Care & accountability
Child Safeguarding Policy
This policy describes principles for preventing and responding to harm involving children in foundation-related activity, with safety, dignity, and best interests at the centre.
Commitment and scope
The foundation's work should place the safety, dignity, participation, and best interests of every child at its centre. These principles should apply to staff, volunteers, trustees, contractors, partners, visitors, communications, events, transport, digital activity, and any programme that is approved. Children should be treated without discrimination and never as material for fundraising or publicity.
Prevention and safer practice
Before a role involves children, it should have role-appropriate recruitment checks, references, induction, supervision, codes of conduct, and training. Activities should use safe ratios and settings, appropriate boundaries, consent and assent practices, two-adult or observable arrangements where feasible, and clear rules for transport, messaging, gifts, private meetings, and online contact. Risks should be assessed before each activity and reduced or escalated when they cannot be controlled.
Recognising and responding to concerns
Anyone who observes, receives, or suspects a concern should listen calmly, avoid leading questions and promises of secrecy, record only necessary factual information, preserve immediate safety, and report through the approved safeguarding pathway without delay. Staff should not investigate, confront an alleged perpetrator, mediate, or share details beyond those who need to act. A concern must never be dismissed because evidence is incomplete.
Urgent danger and reporting channels
If a child faces immediate danger, the person should contact appropriate local emergency services or the relevant child protection authority in the location concerned, while taking safe steps to protect the child. The website must not invent an emergency number, and generic contact or enquiry forms must not be presented as a safeguarding-reporting channel. An approved, monitored reporting route should be published only after it is operational and able to protect confidential information.
Confidentiality and survivor-centred support
Information about a concern should be shared on a strict need-to-know basis, stored securely, and never placed in public content, ordinary website logs, or unprotected attachments. Responses should be respectful, non-judgmental, culturally aware, and centred on the child's safety and wishes as appropriate. Qualified support should be arranged or referred to, without promising outcomes, confidentiality beyond what is possible, or services that have not been confirmed.
Governance, review, and accountability
Safeguarding governance should include a suitably authorised safeguarding lead and deputy, defined escalation and referral responsibilities, secure training and incident records, protection from retaliation for good-faith reporting, and review after concerns or significant changes. Partners should meet equivalent minimum expectations before child-related work begins. Allegations involving a leader should bypass that person's normal reporting line.