St Margaret’s
Illustrative snowy brick-built St Margaret’s Church at Christmas
ST MARGARET’S · RAINHAM

THE GREATEST
STORY EVER
BUILT.

The Christmas story, brought to life in LEGO™.
Join us at St Margaret’s, Rainham.

DISCOVER CHRISTMAS ↗
FOUNDATIONSCHRISTMAS COMPLETE

ILLUSTRATIVE
DESIGNS ARE STILL
IN THE BUILD PHASE

DECEMBER 202601634 362023
Illustrative brick-built Nativity scene
01 · THE STATIONS OF THE NATIVITY

A TINY BEGINNING.
AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY.

The Christmas story invites us to look again. At hope in unexpected places. At love arriving quietly. At a child who changes everything.

Fourteen stations will bring the Nativity to life in our historic church, from brick-built scenes to canvas artwork, dynamic lighting and more. The images on this page are illustrative, as the designs are still in the build phase.

14 STATIONS.
FOLLOW THE STORY, BRICK BY BRICK.

01

THE ANNUNCIATION

The angel Gabriel visits Mary to announce she will bear the Son of God.

LUKE 1:26–38
02

THE VISITATION

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist.

LUKE 1:39–45
03

THE SONG OF MARY

Mary praises God with her song of humility and triumph.

LUKE 1:46–55
04

THE DREAM OF JOSEPH

An angel reassures Joseph in a dream not to fear taking Mary as his wife.

MATTHEW 1:18–25
05

THE JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM

Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the Roman census.

LUKE 2:1–5
06

THE BIRTH OF JESUS

Jesus is born in a stable and laid in a manger.

LUKE 2:6–7
07

THE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE SHEPHERDS

An angel appears to the shepherds in the fields with good news of great joy.

LUKE 2:8–14
08

THE SHEPHERDS
AT THE MANGER

The shepherds hurry to find the newborn child and worship him.

LUKE 2:15–20
09

THE NAME OF JESUS

The child is officially named Jesus on the eighth day.

LUKE 2:21
10

THE PRESENTATION IN
THE TEMPLE

Mary and Joseph present Jesus to God in the Temple in Jerusalem.

LUKE 2:22–32
11

THE VISIT OF
THE WISE MEN

Astrologers from the East follow a star to bring gifts to the young king.

MATTHEW 2:1–12
12

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

Warned in a dream, Joseph flees to Egypt with Mary and Jesus to escape King Herod.

MATTHEW 2:13–15
13

THE MASSACRE
OF THE INNOCENTS

A moment to remember the children killed under Herod’s orders, and all whose lives are touched by violence.

MATTHEW 2:16–18
14

THE RETURN TO NAZARETH

After Herod’s death, the Holy Family returns to settle in Nazareth.

MATTHEW 2:21–23
Illustrative children building LEGO™ in church
02 · FOR LITTLE BUILDERS & BIG KIDS

BRING YOUR CURIOSITY

♡

A LEGO™ CORNER

A space for children and adults to get hands-on, make their own LEGO™ creations and let their imaginations lead the way.

ILLUSTRATIVE
DESIGNS ARE STILL
IN THE BUILD PHASE

Build a remembrance candle arrangement
START YOUR BUILDA LITTLE LIGHT
A LITTLE LIGHT. A LOVING MEMORY.

BUILD A CANDLE.
HOLD SOMEONE
IN YOUR HEART.

Make a LEGO™ candle and place it in our remembrance and prayer space for someone who is no longer with us, or someone you are holding in your prayers.

A quiet moment within the wonder of Christmas. A little light, made with love.

Illustrative crowd of brick-style adult carol singers
03 · SAVE A LITTLE VOICE FOR CHRISTMAS

BEER & CAROLS

FRIDAY 18TH & SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER 2026
7PM–11PM

Raise your voice, enjoy the company and share a little Christmas cheer. Bring friends and join us for a festive evening of familiar carols and good company.

GET TICKETS NOWSOLD OUT
Brick-style illustration of Rev’d Nathan Ward at St Margaret’s
A MESSAGE FROM REV’D NATHAN WARD

FIRSTLY,
WE LOVE
RAINHAM!

“I believe that people in Rainham deserve exciting and inspiring experiences on their own doorstep too.”

“You don’t need to believe what we believe to enjoy something beautiful, to be curious about the Christmas story or to feel that you belong.”

REV’D NATHAN WARD · VICAR
THE PROJECT · THE FACTS

MORE THAN
ONE CHRISTMAS.

