Within any setting, including that of a charity protecting and safeguarding individuals should be a high priority to those involved. Safeguarding all included in a charity or one of said charities events is a fundamental aspect for the benefit of the public.

It is a trustee’s duty to take a fair and reasonable approach to ensure no harm comes to those who come into any form of contact with the charity itself. This includes staff, volunteers, those the charity benefits and any other individual or group that may encounter the charity.

If something was not to go to plan, the trustee would be held responsible and investigated to ensure all procedures, guidance and laws have been followed to prevent the event/allegation.

There are many different types of risks and harm that could occur either online or in person. Including but not limited to the following: –

• Treatment of neglect
• Domestic abuse
• Self-neglect
• Emotional and/or physical abuse
• Sexual harassment, abuse and exploitation
• Criminal or Financial exploitation
• Abusing a position of trust within a charity
• Bullying or harassment

Following this there are many different policies and procedures that can be put into place the minimise the chances of the above happening.

Ensure the policies and procedures are put into action within every day running of the charity, be responsive to change or update as things change, review periodically to keep up to date. It is also important to discuss and train your team on these aspects to ensure all individuals are protected from harm, confident to raise safeguarding issues or concerns, know the correct authorities to report to, and also know in general how to deal with an incident or allegation.

In a charity or business setting it is also extremely important to make sure all staff, volunteers and trustees are the correct fit for their role. It is important to consider criminal record checks (DBS), request references from former employees or organisations, obtain confirmation of right to work in the UK and health checks to determine if any previous or underlying health issues could affect the role.

A critical question is also how your insurance policy will treat allegations of abuse. This can be quite complicated. Some insurers do not include the cover, and some include it only in part. Some policies have special conditions that you are expected to meet before a claim would be handled. These often include DBS checks, regularly updated safeguarding policies and record keeping.  There are also technicalities about how some policies create the cover meaning that moving from policy to policy or letting a policy lapse, might endanger cover for historic allegations. If your charity or community group works with young or vulnerable people, it is essential to get the right advice.

(More examples and information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/safeguarding-duties-for-charity-trustees#protect-volunteers-and-staff)