STEPS Global

Safeguarding Policy

STEPS Global is a charity that works around the world to empower other individuals and organisations to run STEP-related programmes, including the STEPS Course and STEP IN (together, the STEPS Courses). These programmes are run in an open and non-judgmental environment where participants journey together through the 12-step process so as to overcome unhelpful patterns of thought and behaviour. We believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to play their part in ensuring that a safe environment is maintained for everyone on a course, including themselves.

Our commitment

Principles that we as an organisation are committed to:

• We believe that nobody should be subjected to harm or abuse;
• Organisations and churches that wish to run STEPS Courses must have Safeguarding Policies and Procedures in place that meet the requirements of their legal jurisdiction. Regardless of legal requirement, we would strongly recommend those running The STEPS Course to have a safeguarding policy in place when running courses – an example of Best Practice can be found here; and
• It is everyone’s responsibility to play their part in ensuring that a safe environment is maintained for everyone, including other people as well as themselves.

We believe that effective safeguarding is achieved by establishing good safeguarding policies and practices. Churches and organisations running STEPS Courses are the environments and contexts in which STEPS Courses take place and therefore they have the safeguarding responsibility.

Such churches and organisations should have safeguarding policies and procedures in place that are:

• appropriate and meet the requirements of their legal jurisdiction; and
• well understood by all involved, so that facilitators and participants (particularly those who are vulnerable) are kept safe.

At STEPS Global, we undertake to:

• Promote awareness of safeguarding in our Facilitator Manual and any Facilitator Training we run, and will explicitly make clear:

• The requirement for the church or organisation running the course to do so within the legal requirements of their local jurisdiction with regards to safeguarding;
• Give working examples of the most common safeguarding concerns and share an example of best practice around this using the 5 R’s model.
• For STEPS Courses based in the United Kingdom, we will recommend that any facilitator who is unsure of their organisation’s Safeguarding Policies and Procedures and how these ensure the safety of participants and facilitators, to contact their organisation’s Safeguarding Officer in the first instance, and partner with the safeguarding organisation 31:8 if their organisation doesn’t yet have safeguarding policies and procedures in place.

• Seek confirmation from any church or organisation running STEP IN that it has safeguarding policies and procedures in place that meet the requirements of their local jurisdiction prior to running the programme.

If as a participant or facilitator you have raised a safeguarding concern with the organisation running your STEPS Course and it has not been satisfactorily resolved, please direct your safeguarding concern to the appropriate local agency or authority.  

At STEPS Global, STEPS Courses advertised on our website are run in partnership with Christ Church London. These courses are run under Christ Church London’s Safeguarding Policy which you can find here.

We will review this statement and our policy regularly.

Safeguarding Co-ordinations (STEPS Global): Lars Due-Christensen | Polly Rowsell

Safeguarding Champion (CCL/STEPS Courses): Louisa Richards

Safeguarding Trustee: Scott Pannell

Updated: November 2025