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PCC Documents
Every document your PCC must maintain and publish, kept in order and checked for viruses.
A simple, safe website for your Parochial Church Council. The public can find the documents a PCC should publish. Members can read the private papers. Volunteers can add files from a phone or an old laptop. Every file is checked for viruses before anyone can open it.
In short.
- Every file is checked for viruses, and nobody can open it until it has passed.
- Private papers can be seen only by the PCC's own members.
- You are reminded what is due before it is overdue.
- Simple enough for the least technical volunteer, on a phone or an old laptop.
Keeping documents up to date can be a chore.
Documents go out of date quietly.
A PCC is expected to make many documents available: the accounts and annual report, the safeguarding policy, the privacy notice, the table of fees and public minutes. Other papers, such as the fire risk assessment and full minutes, must stay private to the PCC.
In practice they live in email attachments, a shared drive and someone's memory. Review dates slip and the wrong version gets sent round. Worst of all, an honest volunteer can publish a private document by mistake.
Out of date, unnoticed
Nothing says a policy was due for review last spring.
The wrong people see it
Full minutes or an electoral roll with addresses ends up somewhere public.
Files nobody has checked
Attachments are opened on home computers with no virus check.
Leavers keep access
Someone steps down, but their copies and their sign-in don't go away.
How we keep documents safe
Nothing can be opened until it has been checked.
What is protected: your private papers, your members' details and your church's computers. Members open these files on their own computers, so we check every file twice before anyone can open it. That includes the person who uploaded it.
We check what the file really is
It must genuinely be a PDF, Word or Excel file, whatever its name says. We turn away files that can run programs, open other files or hide things inside them, and we explain why in plain words.
We scan it for viruses
We use ClamAV, a well-known free virus checker. Until it finishes, nobody can open the file, and it doesn't appear on any page, list or email.
Clean files go online
A clean file is published straight away. If a file has a virus, we don't publish it, and we tell the person who uploaded it.
We check again later
Virus checkers learn about new viruses all the time. We re-scan published files as the checker is updated, so a file that was clean last month is checked against what is known today.
The virus checker is kept in a sealed box.
It runs on its own, shut away from your documents and passwords. The only thing it can reach on the internet is its list of new viruses. Even if a clever file fooled it, it would have nothing to steal. All it can do is say a file is clean or not safe.
An honest note on what a virus scan can do.
A virus scan catches viruses that are already known. It can miss something brand new, or made to attack one particular target. That is why we also check what each file really is before the scan. No system is perfect, and we don't claim ours is.
Risky files are turned away, even if no virus is found.
A virus scanner only looks for known viruses. These checks catch other risks.
PDFs with hidden extras
We turn away PDFs that can run small programs, open other files, play media or send information somewhere. We also turn away locked (password-protected) PDFs, and PDFs built to overload the checker.
Word and Excel files with built-in programs
Files with macros (small programs inside a document) are turned away. So are files with formulas or links that run programs or fetch other files.
Confidential wording in a public file
A public document that mentions "confidential", "Part B" (the private part of minutes) or "in camera" waits for a person to look at it before it goes out.
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Hidden content in Word and Excel
Tracked changes, comments, hidden text and hidden sheets are spotted. The file waits until a person has looked at it and chosen to publish.
Size and number limits
Files can be up to 20 MB. There is also a limit on how many can be sent at once, so a mistake can't flood the service.
Only the right file types
PDF, Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx). We check what is inside the file, not just its name.
Who can see what
The type of document decides who can see it.
The most likely incident is a volunteer publishing something that should be kept private. So where the rules are clear, we don't offer the choice.
Accounts, the safeguarding policy and the table of fees can only be public. The fire risk assessment, asbestos register, full minutes and the full electoral roll can only be seen by PCC members. For anything else, an uploader can only make a document more private, never less.
Never online at all
We won't accept keyholder and alarm codes, bank details, safeguarding case files, DBS details or historical registers. They can't be uploaded.
Private means private
Anyone who isn't a member sees a "page not found" message, so they can't even tell the file exists. Private files are not kept on the viewer's computer after they leave.
One PCC can't see another's
Each PCC's private papers can be seen only by its own members. This is built in and tested automatically, including between different groups of churches (benefices).
Clear on the page
Private documents carry a padlock and the words "PCC members only", so nobody has to guess.
No passwords to remember, and access ends when someone leaves.
Each person can do only what their job needs.
Sign in with an emailed link
Each link works once and then expires, so there is no password to forget or have stolen.
Four kinds of access
The public see public documents. Members read. Editors upload, replace and archive (hide). Managers add and remove people. A vicar who serves several churches is added once and given the right role in each.
Removal takes effect at once
Every time someone opens a page, we check they are still a member. Remove someone and their access stops straight away.
