Policies

The following policies are included below:

Hall Hire Policy

Health and Safety Policy

Fire Safety Policy

Privacy Notice


Hall Hire Policy

Hampton Wick Baptist Church (the Church) is a Christian organisation. We reserve the right to refuse or terminate any hire of our premises which we consider to be out of keeping with the Church’s beliefs or ethos.

We believe in:

Our ethos is to work together to extend the Kingdom of God on earth by living out a lifestyle of love, truth, justice, mercy and forgiveness. We are inspired by the message, life and example of Jesus through which God’s unconditional love for all people is expressed. Our ethos is given life through our relationships, the way we welcome, love, pray for and serve other people. Our activities and the way we work are an outworking of our faith.

The Church agrees to allow the Church premises to be made available for hire at such times as the premises are not being used by the Church. The premises - including the church itself (sanctuary) -may be hired by individuals and groups. Users of the sanctuary are asked to be mindful that it is a sacred space and not permit swearing, raucous, or otherwise inappropriate behaviour. Similarly we may be more restrictive in the use of our premises on a Sunday as the day is special to us.

No part of the premises may be used for purposes incompatible with our Christian beliefs and values. These values and the Biblical interpretation used, are determined by the Church’s governing body – the Church Meeting.

The following list gives examples of the kind of things that we would not permit our premises to be used for. The list is not exhaustive.

We reserve the right to refuse to hire the premises for social occasions if we are not satisfied that the use of alcohol will definitely be excluded, or where we have concern that the noise levels may disturb our neighbours. For these reasons we do not normally permit parties for teenagers.

The premises may only be used for Public Entertainment where the Church gives its express permission. Permission will only be given after the appropriate licence has been granted by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and where all other necessary legal requirements are met.

We will do our best to make the premises available when required, but the Church reserves the right to refuse a request to hire the premises should we be unable to provide personnel to unlock or lock the premises at the required times.

Users are required to:

Any proposed activity/event will be reviewed by the Church Meeting, or its designated representative(s), under the terms of this policy, and the Church's governing rules and Trust Deed.

The church reserves the right to cancel any long-term booking with immediate effect if the user breaches any of the conditions in this or other Church policies.

This policy was adopted by the Church Meeting on 31st January 2024

*Although yoga sessions may be led as purely physical exercise, it cannot be guaranteed that all of the participants will view them as such.


Health and Safety Policy


1 The church recognises and accepts its responsibilities for providing, so far as is reasonably practicable, a safe and healthy environment with a view to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all those who use the church premises.


2 The church will, therefore, take all necessary steps within its power to meet its responsibilities so far as is reasonably practicable by, among other arrangements:

2.1 maintaining the church premises in a condition that is safe and without risk to health and providing and maintaining means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;

2.2 providing and maintaining furnishings and equipment which are safe and without risks to health;

2.3 assessing the risk to the health and safety of those who use the church premises; 

2.4 ensuring the safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;

2.5 the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure the health and safety of those who use the church premises;

2.6 the provision and maintenance of a proper environment for the church’s employees, leaders, helpers and volunteers that is safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare;

2.7 consulting, where necessary, with all employees, leaders, helpers and volunteers on the implementation of any changes to this policy;

2.8 ensuring that adequate funds and resources are made available for carrying out this policy.


3 In the absence of a named Health and Safety Officer the Leadership Team will be responsible for carrying out the implementation of the church’s policy and for the issue of supplementary policy statements where this may be necessary.

 

4 The Health and Safety Officer will:


4.1 carry out appropriate risk assessments (these to be reviewed annually) of the church’s premises and activities and report to the Leadership Team as necessary;

4.2 co-ordinate the implementation of the church’s Health and Safety Policy (including Fire Safety);

4.3 carry out Investigations of any accidents and recommend measures for preventing their recurrence;

4.4 ensure that an Accident Book and other appropriate records are maintained and returned to the appropriate bodies;

4.5 ensure that all appropriate arrangements are made to provide for first aid and that the First Aid Kit is checked after use and annually;

4.6 ensure that all food safety legislation is complied with;

4.7 arrange safety training courses, as may be necessary or desirable, so that specific legal requirements are adhered to and that any changes in such requirements are complied with and communicated to employees, leaders, helpers and volunteers as necessary;

4.8 ensure that, where necessary, all relevant safety regulations are prominently displayed, that all emergency procedure notices are properly exhibited and clearly visible at all times;

4.9 ensure that access to and from emergency exits and fire equipment are not impaired and that corridors and stairs are kept free from obstructions other than of a temporary and partial nature.


5 All employees, leaders, church members, helpers and volunteers will:


5.1 take reasonable care of their health and safety, and of the health and safety of other persons who may be affected by a person’s act or omissions while working or helping.

5.2 as regards any duty or requirement imposed on the church or any person by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions, co-operate with the church so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with;

5.3 ensure that they shall not intentionally or recklessly neither interfere with nor misuse anything provided in the interest of health, safety or welfare, in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions;

5.4 make themselves familiar with and conform to the Health and Safety Policy of the church at all times;

5.5 observe all safety rules, procedures, and codes of practice at all times, and in particular be fully conversant with the procedures to be followed in the event of a fire or any other emergency;

5.6 conform to all the food safety regulations that are applicable to themselves;

5.7 co-operate with the church to enable it to carry out the duties and requirements under the provisions of all health and safety legislation, including participating in any training if called upon to do so;

5.8 undertake annual risk assessments of activities for which they are the designated lead; identify hazards and work with the Leadership to ensure that risks are reduced to the lowest possible level or eliminated.

