Following last year’s safeguarding audit, which recommended that the diocesan safeguarding team should be further strengthened, Casey Gallagher has joined the team as Assistant Diocesan Safeguarding Officer.
Casey comes from the Diocese of Coventry where she has worked since 2021. She is a qualified social worker and has spent most of her career working in adult mental health. Her appointment will increase capacity to cope with the level of work the team are dealing with and she will also be looking at the training programme to see how this might be improved.
Casey said: “I am passionate about making church accessible, safe and welcoming for all and am really pleased to have joined the Diocese of Worcester team.”
Her appointment was welcomed by Director of Safeguarding, Hilary Higton, who said: “We are delighted that Casey has joined us. She brings considerable experience in social and mental health and will really add to the diverse skill set we already have in the diocesan safeguarding team. Casey has already made an impact since joining us last month and her focus on our training programme will enable us to develop it to ensure it reflects best practice and meets the needs of people in parishes.”
The Safeguarding team also includes Delia Stokes and Claire Arden, who job share as Assistant DSOs, with Delia acting as Deputy DSO in Hilary’s absence. Liz Toone supports the team as Safeguarding & HR Processes Coordinator and Simon Hill, Programme Lead for Children, Young People and Families, also provides some additional support with training.
Delia and Claire split the week between them and cover the advice telephone line and email address. They focus mainly on case work, with Delia leading on parish support and compliance with the dashboard and Claire often completing risk assessments and safety plan. Liz offers support to PSOs if they have queries about DBS and training and is responsible for record keeping, and Casey will be leading on the training strategy and delivery as well as supporting with case work.
This diocesan team reports into an Operational Safeguarding Group (OSG) chaired by Diocesan Secretary, Andy Todd. The OSG reports into the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP), a multi-agency panel which acts as a critical friend and provides independent scrutiny regarding the Diocese’s safeguarding operations. The panel has representation from statutory partners (Police, Probation, Adult and Children’s Services) as well as from the voluntary sector, clergy and parish safeguarding officers. It has an independent chair - Geoff Taylor-Smith.
The team is also part of a regional group, with a Hilary receiving professional supervision from a Midlands Regional Lead who will become part of an independent body as a result of the recent vote at General Synod.
Hilary said: “As a safeguarding team, we are absolutely passionate about serving and supporting the parishes. It is our Parish Safeguarding Officers, clergy and others who are on the front line, and we want to be there for them in whatever way works best.”
The safeguarding team can be contacted on safeguardingadvice@cofe-worcester.org.uk or 01905 732800.