£10,000OVERALL PROJECT BUDGET

The budget covers the whole exhibition, from professional design to installation. St Margaret’s will own the installations, with storage and reuse planned for future Christmases.

01

DESIGNED FOR OUR CHURCH

Bespoke professional design and development, rather than ordinary off-the-shelf LEGO™ sets.

02

BUILT & INSTALLED

Bricks, construction and assembly, delivery, installation in the church and VAT are included in the overall budget.

03

OWNED & REUSED

The church will own the exhibition. It is being designed to be stored and enjoyed again in future years.

04

GIVING IS OPTIONAL

This is a church fundraising project. There is no expectation that the wider community will fund the whole £10,000, and everyone is equally welcome.

05 · HELP BUILD A LITTLE WONDER

ONE MORE BRICK.
A LITTLE MORE JOY.

If you’d like to help bring this project to life, you can support our Christmas campaign through JustGiving. You are just as welcome if you cannot give.

£—
CHECKING JUSTGIVING TOTAL

SUPPORT THE CHRISTMAS PROJECT ↗

DONATIONS ARE OPTIONAL.

ST MARGARET’S · RAINHAM

A MESSAGE FROM NATHAN WARD

Dear friends,

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been sharing some of our plans for Christmas at St Margaret’s Church, including our hope to create a rather special LEGO™ exhibition telling the Christmas story.

It’s been lovely to see the excitement and enthusiasm from so many people, but I’ve also seen some questions and concerns, particularly about the £10,000 cost of the project. I thought it might be helpful to explain a little more about what we’re hoping to achieve, why we’re doing it, and what it means for our community.

Firstly, we love Rainham!

One of my hopes for St Margaret’s is that we can play our part in making Rainham an even more special place to live, work and visit. There are some wonderful things happening across Medway, but many of the larger events and attractions tend to be centred around Rochester and Chatham. Not everyone can easily travel to those places, and I believe that people in Rainham deserve exciting and inspiring experiences on their own doorstep too.

We’re proud of Rainham, and we want others to discover what makes it special. This isn’t just about Christmas 2026. It’s part of a much longer-term vision to help make Rainham a place where wonderful things happen, where people come together and where our local community can flourish.

So why LEGO™?

At the heart of Christmas is an extraordinary story. A story of hope, love, vulnerability and God coming into our world in the most unexpected way. As a church, we want to share that story in ways that are engaging, accessible and meaningful to people of all ages.

We believe LEGO™ offers a wonderful opportunity to do just that. It’s something that crosses generations. Children love it, parents recognise it, and grandparents have often spent hours building with it. It sparks imagination, creativity and curiosity. Our plan is to create The Stations of the Nativity, a series of unique, professionally designed and built LEGO™ artworks that will take visitors on a journey through the Christmas story.

These won’t be ordinary LEGO™ sets bought from a shop. They will be bespoke creations, designed especially for this exhibition and our beautiful historic church. We hope they’ll capture people’s imaginations, encourage conversations and perhaps help people see a familiar story in a completely new way. And because the exhibition will be something unique, we hope it will attract visitors from across Medway, Kent and beyond. That would be wonderful not only for the church but also for Rainham’s shops, cafés and other local businesses.

Now, let’s talk about the £10,000.

I completely understand that this sounds like an enormous amount of money to spend on LEGO™, especially when so many people are facing financial pressures. It’s a lot of money to us too.

But I think it’s important to explain what that figure actually represents. The £10,000 is the overall project budget. It includes the professional design and development of the exhibition, purchasing the LEGO™ bricks, the construction and assembly of the installations, delivery and installation in the church. It’s also worth remembering that £2,000 of that figure is VAT. And importantly, we will own the exhibition.

We’re not spending £10,000 on something that will be enjoyed for a few weeks and then disappear. The installations are being designed so that they can be stored, reused and enjoyed again in future years. We see this as an investment in something that can bring joy to our community for many Christmases to come.

Why have we asked the community to help fund it?

Originally, this was a project we were fundraising for within the church. We then decided to share our plans more widely because we wanted people to know what we were hoping to create for Rainham this Christmas. We also knew there would be people beyond our regular church congregation who would love the idea and might want to be part of making it happen.

But I want to be absolutely clear about something. We do not expect the wider community to raise £10,000 for us. This began as a church project, and we have never expected others to pay for it. We simply wanted to give people the opportunity to contribute if they wished.

