Safeguarding is a term that is typically used in the UK to denote measures to protect the well-being and human rights of children (under 18 years old) and protected/vulnerable adults from abuse, harm and neglect.
The safeguarding culture we have in our clubs and organisations is important as it embeds safeguarding values, ethos and the practices within our clubs or organisations. Its not about having only policies in place and it is not about how reactive you are to issues or concerns. It is about how you promote and embed safety and safeguarding into every aspect of your organisation where anyone in or impacted by your organisation is empowered to report concerns wherever they may arise. It is described as the way a ‘setting’ approaches safeguarding. It starts at the very top of the organisation with the senior managers pledging absolute commitment.
The Culture Self Evaluation for Clubs and Groups tool has been developed by the Ann Craft Trust and is a fantastic tool to evaluate and assess your organisations safeguarding culture and is appropriate for adult and child safeguarding. By answering the question, you will learn about the culture in your organisations and identify potential areas for improvement. Further adult protection resources can be found at the Ann Craft Trust and child protection resource at Children 1st.
