Safeguarding Policy and Procedures

Policy Control

This safeguarding policy will be reviewed and approved by Feeding Futures Board of Trustees annually.

Policy Statement

Feeding Futures is committed to promoting the security and wellbeing of the communities we serve in Africa, our volunteers, and our staff (in Africa and UK), and ensure that children and adults at risk are protected from all forms of harm and abuse, and able to live a life with dignity, respect and security. Feeding Futures actively encourages a culture of ‘Zero tolerance’ towards all forms of harm and abuse and seeks to ensure that staff and representatives ‘Do no harm’ while working for or partner with Feeding Futures.

Purpose of the Policy

This policy represents Feeding Futures commitment to working together to safeguard children and adults from abuse, neglect and exploitation. It clarifies the roles and responsibilities of employees, trustees and volunteers in relation to developing their own awareness and skills as well as the policies and procedures that must be followed.


Employees include:

● All staff, national and international

● All volunteers and interns

Representatives include:

● All external contractors/partners working with or for Feeding Futures.

● All board members, ambassadors, guests, visitors, Church Groups, and Supporters

visiting Feeding Futures projects

The policy outlines:

● The practice and procedure for representatives within Feeding Futures to contribute to the prevention of the abuse and neglect, and

● A clear framework for action including information sharing when abuse is suspected.

Applicability

Whose Business is Safeguarding?

Legislation establishes that safeguarding is everybody’s business. This organisation recognises that we all play a key role in preventing, detecting, reporting and responding to abuse, neglect or exploitation in both the UK and Africa.

Scope of the Policy

The policy applies to activities delivered by Feeding Futures. Where Feeding Futures deliver any activities in partnership with another body the Partnership Agreement should include policy and procedures around safeguarding. Partners and their staff are bound by the principles in the Partnership Agreement which make Safeguarding Children and adults at risk mandatory. Partners must either have their own Safeguarding policy or abide by Feeding Futures Safeguarding policy for the duration of the Partnership Agreement. Should a partner have their own Safeguarding policy it must, as a minimum, meet the standards outlined below, and include any additional legal or regulatory requirements specific to their work. These include, but are not limited to other UK regulators and regulations of African countries Feeding Futures is serving in. In such circumstances the trustees will review the partner’s safeguarding policy and procedures at least annually and will ensure procedures meet the standards set out in this policy.

The policy applies in respect of this organisation’s responsibility towards the following groups of people:

● Children and young people - legally defined as any person under the age of 18. From this point the terms ‘child’ or ‘children’ will be used to refer to this group.

● An ‘adult at risk of abuse or neglect with care and support needs’ however for the purpose of this policy we will use the term ‘vulnerable adult(s)’ to refer to this group.

● Employees, trustees and volunteers who come into contact with children or vulnerable adults during the course of their work or volunteering responsibilities.

● Contractors when carrying out work on behalf of the organisation.

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

Principles

We believe that:

  • The trustees of Feeding Futures have a legal duty of care to follow the principles laid down by the UK Charity Commission, including appointing a safeguarding lead in both the UK and each country we are serving.

  • 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 our beneficiaries, employees and volunteers, to keep them safe and to work in a way that protects them.

  • We all have a responsibility to help prevent the physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse or neglect of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and to report any abuse or neglect discovered or suspected.

  • 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 any concerns.

  • Feeding Futures has a responsibility to follow safer recruitment procedures and will take proper care in the selection and appointment of staff and volunteers working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

  • We all have a responsibility to adhere to the safeguarding principles contained in the Kenya & UK Children Act and the implementation of these principles using current publications e.g. The UK ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child.

  • Feeding Futures has a responsibility to its trustees, volunteers and staff to provide ongoing safeguarding training so they understand their responsibilities in supporting the organisations safeguarding policies and procedures.

Types of Abuse

Abuse can take many forms, such as physical, psychological or emotional, financial, sexual or institutional abuse, including neglect and exploitation. Signs that may indicate the different types of abuse are in Appendix 4.

