Dance For Life Devon Safguarding Policy 

Our activities include working with vulnerable people.  The purpose of this policy is to protect children and vulnerable adults and the public with the overarching principles that guide our approach in doing so. 

Safeguarding Principles

We believe that:

·       Nobody who is involved in Dance For Life Devon CIC should ever experience abuse, harm, neglect, or exploitation.

·       We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all our beneficiaries, staff and volunteers, to keep them safe and to work in a way that protects them.

·       We all have a collective responsibility for creating a culture in which our people not only feel safe but are also able to speak up if they have any concerns.

Safeguarding Policy Applicability

This safeguarding policy applies to anyone working on our behalf

 

Types of Abuse

Abuse can take many forms, such as physical, psychological or emotional, financial, sexual or institutional abuse, including neglect and exploitation.

Reporting Safeguarding Concerns

If a crime is in progress, or an individual in immediate danger, call the police, as you would in any other circumstances. 

If you are a beneficiary, or member of the public, make your concerns known to a member of Dance For Life Devon who will alert a senior member of the company.

The directors 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.

 

Staff Safeguarding Responsibilities

This safeguarding policy will be reviewed and approved by the Board annually. 

A lead Safe Guarding Officer (Linda Hesselden)  with 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 feels 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 a 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 that all relevant checks are carried out in recruiting staff and volunteers.

·       Planning programmes/activities to consider 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.

·       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 (eg 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 staff, volunteers, and others aware of:

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

Safe Guarding and GDPR

·       Protect people’s personal data and follow GDPR legislation.

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

Last reviewed August 2024 by L Hesselden and M Pourian