To everyone who has already made a donation, however large or small, thank you. Your generosity really does mean a great deal. And to those who can’t contribute, or would simply prefer not to, that’s absolutely fine too. You are just as welcome to come and enjoy what we’re creating.

But surely there are more important things to spend money on?

I understand that question, and I think it’s a fair one. We live in uncertain times. Many people are worried about money, the future and the pressures of everyday life. As a church, we take those concerns seriously. Caring for people, supporting those who are struggling and serving our community remain central to who we are.

But I also believe that particularly in difficult times, people need moments of beauty, joy and hope. We need things that bring us together, that make children smile, that create happy memories and remind us that life is about more than simply getting through another day. Art, music, creativity and shared experiences have always had an important place in our communities. They lift our spirits, help us connect with one another and sometimes give us a fresh perspective on life.

I don’t believe that caring for those in need and creating something beautiful are competing priorities. Both matter. And if we can create something that brings a little wonder and hope into people’s lives this Christmas, I think that’s something worth working towards.

So what can you expect this Christmas?

Well, you might have guessed that LEGO™ is going to feature rather heavily in our Christmas communications and activities this year! We’re hoping to build a whole Christmas experience around the theme, with the exhibition at its heart. Most importantly, we want St Margaret’s to be a place where everyone feels welcome.

Whether you come to church every week, haven’t been for years, belong to another faith or have no religious beliefs at all, we would love you to come and experience it. You don’t need to believe what we believe to enjoy something beautiful, to be curious about the Christmas story or to feel that you belong.

Finally, thank you.

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged us, supported us, donated or simply taken an interest. And thank you to those who have raised questions and challenged us too. It’s right that we should be thoughtful about how money is spent, particularly when times are difficult.

My hope is that, over the coming years, St Margaret’s will continue to be a church that not only serves Rainham but helps make Rainham an even more wonderful place to be. We’re an ancient church, with over 800 years of history, but I believe some of our most exciting chapters are still waiting to be written.

Perhaps this Christmas, one of those chapters will be written in LEGO™ bricks!

With every blessing,

Nathan

Rev’d Nathan Ward

Vicar of St Margaret’s Church, Rainham

ST MARGARET’S · RAINHAM

PRIVACY POLICY

LAST UPDATED: 19 OCTOBER 2026

We want you to feel welcome at St Margaret’s and confident about how your personal information is used. This notice explains how we handle information connected with rainhamchurch.co.uk, church communications, enquiries, bookings and giving.

QUESTIONS OR A PRIVACY REQUEST?

Email office@rainhamchurch.co.uk, telephone 01634 362023, or write to the Church Office,
St Margaret’s Church, High Street, Rainham, Kent ME8 7JH.

1. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Margaret’s Church, Rainham is responsible for personal information used for the parish website and parish administration. “We”, “us” and “our” in this notice refer to the parish acting through its PCC. Please send privacy enquiries to the Church Office using the details above.

Clergy, the Diocese of Rochester and external organisations may be separately responsible for some records or services, including statutory registers, safeguarding casework and transactions you make directly with another provider. Where that applies, their own privacy information also explains their responsibilities.

2. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE RECEIVE?

We normally receive information from you. We may also receive relevant details from someone arranging an activity on your behalf, a booking or giving provider, church officers or authorised organisations. If we receive information about you indirectly, we provide privacy information as required by law, unless a lawful exception applies.

3. WHY WE USE IT AND OUR LAWFUL BASES

You do not have to give us optional information. If you do not provide the information needed to answer an enquiry, complete a booking or administer Gift Aid, we may be unable to provide that particular service. We do not use the website to make solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on you.

4. SENSITIVE INFORMATION, CHILDREN AND SAFEGUARDING

Information about religious beliefs, health or certain other matters has additional protection. Where we need it, we must identify both a lawful basis and an appropriate additional legal condition. Depending on the circumstances, that may include explicit consent, the lawful activities of a religious not-for-profit body, or conditions supporting safeguarding and other legal duties. Membership of a church is not a blanket permission to use or share sensitive information.

Please only include information that is relevant to your request. Avoid sending sensitive information through the newsletter form. Safeguarding concerns should go through the reporting routes on our Safeguarding page, so the appropriate people can respond.

When an activity involves children, we handle their information with particular care and seek appropriate information and permissions from a parent or person with parental responsibility where needed. Information may need to be shared without consent where there is a lawful safeguarding or safety reason.

5. NEWSLETTERS AND YOUR CHOICES

Our website newsletter form sends the name and email address you enter to our existing Mailchimp audience using a confirmation process. You can unsubscribe using the link in an email or by contacting the Church Office. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing.

