Quakers' participation in decision making gives a theological and spiritual basis for the inclusion of children and young people in Quaker decision making process at all levels, including Quaker meetings for worship for church affairs.

    Participation documents

    Safeguarding

    Safeguarding is the term to describe protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults from abuse. When you are working with children, young people and adults at risk in a Quaker setting you will need to consider safeguarding and ensure you have a policy and procedures. It is important that those responsible are aware of your policy and procedures and are clear about what to do to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place and what to do in the event of a concern.

    On our main Safeguarding page you will find links to the other safeguarding pages on our website, an explanation of how Quakers organise safeguarding, and a range of people to contact. The page I have a concern about abuse explains who you can talk to in a variety of Quaker situations, as well as links to external organisations.

    If you are looking for guidance about what to do in the event of a disclosure at a Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) event with children and young people there is a helpful document 'Disclosure procedures and guidance' in the section 'Procedures' below.

    The Procedures below are designed for larger events with children and young people. A source of documents suited to area and local meetings can be found via the safeguarding co-ordinator page.

    BYM's Safeguarding Policy is here: BYM Safeguarding Policy

    Event and activity management

    This policy covers a range of procedures and guidance for Yearly Meeting events which ensure that legal obligations and insurance requirements are met. It enables those running events to follow good practice and to take reasonable care to work in safe ways while considering the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of children and young people. These could be adapted for area and regional use. Word versions of these documents can be found at https://groups.quaker.org.uk/groups/safe.

    Full event and activity management policy

    Procedures detail the measures that staff and / or volunteers are required to undertake, whether this is a legal obligation or an insurance condition. Guidance reflects good working practice and is based on cumulative experience. It seeks to address questions and issues that may arise in planning and running events.

    Procedures

    Guidance

    Contact us

    CYP Administrator
    020 7663 1013
    cypadmin@quaker.org.uk