Built into every site, not bolted on

Why this is core to what I do

A church website isn't just a noticeboard. For a lot of visitors, it's the first contact they have with your church before they walk through the door, or before they need help outside of a service. That makes it a real safeguarding tool, not just a marketing one. The right information, in the right place, can be the difference between someone knowing how to raise a concern and someone not knowing where to turn.

This came into focus after speaking directly with people who run parishes day to day. It's a gap a lot of church websites quietly have, and it's now a core part of every build here.

What Church of England guidance asks for

The Church of England is clear that safeguarding is a responsibility every parish website shares. Where a parish has its own website, current guidance asks that it:

• Displays information about how to contact your Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser(s) (DSA) and/or Parish Safeguarding Officer
• Explains how to get help outside the church with a child or adult safeguarding issue
• Makes safeguarding arrangements clearly visible on the front page of the site, not buried several clicks deep

Where a parish doesn't have its own website, the guidance suggests using the parish's page on the A Church Near You site to carry this information instead.

How this looks on your site

Every site I build includes safeguarding contact details on the front page, not just linked from a footer, plus a dedicated safeguarding page carrying your DSA and Parish Safeguarding Officer's contact details, your parish safeguarding policy, and clear signposting to help outside the church. For a group or benefice, each church's safeguarding contacts are shown against that church's own section, since the right person to contact can differ parish to parish.

Resources kept current on every site

Safeguarding guidance is reviewed and updated by the Church of England from time to time, and I keep the resources linked from your site current as that happens, as part of the ongoing service. The main resources referenced include:

• Safeguarding e-manual — the central hub for House of Bishops-approved safeguarding policy and codes of practice
• Parish Safeguarding Toolkit — step-by-step guidance for parishes on safeguarding learning and development
• Know-How Hub — guidance for safeguarding officers and volunteers on handling day-to-day situations
• Social media resources — guidance on using social media safely as a parish or church group
• Photo & video consent guidance — using consent forms correctly when photographing or filming children and adults at church events
• Policy & practice guidance — the full House of Bishops safeguarding policy and practice framework

These are linked out to directly from the relevant Church of England pages, rather than copied as documents on your site, so you're always pointed to the current version.

Fraud & scam awareness

Churches and their congregations, older members in particular, are a known target for fraud and scams, from doorstep and courier fraud to romance scams and fake investment schemes. It's a subject that doesn't always get a mention on a church website, but it's exactly the kind of practical information a church community benefits from having easy access to.

Every site includes clear signposting to Action Fraud's content hub, the UK's national fraud and cyber-crime reporting centre, so visitors know where to find guidance on common scams and how to report one. Like the safeguarding resources, this is a standard part of the site.

Part of the service, not an extra

None of this carries any extra cost, for you or your sponsors. Safeguarding contact details, front-page visibility, and fraud-awareness signposting are included in every build. If you ever need them updated — a new Parish Safeguarding Officer, a changed contact number — that's just another update sent through in your usual way.