Children, Highschoolers and YP Volunteer Agreement

Dear volunteer,

We are grateful that you are offering your time and energy to shepherd the children, highschoolers and young people, who are the Lord’s precious possession. 

'Children' or ‘child’ in this Agreement refers to anyone under the age of 18 years old.

To help us meet the church in Auckland's responsibility to ensure the well-being of every child involved, please sign the declaration below. 

Note: if you have been attending our meetings for just a short time and you are not well known  to us, you may be asked to provide us with referees before we can approve your service, as we will need to check whether they have any concerns about you working with children. 

Thank you.

As a volunteer setting up a club, I agree to keep the following principles:

- Never be alone with a child away from the presence of other adults. Stay visible to others, for example by leaving doors open.

- Have two or more adults participate in each club

- Never touch a child in a manner which is inappropriate

- Never develop inappropriate special relationships with particular children or engage in any contact with a child that is secretive (whether physical or through electronic media)

- Maintain appropriate boundaries (including your communications and use of technology) and avoid behaviour that could be misinterpreted by others

- Be alert for strangers who should not be allowed access to our children

Different clubs will have different levels of risk. I will consider and follow any safety guidelines that may apply to my club’s activities, such as:

- Check that a fire extinguisher/fire blanket is available

- Check that a well-stocked first aid kit is available

- Ensure parents/guardians give informed consent by providing details for trips, overnight stays, sleeping arrangements and travel. Use the provided parental permission template (which will include contact details of parents/emergency contact/medical information (allergies)/permission to obtain medical treatment in event of an emergency)

- For transportation, check that all drivers have a full NZ Driver Licence (preferably for 2 or more years) and all vehicles are registered and warranted. Avoid driving a child home unaccompanied without explicit parental permission.

- For an overnight trip, make a proper sleeping arrangement, segregated by gender, supervised by more than one person, and never with only one child unless they are the parent/guardian.

If I have any difficulty keeping any part of this Agreement or see anything among the children or other volunteers that concerns me, I will speak to a serving one without delay.