Safeguarding

Our commitment

Makkah Masjid Bolton believes that no child or adult at risk should ever experience abuse or neglect. We are committed to keeping safe everyone who comes to the masjid — and particularly the children who attend our madrassah and youth club.

We will:

• Treat the welfare of a child as more important than the reputation of the masjid, without exception
• Listen to children and take what they say seriously
• Make sure everyone working with children knows what is expected of them and what to do if they are worried
• Act on every concern, and never dismiss one because of who it is about
• Work openly with the local authority, the police and other agencies

We recognise that some children face additional barriers to being heard — because of disability, because English is not their first language, or because of their position in a family or community. That makes listening harder and more important, not less.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is responsible for:

• Being the first point of contact for any safeguarding concern
• Deciding, without delay, whether a concern must be referred to the local authority or the police
• Keeping a confidential written record of every concern and what was done about it
• Making sure volunteers and teachers are properly checked and briefed
• Reporting to the trustees, and to the Charity Commission where a serious incident requires it

A deputy should also be appointed, so that a concern can always be raised even when the lead is unavailable or is the subject of the concern.

Designated Safeguarding Lead: name, role and contact to be confirmed
Deputy: name, role and contact to be confirmed
Trustee with safeguarding responsibility: name to be confirmed

Who this covers

This policy applies to every trustee, employee, volunteer, teacher and contractor of the masjid, in every activity we run — including the madrassah, the youth club, adult courses, community events and anything held in our hall.

It covers children (anyone under 18) and adults at risk — adults who, because of illness, disability or circumstance, may be less able to protect themselves.

Our volunteers and teachers

Anyone working with children at the masjid should be:

• Recruited properly, with references taken up
• Checked through the Disclosure and Barring Service at the level the role requires
• Briefed on this policy and the code of conduct before starting
• Supervised, and never left alone with a child where that can be avoided

To be confirmed: the masjid's current position on DBS checks — who holds them, at what level, and how records are kept. DBS information is sensitive personal data and must be stored securely, accessed by as few people as possible, and not kept longer than necessary. It is not collected through this website.

Code of conduct

Everyone working with children at the masjid is expected to:

• Treat every child with respect, and never use physical punishment, humiliation or shouting as discipline
• Avoid being alone with a child out of sight of others
• Not give a child a lift alone, or meet them outside masjid activities, without the parents' knowledge and agreement
• Not contact children privately through personal phones or social media
• Not photograph or film children on a personal device
• Report any concern immediately, including a concern about another adult

Physical punishment has no place in the madrassah. If it happens, it is a safeguarding matter and will be treated as one.

Raising a concern

If a child is in immediate danger

Call 999. Do not wait to speak to anyone at the masjid first.

If you are worried about a child

1. Tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead as soon as you can, the same day.
2. Write down what you saw or were told, in the words used, with the date and time.
3. Do not investigate it yourself, and do not question the child further.
4. Do not promise to keep it secret — you can promise only to tell the people who need to know.

If your concern is about the Safeguarding Lead, a trustee or the imam

Take it to the deputy, or to the trustee with safeguarding responsibility. If you would rather not raise it inside the masjid at all — which is a reasonable thing to feel — contact Bolton Council or the NSPCC directly using the numbers at the top of this page. Nobody at this masjid has the standing to be above a safeguarding concern.

What happens next

The concern is recorded, and the Lead decides within one working day whether it must be referred on. You will be told that your concern was received and acted on, though you may not be told the detail of what followed — that is to protect the child, not the masjid.

Photographs and filming

We do not publish photographs of identifiable children without the written consent of a parent or guardian, and we do not use a child's full name alongside their photograph.

Consent can be withdrawn at any time. If a photograph of your child is on this website and you would rather it were not, tell us and it will be removed the same day, with no explanation needed.

To be confirmed: whether the masjid holds consent for photographs already taken, and whether existing consent forms cover publication on a website.

Review

This policy should be reviewed by the trustees at least once a year, and immediately after any safeguarding incident.

Drafted: date · Adopted by trustees: not yet adopted · Next review: date