Reporting Concerns in the UK

All staff and volunteers in the UK must follow the guidelines outlined in the safeguarding flow chart in appendix 3 if they have any concerns.

All Staff or volunteers must raise their concerns with the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Safeguarding Trustee or if they are not available the CEO. If the subject of concern is a member of staff or volunteer see Feeding Futures Whistle Blowing Policy

(Appendix 5). The Whistle Blowing Policy should be used when a member staff or volunteer has concerns about the conduct of a colleague in a position of trust within the organisation, which could be detrimental to the safety or wellbeing of adults and children.

Things to Remember

● All allegations/disclosures will be treated seriously - the safety of the vulnerable adult or child is paramount.

● Staff and volunteers should stay calm, listen and reassure the person they are concerned about that they are being listened to.

● Staff and volunteers should always demonstrate a sensitive approach.

● Staff and volunteers should be aware of the possibility of a police investigation and are not to investigate any allegation themselves.

● Staff and volunteers will explain that they are required to share information with those people who need to know but not with other staff or volunteers. Absolute confidentiality cannot be promised.

● If there is immediate danger, or someone requires urgent medical attention, then the police or ambulance should be called immediately (on 999 or 112), and the Designated Safeguarding Lead informed as soon as possible.

Reporting Procedure

1. Any concerns should be reported immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead, the Safeguarding Trustee or in their absence the CEO who will decide whether to contact the Thirtyone:eight helpline who can advise on appropriate next steps including whether to refer to statutory services.

2. A Safeguarding Concern Report Form (Appendix 2) will be completed by the employee/volunteer or by the Designated Safeguarding Lead using information relayed by the person reporting the concern. Information recorded on the form must:

a. Be accurate and factual – do not make subjective judgements or supposition.

b. Wherever possible include the actual words said by the child or vulnerable adult rather than an interpretation of what was said.

c. Record only specific facts relating to disclosure, dates, places etc. should be recorded accurately along with any details of the injuries or consequences i.e. where they are and what they looked like.

d. Consider if the incident also needs to reported under Health and Safety Policy and Procedures.

3. Where necessary the Designated Safeguarding Lead will report the concern to Statutory Children’s/Adults Social Care Services, providing a copy of the Safeguarding Concern Form, and where appropriate a chronology of events.

4. If a criminal offence has been committed, the CEO, Safeguarding Trustee or the Designated Safeguarding Lead will call the police and any other linked agencies as necessary.

5. Children’s or Adult’s Social Care may then take the lead on any investigation and inform other agencies, where appropriate.

6. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will provide any further information to statutory Services as required.

7. Completed Safeguarding Concern Forms will be kept centrally by the Safeguarding Lead, stored in a locked cabinet, with restricted access, away from other personal files. Where completed Safeguarding Concern forms are stored electronically, they will be kept in a password protected folder within Teams, with restricted access in line with this policy and the Data Protection Policy.

8. Where incidents that have resulted in (or risk) significant harm to beneficiaries, the Designated Safeguarding Lead will notify the Board of Trustees who may be required to be report the incident to the charities regulator as a Serious Incident Report (cf. Section 11 - Monitoring).

Reporting Concerns in Africa

  • Partnership Agreements with service providers in Africa should include policy and procedures around safeguarding, which will include reporting and monitoring concerns.

  • Each service provider must provide a flow chart to inform their employees and volunteers how to report incidents and to whom.

  • All service providers must have a designated safeguarding lead who must report back to Feeding Futures board of Trustees if there is a safeguarding concern, as outlined below.

  • Partners and their staff are bound by the principles in the Partnership Agreement which make Safeguarding Children and adults at risk mandatory. Partners must either have their own Safeguarding policy and procedures or abide by Feeding Futures Safeguarding policy and procedures for the duration of the Partnership Agreement. Should a partner have their own Safeguarding policy it should, as a minimum, meet the standards outlined in Feeding Future’s Policy and Procedures, and include any additional legal or regulatory requirements specific to the country they are working in.

  • The trustees will review the partner’s safeguarding policy and procedures at least annually and will ensure procedures meet the standards set out in this policy.

