Safeguarding: the new environment

Are your safeguarding policies and procedures where they should be?

Safeguarding has been hitting the headlines in 2018. The fallout from the Oxfam scandal has resulted in the spotlight being firmly shone on our sector’s safeguarding policies and procedures. A vast majority of charities take extreme care in ensuring they’ve taken the right steps to protect those they work with. That being said, safeguarding breaches do occur and it’s up to us to prevent them from happening.

Charities work with some of the most vulnerable people in society. If you’re a charity that works with under 18s and vulnerable adults you need to ensure that safeguarding principles and procedures are present in all you do.

How did Oxfam change things?

In the wake of the Oxfam scandal, the Charity Commission set up a safeguarding taskforce and there was a sharp increase in the number of safeguarding incidents being reported. It’s clear that safeguarding has become a strategic priority for the Commission. Much of the media narrative was centred on large international development charities operating abroad. This doesn’t mean that that smaller UK based charities are exempt from scrutiny – the subsequent fallout from the scandal and the renewed focus on our sector should serve as wake up call.

Who’s responsible for safeguarding?

In short – everyone. But charity trustees and senior managers, HR professionals and anyone responsible for ensuring the good governance of a charity has to be particularly diligent and clued in.