CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland
Issue 145 - 13 Asm 166 BE - 1 September 2009 CE

 

BAHÁ’í COUNCIL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

 

THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Friends, there is no avoiding it: If you are teaching, leading, assisting at, or otherwise playing a significant role at a children’s class, a junior youth project, a youth weekend, or any other activity aimed at under-18s you MUST follow these.

That means you must be officially checked and “cleared” BEFORE you can start. It is NOT acceptable to say "I'm just playing a minor role, I don't need this" or "I'm working alongside people who are officially cleared, I'll be OK" or "I'll start doing the work while my application goes through, it'll be OK" or even (God forbid!) "This is just bureaucracy, I don't agree with it so I won't do it".

If you were previously cleared under the PECS or POCVA scheme then you are all right, provided you haven’t lived outside NI or been out of touch with the Bahá'í community since then. Otherwise you have to apply for clearance under the ACCESS-NI scheme. Note that ACCESS-NI clearance takes several weeks - you need to make your application well before the activity, you won't be able to take organise / lead / tutor etc under-18s if it's not through and the clearance back with you.

The Bahá'í Council has the right to step in and stop or cancel any child / junior youth / youth event where the Child Protection Procedures are not being followed by those organising, running, or taking part in the event. This applies even in a Spiritual Assembly area. Nobody would want to have to use such powers - but the fact that they exist should be an indication of how seriously this matter is taken. So please – it you’re organising an event (class, project, anything) for under-18s, please check the forms list first and make sure you are completing the right ones. And if you’re teaching, leading, or assisting please make sure you have your official clearance first.

If you any queries please ask Dorothy Riordan, the Bahá'í Council’s Child Protection Officer, see last page for details.

The National Spiritual Assembly regrets that these steps are necessary but points out they are a reflection of the times we live in, and that these Procedures are there for the protection of young people, of those dealing with them, and of the good name of the Faith.


UK NEWS SITE

The National Spiritual Assembly has launched a new newsblog “providing an authoritative and up-to-date source of news and articles about theBahá'í community in the UK and across the world. The 'blog' is designed to appeal to all readers who are interested in knowing more about the Bahá'í community and what it is doing in the world.” It can be accessed at http://bahainews-uk.info and has a lot of interesting news about what is going on. This is one to keep an eye on, and you can let your friends, contacts, interested journalists, anyone who wants to see what the Bahá'ís are doing, know about it.


RESOURCE BOOKLETS AVAILABLE

The Bahá'í Council would like to remind all the Friends in Northern Irelandthat the small ‘activities booklet’ is still available on request (in small or larger quantities). Giving an overview of the core activities for the non-Bahá'í reader, it is professionally-designed, colourful, ideal for handing to friends and enquirers: if you want some copies to give away please get in touch with the Secretary of the Bahá'í Council.

These booklets are resources to be out there working for the Faith, telling people about our various activities and inviting them to join. Why not get some and use them?


AND TALKING OF RESOURCES...

The Bahá'í Council has access to templates that you can use to produce your own leaflets to invite people to your various activities. These are in MS Word which means they can be opened and edited in most word processors, letting you amend them as you like and put in your own contact details and local information. They are A4 sheets that trifold.

Items available are:
CA-1 and CA-2—about the various core activities
SC-2—about study circles
CC-2—about children’s classes
DM-2—about devotional meetings
TZ-1—about Tranquillity Zones. (The National Spiritual Assembly has indicated that these are a specialised form of devotional meetings with a lot to offer in certain circumstances.)

To obtain electronic copies please e-mail the Bahá'í Council specifying which items you want.

If you are wondering, SC-1, DM-1, and CC-1 are also available, they require Microsoft Publisher to open and edit them. If you have Publisher and want them, please say.

For more about Tranquillity Zones go to www.tranquillity-zone.org.uk

And while thinking about leaflets and how we can produce our own literature, how often have we asked “Where can I get a good picture of the Shrine of the Báb, or a temple, or a Bahá'í youth project, or just a nice photo of Bahá'ís doing things?”. The answer is the Bahá'í Media website at http://media.bahai.org which is a large archive of pictures related to the Bahá'í Faith. (Hint: If you download the picture on your screen you will get a small to medium size file, suitable for electronic media or printing as a smaller picture. If you want a large file so that you have a high-resolution picture for a large or professional print you will have to Subscribe then use the Download File option to get the zipped file of the large version).


PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

CommuNIqueand other Bahá’í publications welcomes photographs of your activities. However where children and young people (up to age 18) are featured the Child Protection Procedure of the National Spiritual Assembly requires that (unless it is a group picture—five or more) permission of the parent or guardian be given. If this doesn’t come with the photo then it cannot be used. Please bear this in mind when sending pictures. Of course if the sender is the parent or guardian of the young person featured, permission is assumed.


GOING TO THE HOLY LAND?

Are you due to go on Pilgrimage, or making a three-day visit to the World Centre? Not only will this bring you great bounties, it can be an opportunity to share more about the Faith with the people of your area. Such a visit is newsworthy and your local paper will probably print a report about your experience, especially if it is seen as a “pilgrimage with a difference”.

A special press lead is available to help you with this. You can obtain it from the Bahá'í Council’s Press and Public Information Officer.

 

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