About Safeguarding Sunday
Thirtyone:eight, the UK's leading independent Christian safeguarding charity, has launched its annual safeguarding awareness campaign for churches – Safeguarding Sunday. This year the theme of the campaign is ‘Action Speaks Louder’ – encouraging churches to not just talk about safeguarding but to take positive action towards creating safer places.
The campaign is now in its 7th year and last year saw over 5000 churches across the UK, from a variety of backgrounds and traditions take part.
This year Safeguarding Sunday is on 16 November 2025. Churches are encouraged to not just reflect but also act on improving safeguarding practices, learning from where they may have got things wrong. To build on the ways they are supporting those who have been hurt, and highlight all the good work being done behind the scenes to protect vulnerable people.
Our vision is for a world where every child and adult can feel, and be, safe. It’s a big vision, and we can’t do it alone. Through this campaign we hope to inspire you, and your church, to take part, and talk about safeguarding. We’re asking if you would consider telling your church and networks about the campaign and encourage them to take part? Safeguarding Sunday is an opportunity to show your community that you take safeguarding seriously as an outworking of your faith in a just and loving God. Read how to get leaders on board with Safeguarding Sunday.
Will you help us tell a new story – one of hope in the face of ever-increasing revelations of abuse? Good news stories do exist, and your church is one of them! This is something to shout about. Will you help us make this year’s campaign bigger than ever before?
To take part in the campaign you can register for a free online guide and resources which makes running a whole service, or part of a service, easy. It includes prayers, sermon notes, activity ideas, children’s resources and loads more. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
Need more information? Read our frequently asked questions below.
"Only a couple of weeks ago, a returning visitor thanked us because last years service empowered them to make a disclosure and now they have started the a journey of healing which, without the service they might not have done. The day helps to make sure everyone understands we all have a role and responsibility to make our church a safe place for all."
- Safeguarding Sunday Participant
Why is Safeguarding Sunday needed?
Churches play an important role in their communities, offering support to many vulnerable groups. Current legislation expects them to have proper safeguards in place, which is especially vital given their open and inclusive nature. Churches should be safe spaces for all, reflecting the values they teach and promote.
However, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has highlighted appalling historic abuse within many institutions, including the church. Ongoing reports of safeguarding failures have led to a serious decline in public confidence. Many now see churches as unsafe places where abusers can hide, and this issue spans denominations.
With around 50,000 churches in the UK and nearly half the population identifying as Christian, the reach of the church in family and community life is significant. When safeguarding fails, the consequences are devastating and long-lasting.
In recent years, many churches have made real progress, working to improve safeguarding and foster safer cultures. Unfortunately, much of this work goes unnoticed. We need to raise local awareness of the importance of safeguarding and celebrate the positive steps already being taken.
The vision for Safeguarding Sunday
We want every church in the UK to actively demonstrate their commitment to creating safer places through the implementation of good safeguarding practice.
Safeguarding Sunday aims to help churches inform their congregations and communities about the measures they are taking to create safer environments for everyone and to enhance understanding of safeguarding at the local level.
The campaign encourages churches to hold at least one special service a year dedicated to safeguarding to help the church:
- Communicate the importance of safeguarding within congregations and the wider community.
- Highlight the actions and measures the church is taking to keep people safe.
- Make people aware of who they can raise concerns with or speak to and get help.
- Recognise and acknowledge the efforts of those involved in safeguarding.
By participating in Safeguarding Sunday, churches can showcase the positive work being done and restore and maintain trust and confidence within their communities.
All the Safeguarding Sunday resources will be available in summer 2025. If you are already on our email mailing list, you will be notified as soon as the resources are available. If you're not already on our mailing list, please go to this page: Thirtyone:eight home page and scroll down to where it says Keep In Touch and enter your details.
Yes. If you can only include a prayer or a mention in your notices, then that still counts so please register! Whether you have 5 minutes or 55 minutes, we’ve got you covered. Once the resources are live, start with the suggestions in our Guide to Safeguarding Sunday to help you make the most of the time you have available. The more of your service you can dedicate to focussing on the theme, the greater the impact will be for your church.
