Safeguarding

We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for those that benefit from our services to the community and participate in the activities that we organise.

Our premises are used by partner organisations that share our commitment to preserving our cultural identity, traditions and customs. They also share our commitment to safeguarding.

We believe that children, young or vulnerable persons should never experience abuse of any kind.

We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children, young people and the vulnerable; to keep them safe and to conduct ourselves in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take;
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, gender, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse
• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children safe by:

• valuing, listening to and respecting them and their wishes;
• appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people, and a board member for safeguarding
• adopting child protection and safeguarding best practices through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and other measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently
• recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all appropriate checks are made and that they are appropriately supervised in their activities
• recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance
• making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
• using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately
• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise
• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
• building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns

Our safeguarding commitment is implemented and fully supported by our executive board.

Designated safeguarding lead

Dr L Parvataneni

Safeguarding@ghanapathy.com