We may retain the minimum information needed to respect an unsubscribe request and avoid adding you again by mistake. Mailchimp may process delivery, engagement and technical information in accordance with the features enabled for our account and its own privacy information. A subscription does not mean that all church correspondence is marketing: we may still need to respond to your enquiry or send essential information about a booking.

6. WHO WE SHARE INFORMATION WITH

Access within the parish is limited to people who need information for their responsibilities, such as authorised clergy, staff, trustees and volunteers. Service providers may process information to host, secure and operate the website, send email or support administration.

Services used or linked from this site include WordPress.com/Automattic and Jetpack, Mailchimp, Humanitix, MyHallWizard, JustGiving, Vimeo, Google Maps and churchyard or heritage services. Some act on our instructions; others are independent organisations responsible for their own processing. Which organisation receives information depends on the service you choose to use.

For example, an event organiser may receive booking information from Humanitix, a donation provider may share donation or Gift Aid details with the benefiting charity, and a hall booking provider may pass relevant booking details to the venue. Payment details should be entered only through the relevant payment provider’s own secure process.

We may share relevant information with HMRC, diocesan or church bodies, safeguarding professionals, regulators, insurers, professional advisers or law-enforcement bodies where we have a lawful reason or are required to do so. We do not sell personal information.

7. INFORMATION PROCESSED OUTSIDE THE UK

Some hosting, email, booking, payment and embedded-content providers operate internationally. Where we arrange a transfer of personal information outside the UK, it must have an appropriate lawful safeguard, such as an applicable adequacy arrangement or approved contractual safeguards with any further measures required. Providers acting independently describe their own international processing in their privacy notices.

You can ask the Church Office for information about the safeguards relevant to your information. We do not promise that every service stores all information exclusively in the UK.

8. COOKIES, LOCAL STORAGE AND WEBSITE STATISTICS

Cookies and similar technologies can store or read information on your device. Different rules apply depending on their actual purpose; a technology is not essential simply because it is useful to us.

You can clear stored website data or change cookie settings in your browser. Restricting storage may affect preferences or some functions. Use any provider or website privacy choices offered for the service concerned, and contact us if you want to object to our use of information for statistics or need help understanding a particular technology. Browser controls alone do not replace consent where consent is legally required.

9. LINKS, EMBEDS AND SHARING

Our site links to independent websites and includes some embedded services. Their operators have their own privacy notices and settings. Please check these before submitting personal information to them. Opening an embed can make a connection to its provider even if you have not submitted a form.

The Share button uses your device’s sharing facility where available. Its alternatives let you copy a page link or open email, Facebook or WhatsApp. Copying a link does not itself send a message; choosing an external sharing service means that service receives the information you choose to share and relevant technical information. Take care not to share private information in a public post.

10. PHOTOGRAPHS, FILMING AND PUBLIC RECORDS

Church news, event coverage and online services may include photographs, voices or video recordings. How these are used depends on the purpose, the circumstances and the appropriate permissions or other lawful basis. Please contact us if you have questions about an image or recording of you or a child you are responsible for, or want to request a review of published material.

Parish and churchyard material may include historical names, dates and plot references. UK data-protection rights relate to living individuals; historical records can nevertheless include information about living people. We consider correction and privacy requests, while taking account of archival, statutory and other legitimate requirements. A request to remove material does not automatically require deletion of an official register.

11. HOW LONG WE KEEP INFORMATION

We keep information only for as long as needed for its purpose and applicable legal or record-keeping duties. The period depends on the type of record, whether an enquiry or matter is still active, and whether there is a safeguarding, tax, contractual, archival or legal-claims reason to retain it.

Contact us for the retention criteria or period relevant to a particular record. Backups and restricted records may remain until their normal expiry or where retention is legally required.

12. HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures, including access controls, secure connections and the security facilities provided by our systems. Access should be proportionate to the person’s role. We assess and respond to suspected personal-data breaches, including notifying the regulator or affected people where required by law. No website or email service can guarantee absolute security.

13. YOUR RIGHTS

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask to access your personal information, correct it, have it erased, restrict its use, receive certain information in a portable format, or object to processing. You can withdraw consent where processing relies on it, and you can object to direct marketing at any time.

These rights have conditions and exceptions. For example, we may need to retain statutory, safeguarding or tax records. Contact office@rainhamchurch.co.uk with enough detail to help us find the relevant information. We may need proportionate confirmation of your identity. Requests are normally free and are handled within the applicable legal time limits, usually one calendar month, with permitted extensions or adjustments explained where relevant.

14. QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

Please contact the Church Office if you are concerned about how your information is used. We will consider your complaint and keep you informed. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); you do not have to complete our complaints process before contacting the regulator.

CONTACT THE ICO

15. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We review this notice when our services, practices or legal requirements change. The date at the top shows the latest revision. Where a change materially affects how we use your information, we provide further information or seek fresh consent where required.

Parish Paper comments

If you submit a comment, we store the name and message you provide with the story and submission date. Church administrators review it before publication. Only approved comments are displayed publicly. You do not need to provide an email address. Please do not include private contact details or sensitive information. Contact the Church Office if you would like your comment removed.

ST MARGARET’S · RAINHAM

HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY

As a church, we understand that we owe a duty of care to ensure the safety of those who visit or use our church, hall or churchyard.

We also know that, where we are an employer or control premises in certain circumstances, we have to meet the requirements of health and safety law.

In particular, we know that if we are an employer having five or more employees, we are required to have a written health and safety policy. As such, we have drafted this policy to meet our duty under Section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

General statement of policy

Our policy is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that our activities are carried out safely and do not pose a risk to the health of our employees, volunteers, congregation, visitors and others who may use the church, churchyard or any other building we are responsible for. This will be in accordance with good practice and any relevant statutory provisions where they apply.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) accepts its overall responsibility for this. We will ensure that adequate resources are made available to achieve this objective. Any decisions we make will have due regard for it.

We will appoint a member of the PCC to have specific responsibility for this policy and its implementation. To keep matters under review, we will include ‘health and safety’ as a standing item on the agenda for all meetings of the PCC. We will monitor the effectiveness of the policy, amending it where we believe it is no longer valid.

It is the duty of each employee and volunteer to exercise personal responsibility for their own safety and that of others. This policy will be brought to their attention. We will try to ensure that everyone involved with the church plays their part in its implementation.

Further detail about our organisation and arrangements for managing health and safety is set out in this document. A copy of it will be kept in the church and made available to others on request.

Signed

Nathan Ward

On behalf of the Parochial Church Council as agreed at a meeting on: Date: 22 January 2026

Organisation and responsibilities

The person with overall responsibility for implementing our policy is the Vicar. They will ensure that the arrangements set out in this policy satisfy any health and safety law, seeking specialist health and safety advice if necessary.

The following persons have day-to-day responsibility for implementing our policy. They are the Churchwardens. They will ensure that the arrangements set out in this policy are carried out.

All employees and volunteers have a responsibility to cooperate in the implementation of this policy and to take reasonable care of themselves and others while on church business or premises.

Arrangements

This section sets out our general arrangements for managing health and safety and dealing with specific risks. We have removed any points that do not apply to our activities.

General Arrangements

Competent Assistance

Where necessary, we will appoint someone who is competent to assist us in meeting our health and safety obligations. We have appointed Bright Safe to be our competent advisors.

Risk Assessment

Where necessary, we will complete risk assessments to identify what we need to do to comply with health and safety law. We will record our findings, implementing any necessary precautions. We will review and revise these where we suspect that they are no longer valid.

Information and Training

We will provide any necessary information and training for our employees and volunteers in a timely manner. We will keep a record of what is provided. We will also give relevant information to contractors and self-employed people who may need this to complete their work safely.

First Aid

We will provide adequate first aid facilities including – as a minimum – a suitably stocked first aid box and a person who will take charge of the first aid arrangements. We will also provide relevant information for employees and volunteers.

Our first aid box is located in the toilet lobby area. Our person in charge of first aid arrangements is the Parish Administrator.

Accident Reporting

We will record details of any accidents that occur, (in an accident book if required). We will report to the enforcing authority and keep records of certain accidents to employees, volunteers and members of the public in accordance with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.

Records of any accidents are kept in the church office.

Monitoring

We will make periodic checks to ensure that our precautions remain effective and adequate. We will also ensure that any lifting, work or electrical equipment and church utilities are inspected as necessary to ensure that they remain safe. We will keep records of the checks we make.

Contractors

If we employ contractors, we make sure that they have their own health & safety policy and Public and Employers Liability insurance by asking to see copies of the relevant documents.

Record Keeping

Our Health and Safety Risk Assessments, records and other documents are kept on the church website (www.rainhamchurch.co.uk) and in the Church Office.

