safeguarding policy

Nobody who is involved in our work should ever experience abuse, harm, neglect or exploitation.

We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all of our beneficiaries, staff and volunteers, to keep them safe and to work in a way that protects them.

We all have a collective responsibility for creating a culture in which our people not only feel safe, but also able to speak up, if they have concerns.

This safeguarding policy applies to anyone working on our behalf, including our charity trustees and other volunteers.

Partner organisations will be required to have their own safeguarding procedures that must, as a minimum, meet the standards outlined below, and include any additional legal or regulatory requirements specific to their work. These may, but are not limited to:

• Other UK regulators
• Other authorities, such as NHS.

Safeguarding should be appropriately reflected in other relevant policies and procedures.

If a crime is in progress, or an individual in immediate danger, call the police, as you would in any other circumstances.

If you are a beneficiary, or a member of the public, make your concerns known to a member of our team, who will alert a senior member of the charity and the Safeguarding Lead.

For members of the charity, make your concerns known to your supervisor and to the Safeguarding Lead. If you feel unable to do so, speak to a trustee.

The trustees are mindful of their reporting obligations to the Charity Commission in respect of Serious Incident Reporting and, if applicable, other regulator. They are aware of the Government Guidance on Handling Safeguarding Allegations and NCVO’s guidance on recognising, responding and reporting concerns and Managing reputational risks.

Responsibilities should be made clear and individuals provided with any necessary training and resources to enable them to carry out their role. It should be reflected in job descriptions, annual plan and appraisal objectives if appropriate, reports to the trustees and other procedures, as necessary.

This Safeguarding Policy will be reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees annually.

Trustees are aware of and will comply with the Charity Commission guidance on Safeguarding and Protecting People, and also the 10 actions trustee boards need to take to ensure good safeguarding governance.

The Safeguarding Lead and a lead trustee will be given responsibility for the oversight of all aspects of safety, including whistleblowing and H&SQ. This will include:

• Creating a culture of respect, in which everyone feels safe and able to speak up.
• An annual review of safety, with recommendations to the Board.
• Receiving regular reports, to ensure this and related policies are being applied consistently.
• Providing oversight of any lapses in safeguarding.
• And ensuring that any issues are properly investigated and dealt with quickly, fairly and sensitively, and any reporting to the police/statutory authorities is caried out.
• Leading the organisation in a way that makes everyone feel safe and able to speak up.
• Ensuring safeguarding risk assessments are carried our and appropriate action taken to minimise these risks, as part of our risk management processes.
• Ensuring that all relevant checks are carried out in recruiting staff and volunteers.
• Planning programmes/activities to take into account potential safeguarding risks, to ensure these are adequately mitigated.
• Ensuring that safeguarding requirements (e.g. DBS) and responsibilities are reflected in job descriptions, appraisal objectives and personal development plans, as appropriate.
• Listening and engaging, beneficiaries, staff, volunteers and others and involving them as appropriate.
• Responding to any concerns sensitively and acting quickly to address these.
• Ensuring that personal data is stored and managed in a safe way that is compliant with data protection regulations, including valid consent to use any imagery or video.
• Making staff, volunteers and others aware of:
  • Our safeguarding procedures and their specific safeguarding responsibilities on induction, with regular updates/reminders, as necessary.
  • The signs of potential abuse and hox to report these

Everyone

All staff, volunteers and trustees should:

• • • Be aware of Borne’s safeguarding procedures.
    • Undertake any necessary training where applicable.
    • Be aware of the risks and signs of potential abuse. 
    • Report any concerns immediately.

We will ensure that:

• We comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice, including fundraising that involves children.
• Staff and volunteers are made aware of the Institute of Fundraising guidance on keeping fundraising safe and the NCVO guidance on vulnerable people and fundraising.
• Our fundraising material is accessible, clear an ethical, including not placing any undue pressure on individuals to donate.
• We do not either solicit nor accept donations from anyone whom we know or think may not be competent to make their own decisions.
• We are sensitive to any particular need that a donor may have.