Safeguarding

Every organisation and group has a duty to safeguard – Even small groups that deliver charitable activities have a duty to safeguard their volunteers, staff members, participants and donors. Safeguarding is about creating a safe, welcoming, respectful environment for everyone and identifying when there is a risk of that not being the case.

Safeguarding should be a day to day practice, and for organisations it’s about making sure your policies and procedures are set up in a way that actively prevents harm, harassment, bullying, abuse and neglect, and that you’re ready to respond in the right way if there is a problem. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NVCO) is a great place to find information and detailed guidance about safeguarding tailored to specific groups of people, for example trustees and volunteer managers.

Support from York CVS

At York CVS we are able to support organisations with safeguarding policy templates, reviews of safeguarding polices, training on safeguarding and signposting to further resources – get in touch.

Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East (VONNE) have created easy to read factsheets for the sector, designed as brief introductions to the subject matter with links showing where to get further information for people and organisations who are new to safeguarding and having to respond quickly whilst facing enormous challenges. View all the factsheets on their website.