Monitoring

Information about safeguarding cases, either in Africa and the UK, and how they were dealt will be reviewed and reported on regularly to Feeding Future’s Board of Trustees. Areas to focus on include:

  • How quickly the concern was reported to the Safeguarding Lead

  • Whether a concern was reported to statutory agencies

  • How quickly a concern was made to the police/Children’s/Adults Services (where relevant)

  • Accuracy of information recorded

  • The quality of the input into the safeguarding process (feedback from Police/Children’s/Adults Services)

  • Outcomes of safeguarding process

  • Whether any incidents highlighted training issues or a need to amend in-house procedures

  • Whether the incident should be notified to the charity regulator under Serious Incident Reporting procedures

Reports to trustees should focus on the issues and the organisation’s response to an incident not the specific details of an individual case. Reports made to the trustees should be captured in a Safeguarding Incident Register. This is to enable the organisation to reflect on and improve its practice in developing an effective safeguarding culture.

Partnership Working

If working with other organisations in partnership to deliver activities, both organisations must be able to readily access their respective safeguarding policy and procedures. Reporting of concerns must take place as they occur where there is a specific risk to either partner’s employees, volunteers, clients, or service provision. Other management information should be shared as part of regular reporting schedules but focus on the issues and the organisation’s response to an incident not the specific details of the case, such as number of concerns and number reported to statutory agencies. Meetings should be scheduled at least quarterly between partners to discuss.

Responsibilities

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.

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.

A lead trustee/committee will be given responsibility for the oversight of all aspects of safety, including whistleblowing and H&SW. This will include:

  • Creating a culture of respect, in which everyone feel 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 carried out.

  • Leading the organisation in way that makes everyone feels safe and able to speak up.

  • Ensuring safeguarding risk assessments are carried out and appropriate action taken to minimise these risks, as part of our risk management processes.

  • Ensuring safer recruitment, that all relevant checks are carried out in recruiting staff and volunteers, including DBS and taking up references.

  • Planning programmes/activities to take into account potential safeguarding risks, to ensure these are adequately mitigated.

  • Ensuring that all appointments that require DBS clearance and safeguarding training are identified, including the level of DBS and any training required. In Africa we will abide by each governments safeguarding clearance system and take up references.

  • All trustees, employees and volunteers in the UK and Africa have regular safeguarding training.

  • Ensuring that a central register is maintained and subject to regular monitoring to ensure that DBS clearances and training are kept up-to-date.

  • 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 employees, volunteers and others are aware of:

    o Our safeguarding procedures and their specific safeguarding responsibilities on induction, with regular updates/reminders, as necessary.

    o The signs of potential abuse and how to report these.

Everyone. To be aware of our procedures, undertake any necessary training, be aware of the risks and signs of potential abuse and, if you have concerns, to report these immediately (see above).

Fundraising

We will ensure that:

Online Safety

We will identify and manage online risks by ensuring:

  • Volunteers, staff and trustees understand how to keep themselves safe online. We may use high privacy settings and password access to meetings to support this.

  • The online services we provide are suitable for our users. For example, use age restrictions and offer password protection to help keep people safe.

  • The services we use and/or provide are safe and in line with our code of conduct.

  • We protect people’s personal data and follow data protection legislation.

  • We have permission to display any images on our website or social media accounts, including consent from an individual, parent, etc.

  • We clearly explain how users can report online concerns.  Concerns may be reported using this policy, or direct to a social media provider using their reporting process.  If you are unsure, you can contact one of these organisations, who will help you.

  • We have adopted and comply with the Charity AI Ethics & Governance Framework.

Working With Other Organisations

 In working with other organisations, including any grant making, we will comply with Charity Commission guidance by carrying out relevant due diligence and having a written agreement that sets out:

  • Our relationship.

  • The role of each organisation.

  • Monitoring and reporting arrangements.

Version Control - Approval and Review

This policy will be reviewed periodically, or following an incident, change in legislation, or other significant factors.  It will also be reviewed as part of any safeguarding incident investigation, to test that it has been complied with and to see if any improvements might realistically be made to it.