Launch of Charity and Community Shield policies

We have developed two new policies; Community Shield and Charity Shield which have been specifically designed to meet the needs of those groups that use church premises.
 
Many churches develop their mission in the community by providing accommodation for community based charities and local organisations including slimming clubs, exercise classes even dog training classes!  From an insurance point of view, the use of church premises by outside organisations is to be actively encouraged, as from experience the more a church is seen as being part of a community the less vulnerable the premises are to attacks from vandals and even arsonists.
 
However outside organisations do bring with them their own insurance requirements and the following thoughts and ideas might be of assistance:

• When making arrangements for access, you need to decide whether the organisations will have a key for their own use, or if it would be more appropriate for the Church’s Caretaker/Property Person to unlock and lock up after them?

• Consider the purpose of the use of the premises; what is the nature of the activity of the organisation? How many people are likely to be involved?

• Do the activities proposed involve work with children and/or young people aged under 18, or vulnerable adults? If so, ensure ‘Safeguarding’ provisions have been conveyed to the User Contact.

• How many leaders will there be? What ratio of leaders to participants? It is recommended that there will always be at least 2 leaders present.

• Has the Church’s Risk Assessment taken account of the proposed activities? Is the proposed room/area suitable for such use?

• Will there be any overnight accommodation at the Church?

• Has permission been given for use of the Church kitchen? If so, will this involve preparation of food? Make it a priority to convey and  the Church’s Health & Safety rules for use of kitchen/preparation of food.

• In the interests of safety for users, the leaders need to be made aware of the location of the following:
  

  •	Turn-off controls for electricity / gas / water
  •	Fire Exits / evacuation assembly point
  •	Church telephone / nearest public telephone (or will someone have a mobile phone?)
  •	First-aid box
  •	Accident Record Book

  
  
• Establish who is the best point of contact from the Church in the event of an emergency and provide the necessary contact details.
  
• It is advisable to produce a set of special rules for the use of the Church premises, such as no alcohol to be brought onto the premises. A copy of these rules should be given to all leaders. Ensure you receive confirmation that they accept and will abide by them.
  
• Has permission been given to use any church equipment? Is any training needed? Arrange for the relevant people/group to provide instructions.
   
  

All outside organisations need their own insurance cover in the event that they damage the church premises or if they are responsible for an accident or injury through their negligence, and no outside user should be allowed to use church premises unless they have as a very minimum Public Liability Insurance.
 
These groups should also look at their other insurance requirements such as cover for their contents as these are not included on the churches insurance.

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