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An extra check for important changes
For serious actions, such as deleting a document for good or changing who has access, we ask you to confirm with your fingerprint, face or screen lock on your own phone or computer. This uses a feature called a passkey. There is nothing to type.
A record of who did what
Uploads, publishing, downloads of private files and changes to who has access are all recorded, so there is a clear trail. The record uses reference numbers, not people's names.
A record of every email sent
When someone says they never got a sign-in link, there is an answer, not a guess.
What PCC Documents does.
Built around the real life of a parish: a handful of volunteers, an annual meeting, and a list of documents that never quite stays up to date.
Knows what you should publish
A built-in list of the documents a PCC is expected to keep, each with the reasoning behind it, so you aren't working from memory.
A public site for every church
One home page for the whole group of churches (the benefice) and a page for each church. Documents are found in one or two clicks, and the safeguarding contact is always easy to find.
A private members' area
Members see everything the public sees, plus the PCC's private papers, in one place.
Status in plain words
"Up to date", "Needs checking by 1 August", "Overdue since 1 August", or "Not uploaded yet", shown beside each document. Gaps are visible, not hidden.
A To do page and a countdown
What is overdue, what is due in the next 60 days and what is missing, most urgent first, with a countdown to the annual parochial church meeting (APCM). Each item has a one-click Upload, Replace, or "Checked, no changes needed".
Simple uploading
Drag and drop or choose a file, from a phone or an old laptop. The form works on older phones and computers, and tells you who will be able to see the document before you press the button.
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Email reminders
A nudge before something is overdue, not after. Everything due that day arrives in one email per person, not a stream of them.
PDF, Word and Excel
Upload the file you already have. The checks above apply to every one of them.
Drafts before they're final
Put a draft beside the current version for the PCC to review. Nobody sees it until you publish.
Every version kept
Replace a document and the earlier version stays on record. Minutes, notices and other running records are added to, never overwritten.
Shared documents, separate sign-off
Upload a policy once for every church. Each PCC still records its own date of adopting it, as the law expects, and the page shows who hasn't yet.
Update emails, your way
Members choose from straight away, a daily round-up, a weekly round-up, or never. Emails contain links, never attachments, so a private document never travels by email.
Data protection built in
The housekeeping you would otherwise forget.
A PCC is the data controller for its members' details, which means it is the body legally responsible for them. The service does the routine parts of looking after that data, so it isn't left to whoever remembers.
It helps a PCC meet its duties. It is not legal advice, and it doesn't replace taking advice where you need it.
Archive, never delete
Nothing an editor does deletes a document. Archiving hides it and keeps every file, and it can be restored at any time.
When someone leaves
A manager can remove a person and their details completely. Restoring a backup won't bring them back.
Stored in Europe
Your documents and records are stored with Cloudflare, a large internet company, in its European (EU) region. The virus checker sends nothing to any outside scanning service.
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Deliberate permanent deletion
Only a manager can delete an archived document for good. They must give a reason and confirm. A document shared across a group of churches also needs a second manager to approve.
Old records cleared out
Each day we clear out old sign-in links and old email records. Earlier versions of documents go when their keeping period ends.
Nightly backups
Every night everything is backed up to separate storage, and older copies are cleared out after 35 days.
What it gives your PCC.
Confidence you've published what you should
The gaps are on the page, with the date each document was last checked.
Fewer honest mistakes
The service removes the risky choices instead of relying on everyone getting every decision right.
Safer than attachments and shared drives
Access depends on a person's role and is checked every time. Files are scanned, and private papers sit behind a sign-in instead of travelling by email.
Easy for the least technical member
Plain wording, no passwords, and a plain-English help guide for whoever looks after it.
One place for the whole benefice
Several churches and several PCCs on one site, each with its own page and private papers. Clergy are entered once.
Run for you
We set up your site and look after the platform, including the scanner and its updates, so you don't need technical people in the PCC.
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A lighter load for volunteers
Reminders do the remembering, and the To do page says what to do next.
Accessible
Every page is checked automatically, on desktop and phone, for problems that affect people with sight or movement difficulties.
An answer when something goes wrong
A record of changes and a record of emails mean "who changed that?" and "did the email go?" can be answered.
Built the way we build everything.
We planned PCC Documents in detail before building it, and it is tested automatically as it grows. Its design was reviewed for security before anything was built, and security is checked again before each release by someone other than the person who built the change.
It is being set up first for the Kington Parishes benefice (five churches, five PCCs), whose website we also built.
Ready to talk?
Tell us how many churches and PCCs you have and what you keep today, and we'll show you how it would work for you.
Or call 07449 301083. Our approach to cost is on the prices page.