Yes. You will need to register to access the resources for 2025, these are different from 2024’s resources. When you register, we can track the number of organisations taking part. We want to see that figure grow so we can demonstrate to society that the church is taking safeguarding seriously.
All the Safeguarding Sunday resources will be available in summer 2025. If you are already on our email mailing list, you will be notified as soon as the resources are available. If you're not already on our mailing list, please go to this page: Thirtyone:eight home page and scroll down to where it says Keep In Touch and enter your details.
Yes, but please consider making a donation or holding a special collection as part of your service. Safeguarding Sunday is organised by Thirtyone:eight, a charity working to create a safer world for all. We make the resources available for free, but we receive no regular funding, so a gift of any amount helps to cover the costs of producing the resources. This means we can direct more of our vital funds to bring hope to people whose lives have been impacted by the trauma of abuse. Thank you.
The resources contain a huge variety of ideas, suggestions and activities that you can use and adapt to your own setting. You’ll know how best to communicate the message to your community. We know that every church is different, so we can’t produce specific material for all of them. If you can’t find anything suitable, you can use our resources as a prompt. Feel free to rewrite or amend any of the material so it suits your context better. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
Yes. Our resources have been designed to be used as part of a Sunday church service, but many of the suggested activities and resources are suitable for other contexts and settings too. Many Christian charities, businesses and organisations use Safeguarding Sunday as an opportunity to share with their communities and customers the things they are doing to create safer places. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
Yes. Don’t worry if you can’t hold Safeguarding Sunday in November. We hold Safeguarding Sunday to coincide with National Safeguarding Adults week and Wales National Safeguarding Week to make the impact of the campaign even greater, but we know the date doesn’t work for everyone. There may be a more appropriate day to hold your service, and the more time you can dedicate to it, the greater the impact will be for your church, so if it must be on a different day, that’s okay. Find a date that works for you.
No, holding a safeguarding service wouldn’t count as safeguarding training. It is good for raising general awareness of safeguarding, but it is not training. You could choose to hold safeguarding training alongside or following your service. Many churches say that holding a Safeguarding Sunday service improves attendance and completion rates of safeguarding training so holding or attending training on or soon after can be a good idea. You can check out Thirtyone:eight’s range of award-winning CPD accredited safeguarding training here.
We get it, safeguarding can be a sensitive and daunting topic to talk about especially in church and doesn’t always get the focus it deserves. That’s why we’ve created a range of resources to help you do this with confidence. Every year the feedback we get from churches who take part is hugely positive, even those who were nervous at first. The benefits are huge. Use this blog to help reassure people about why your church should take part.
Sadly no, every year thousands of churches register to take part in Safeguarding Sunday, it would be impossible for us to visit them all! Also, the focus of the day is for your team to tell your church what you are doing to make it a safer place for your community, so it’s best coming from you anyway. But if that sounds like a big task, don’t worry, our resources contain everything to help you do that with confidence. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
Yes. A lot of our resources are brand new this year. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
That’s a really good question and one we encourage all churches who are taking part to consider. It’s important because for victim-survivors of abuse, this can be a triggering event. We’d always encourage churches to advertise their service in advance so people have a choice whether to attend or not. Our resources include lots of ideas and suggestions about how you support victim-survivors sensitively. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
Yes, but we understand the reservations. It’s important that those who your safeguarding processes and procedures are designed to protect know what these are and who they can talk to if they have any questions or concerns. That includes children. Our resources have been created with this in mind, and our intergenerational and children-specific content has been designed to help you do this with confidence in an age-appropriate way.
Yes. Our resources contain specific material for use as part of a communion service. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
We get it, talking about safeguarding can be daunting, especially when everyone’s understanding and experience of it is different. But starting an open conversation about the issues can be one of the best things you can do for your church. And don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Our resources and activity ideas have been designed to help you deliver the message with confidence. Why not ask someone else to look through the material with you? If you can get a member of your leadership onboard, that can really help too.
Yes, you can find our resources in Welsh on the website. Resources will be available in summer 2025.
Ie, gallwch ddod o hyd i'n hadnoddau yn Gymraeg ar y wefan. Bydd adnoddau ar gael yn haf 2025.