Safeguarding is about looking out for the people you come into contact – whether that’s people who use your service, your volunteers, staff or trustees.
Everyone in your organisation needs to understand how they should respond to concerns – not knowing what to do risks leaving people more vulnerable.
Because we all have responsibility for safeguarding, whatever your role, you need to understand how you can help keep people safe.
For Trustees of registered charities (including CIOs) the Charity Commission fully expects you to manage safeguarding in your organisation in an informed, safe and consistent way.
Your organisation should have a Safeguarding Policy. It shouldn’t be huge, overly-wordy or difficult to understand – rather, it should be clear, straightforward, and obvious about who has which responsibilities in keeping people safe.
The policy should include an easy-to-follow procedure for someone who has concerns.
We have templates that you are welcome to use, and we can even help you tailor them to ensure that they are fit for purpose.
Safer Recruitment is a process your organisation has in place to help make sure your volunteers, staff and Trustees are suitable to be involved with the people who use your service… It means that the right people are involved with the organisation for the right reasons
And it’s not all about DBS checks… It’s about ID checks, references, interviews and more. It can include induction & training, supervision (of some kind) and probationary periods, it might mean having a Code of Conduct and ongoing training – whatever it looks like, the process doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated but the better your recruitment process, the safer your organisation.
There are a wide range of training opportunities delivered by Calderdale’s Safeguarding Adults Board and Safeguarding Children’s Partnership. These courses are free and mostly online (so can be done from the comfort of your own home!)
Topics include courses such as Domestic Abuse, Mental Capacity, Self Neglect and Modern Slavery. Click the button below to view more details.
For more information on how we can support your organisation with safeguarding, please email info@vsialliance.org.uk
