Posted on: 25th June 2024

Voluntary Action Leeds has been working in partnership with Leeds Children’s Safeguarding Partnership to deliver support around safeguarding in faith communities. This project follows on from a research project undertaken by VAL to explore perceptions of safeguarding and statutory services within culturally diverse communities, which showed a disparity between different cultural understandings of abuse and neglect, and a lack of trust between some communities and statutory partners. These findings are mirrored in VAL’s work to engage with smaller third sector organisations, which are often culturally specific, around concepts of safeguarding. Although faith is just one aspect of a person’s culture, this can have a considerable impact on a person’s understanding of keeping people safe.

This project involves working closely with faith-based organisations to co-produce versions of VAL’s popular Safeguarding BASICS training, to produce faith-specific versions of the training which reference relevant scripture, and use culturally specific examples. The faith-based organisations are then supported through ‘Train the Trainer’ sessions to deliver this faith-specific training with smaller groups which they are associated with. For example, Leeds Grand Mosque have co-produced a package of Safeguarding training specific to Islam, completed ‘Train the Trainer’ and have now delivered this training to 37 volunteers across LGM Foodbank, Baraka Playgroup and LGM Qu’ran School. All faith-based organisations receive payment for their time developing the training packages, and for delivering the training.

Other organisations involved in this project include Strings of Life, a Chinese Gospel Church, Guru Nanak Sikh Temple (Tong Road) and Roscoe Methodist Church (which supports a number of other churches serving African diaspora communities).

A report detailing the learnings from this project will be shared in September 2024.

The Safeguarding in Faith project worker has developed successful partnerships to actively engage faith organisations in various faith-focused initiatives, including Leeds City Council Public Health to promote key health messages and with the Violence Reduction Partnership, offering faith communities the opportunity to play a key role in preventing serious violence by being involved in a working group to develop a Faith and Belief Toolkit to tackle serious violence. This toolkit will be built upon a sustainable, multi-agency, community-led network of faith communities aiming to maximise the powerful position faith communities occupy to prevent and reduce violence. From the work undertaken by the project worker in the last year, it is evident there is a lot of fantastic work being undertaken across the city by faith and organisations, however often organisations are working in isolation or within their own network or faith.   It is hoped that these partnerships create opportunities and forge networks for faith organisations and representatives to connect with faith-focused initiatives across the city and region, to avoid duplication and strengthen links.

The safeguarding project has promoted its work through various forums, including the Leeds Faith Forum, The Religion and Belief Hub and Concorde Interfaith Fellowship.