A Nottingham playgroup has been forced to end its sessions at a city church after concerns over safeguarding were raised. Carrington Community Play Group announced on Wednesday, March 29 it was no longer able to run its weekly session at St John's Church in Mansfield Road, Carrington.
"This comes with great sadness, especially since there has been a playgroup providing support for families in the Carrington locality for at least 45 years, only closing during the pandemic," the group said in a statement. It said the decision was made by "powers above and beyond" and hoped to reopen in the near future.
In response to the statement, St John's Church said it had terminated the sessions due to concerns over safeguarding. "Everyone at St John's takes very seriously our commitment to keep children and young people safe," it said in a statement.
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"We share in the disappointment and upset which has been expressed on social media about the decision to terminate the play group's Thursday sessions at St John's, because of unresolved concerns about their safeguarding arrangements. We must be clear that there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by anyone involved with the play group, but there are concerns that relate to the systems and processes in place."
Carrington Community Play Group refuted claims made by the church, issuing a counter statement that said it met safeguarding requirements, such as having a safeguard lead and DBS checking volunteers. "...as far as we understood we met their booking policy, hence the playgroup was reopened at St John's in November 2021 and has been running there until recently," reads the statement.
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