Specific Arrangements

Asbestos

We will take steps to identify the presence of asbestos in our buildings and, if so, assess any risk from it. We will then implement any plan to manage that risk. We will also provide relevant information to others who might need it (e.g. building contractors). We will keep records of the checks, assessments and plans we have made.

Bell Ringing

We will ensure that adequate precautions are in place to protect bellringers and others who may enter the ringing room and bell chamber. This may include any emergency evacuation procedure; a safe means of heating; the provision of fire extinguishers, the provision of emergency lighting and the notification of safety procedures to visiting bellringers.

Church Buildings

We will ensure that the fabric of our buildings is regularly inspected to make sure it is safe. Defects will be repaired as soon as is practicable bearing in mind that a faculty may be required. Where necessary, temporary measures will be taken to prevent danger until permanent repairs can be made. This will include glazing.

Churchyard

We will ensure that boundary walls and gates are kept in good repair. Where appropriate, we will have trees inspected by a competent person and have any necessary work carried out to make them safe. Headstones tombs and monuments will be checked regularly to ensure they are properly maintained. Where our churchyard is formally closed, we will report any concern to the Local Authority or Parish Council.

Construction Work

Where maintenance, refurbishment and restoration work is planned for our church, we will identify what we need to do to ensure the safety of all those concerned before work starts. We will also determine if we have any responsibilities under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations and comply with these if necessary.

Display Screen Equipment

Where our employees and volunteers regularly use computers daily, for continuous periods of an hour or more we will analyse workstations to identify precautions, implementing these as necessary. We will also provide information, training, eye/eyesight tests (on request) and special spectacles if needed.

Electricity

We will ensure that any electrical system, fixed machine and portable appliances is inspected, tested and maintained by someone who is competent to prevent danger. Any defective equipment will not be used until it is repaired or replaced. We will keep records of the checks made.

Events

Where we intend to hold large or unusual concerts, services or other fund-raising events, we will identify any additional precautions that are necessary and implement these.

Fire

We will complete a specific risk assessment to identify what steps are necessary to prevent, detect and take in the event of a fire. We will record our findings, implementing any necessary precautions. We will review and revise these where we suspect that they are no longer valid.

Heating Systems

We will ensure that any oil or gas heating system is suitably maintained and checked annually by a competent person. Any defects found will be corrected immediately and we will keep records of the checks made.

Hazardous Substances

We only use domestic cleaning or horticultural products and petrol. We will ensure that these are stored, used and disposed of in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions taking any necessary precautions that are specified.

Lifting Equipment

We will ensure that any lifting equipment is properly maintained and thoroughly examined periodically by a competent person.

Manual Handling

We will avoid the need for lifting or carrying heavy objects as far as is possible. Where this is not practical, we will make use of lifting aids (such as, trolleys) or other precautions including team lifting.

Oil Storage

Where we store large quantities of oil, we will take adequate precautions to ensure that oil cannot leak into the ground or any water course. This may include the provision of a double skinned plastic tank, an adequate bund, regular checks and proper maintenance etc.

Preparation of Food

We will ensure that on those occasions when we prepare food we use a clean and disinfected work surface, utensils and equipment. We will store food in such a way as to avoid contamination, provide hand-washing facilities and suitable arrangements for the disposal of waste.

Slips and Trips

We will implement suitable precautions to prevent slips or trips, taking account of any difficulty the frail, elderly or disabled may have in negotiating access. We will make periodic checks to ensure that floors, coverings, steps and pathways remain in good condition, free from obstruction and that any precautions (such as, hand rails, lighting) remain adequate. We will correct any defects identified, keeping records of the checks we make. We will have arrangements in place to manage pathways in winter weather.

Tower Tours

Where we plan to run tower tours, we will identify any specific precautions that are necessary. This will take account of the size of the tower; the control of movement within the tower; the number of stewards available; and the ease with which persons can safely evacuate the tower in case of emergency. We will then implement these.

Working at Height

Where possible we will try and avoid the need for work at height. Where this is not practicable, we will ensure that any work is properly planned to identify suitable precautions. We will make sure that these are implemented, including the provision of any training and checks to ensure the safety of any equipment used.

Work Equipment

Any work equipment (including any hand tools) we provide will be suitable, in good condition and properly maintained. Where necessary, some equipment (such as, ladders) will be regularly checked to make sure they are safe. We will keep records of any checks we make.

Working Alone

We will identify circumstances where our employees and volunteers work alone, and implement suitable precautions to ensure their safety.