5.9 report to the church’s Health and Safety Officer all accidents or hazardous occurrences or dangers whether persons are injured or not as soon as is reasonably practicable;

5.10 ensure that all working equipment and materials used by them are in a safe and serviceable condition and that no cables or wires are left in such a position as to be likely to cause anyone to trip;

5.11 have regard to the possible consequences of their actions on the health, safety and welfare of all those persons who at any time and for whatever purpose may or will use the church premises. 

 
This policy statement was adopted by a resolution of a Church Members’ Meeting dated 27th September 2015.


Privacy Notice


This Privacy Notice explains what to expect when Hampton Wick Baptist Church collects and uses your personal information. The latest version of this notice will be available on our website.

If you’d like to learn more about our Data Protection & Privacy Policies or get further clarification, please contact us.

Address:

Administrator
Hampton Wick Baptist Church
11a Upper Teddington Road
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 4DL

Phone: 020 8977 1279

Email: admin@hamptonwickbaptists.co.uk 

 

OUR PROMISE

Hampton Wick Baptist Church is committed to respecting your privacy and ensuring the personal information you have entrusted to us is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.


HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

We collect personal information directly from you when you join our church or one of our activities (such as Tiddlywinks, Crafty Cuppa, Good Companions, Messy Church, a Study Group or our Sunday Service) or if you become a friend of our Church. We also need to collect information when you become a Church Member or if you are baptised or married at our Church or you are going to hire our premises and about some donations you may make to our Church. 

We may also collect information about you if you contact our Church e.g. a request for information, prayer or pastoral support or if you volunteer with us in one of our activities, but we try to keep these records as minimal as possible.

 

THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

    • Personal identifiers such as your title, name and date of birth

    • Contact details including postal address, postcode, email and telephone no(s).

    • Donation details

    • Whether you are a UK tax payer

    • Church activities you are involved in

    • Records of your contact with us

 

WHY WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION (you may opt out of some of this if you want)

We collect your personal information:

    • For the administration of our activities, which may include notifying you of cancellations of meetings or changes in time or venue, letting you know what will be happening at future meetings or special events or what to bring to them

    • To let you know about other activities or special events we think you may be interested in

    • To celebrate your birthday

    • To ask for your feedback or opinion

    • To pass on prayer requests (to a trusted group of people in our Church)

    • To help you with any pastoral support you need

    • To respond to any communications you send/give us

    • For official records such as of Baptism, Marriage or Membership and minutes of any Church Meetings you attend

    • To claim Gift Aid

    • To safeguard children and vulnerable adults

    • To ask for your help or to ask you to volunteer with us

    • To ask you how you are if we haven’t seen you for a while or to send you a Christmas card

We may want to circulate contact lists in the future e.g. among a group travelling to an event, but if we do so we will get your express permission to do so first.

 

HOW WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Paper records are kept under lock and key and electronic records are kept in password protected documents on secure computers. If you give us permission we may also store your contact details on mobile phones.

 

WHO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH

We do not share the personal information of anyone who simply comes along to our activities. However if you take positions of responsibility within our Church then we may share just your contact details with third parties who may be necessary or useful to you in the exercise of that responsibility. Additionally, in exceptional circumstances, we may share information about you with relevant authorities if we believe it is our duty to do so.

 

HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may keep your personal information for up to four years after our last contact with you, unless there is statutory requirement for us to keep it longer e.g. gift aid donation details.

 

YOUR INFORMATION RIGHTS AND CHOICES

The Data Protection Act gives you the right:

    • To request in writing and securely obtain copies of the personal information we hold about you

    • To correct or update personal information we hold about you

    • To request we stop using your personal information for marketing purposes or for any other purpose where there is no legal requirement for continued processing

In addition, we will delete some or all of the personal information we hold about you if you request us to do so, provided that there is no legal requirement for us to hang on to it.

 

REPORTING CONCERNS

Please contact us if you wish to raise a concern about the way we handle your personal information. If you are not happy with our response then you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

 

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY NOTICE

Hampton Wick Baptist Church may update this privacy notice at any time, for example in the event of changes in the law or in how we operate. The latest version will be posted on our website and if there are any significant changes in the way we process your personal information, we will provide a prominent notice on our website and may send you a notification of it.


Fire Safety Policy

1 The church recognises and accepts its responsibilities for providing, so far as is reasonably practicable, a safe environment and will, therefore, take all necessary steps within its power to meet its responsibilities so far as is reasonably practicable by, among other arrangements:

 1.1 carrying out an annual Fire Risk Assessment  identifying possible dangers and those who may be at risk; evaluating the level of risk and removing or reducing hazards and providing fire precautions to protect people. The assessment will record any major findings and action taken.

 1.2 setting out an emergency plan and arrange for appropriate training

 1.3 reviewing and amending the fire risk assessment on significant changes to the use of the premises and annually.

 1.4 annually inspecting and reviewing fire safety appliances to ensure that appropriate fire extinguishers etc are in place appropriate to the use of the building

 1.5 reviewing the means of escape and ensure that fire exits are clear

 1.6 conducting gas safety, annual electrical and PAT testing including testing the Fire Alarm

 1.7 maintaining smoke detectors / alarms as required.

 1.8 ensure that letting agreements set out responsibilities of users to be aware of fire safety obligations including a specific requirement that the lead organiser has a working mobile phone – as the premises does not have a telephone system to alert the emergency services.

  

This policy statement was adopted by a resolution of a Church Members’ Meeting dated 27th September 2015.