Volunteer Chaplain

Volunteer Chaplains, subject to the guidance of Lead Chaplains, support the police service by providing impartial, confidential, spiritual and pastoral support to officers and staff, regardless of their faith or belief. Volunteer Chaplains build relationships of acceptance, friendship, and trust with officers, staff and communities by listening to their needs and offering a source of support.

• Build effective relationships with police officers and staff of all faiths or none in order to foster acceptance and trust to be able to offer support to teams and individuals.

• Develop an awareness national and local policing priorities and operational pressures in order to provide timely and appropriate pastoral support to police officers and staff.

• Provide impartial and confidential (where appropriate) pastoral support, in line with equality and diversity legislation, force policies and procedures to police officers, staff and their families in order to support individuals’ wellbeing.

• Be sensitive in providing appropriate corporate ritual and religious ceremonies in order to respond to organisational and individual needs especially at times of crisis and trauma.

• Support a coordinated chaplaincy response to major and critical incidents, in order to give pastoral care to police officers and staff and where appropriate to assist community recovery.

• Develop an awareness of resources from staff associations, staff support networks, internal departments and, external agencies to signpost as sources of assistance to individuals and teams.

• Maintain their own professional development and compliance with legislation and codes of practice to ensure standards are met.

Education and experience:

• Significant involvement within a faith or belief organisation.
• Experience of working with people in a caring role.
• Experience of effectively managing legal and ethical role boundaries.

Skills:

• Good communication skills with the ability to listen to others.
• Able to proactively develop effective working relationships with colleagues, partners and other stakeholders.
• Caring with an ability to remain calm and understanding of the pressures and needs of stressful situations.
• Able to break down a straightforward problem into component parts and determine appropriate action.
• Able to interpret and apply guidance to a specific activity.
• Able to work effectively in a team to achieve shared objectives, demonstrating awareness of individual differences and providing support as required.
• Able to review own performance objectively and to take steps to maintain and enhance competence and professional standards appropriate to the role.
• Able to appropriately prioritise and plan own work.
• Open to using potential applications of new or improved technologies related to own area of work to improving chaplaincy provision.

• Maintain an awareness of the policing context.
• Maintain competence in own area of subject matter expertise, including knowledge and understanding of legislation, College of Policing Guidance, and best practice.
• Develop and maintain your professional network, to develop relationships that are potentially helpful to the chaplaincy context.
• Enrol and engage with Police Chaplaincy UK.
• Maintain and enhance knowledge and understanding of chaplaincy provision and skills by participating in CPD events and/or through personal research.
• Complete all annual mandatory and other appropriate training.

Be authorised, and if appropriate duly licensed by their own faith or sending authority to undertake the Chaplain role. This accountability should be maintained by the Chaplain whilst in post.

• Lead Chaplain