Safeguarding Adults & Children

All individuals have the right to live a life free from fear, to be treated with dignity and have their choices respected. Before starting your voluntary placement, you should have completed your mandatory training which covers the safeguarding of children and adults at risk.

Safeguarding is about protecting everyone from harm, abuse or neglect. The safeguarding process starts before volunteers are involved in any activity by making sure the right people are recruited in the first place, and that they receive the necessary support and guidance to carry out their volunteering safely and effectively. Effective safeguarding also looks beyond traditional notions of harm and abuse, taking into consideration health and safety, and other ways to ensure the health and well-being of volunteers and the people they support.

As a volunteer, you have:

• A duty of care. It is your duty to identify and report any concerns, not to take action or investigate further
• A responsibility to be aware of the Prevent strategy and an obligation to report concerns. As part of your volunteer training, you may also be asked to complete the Prevent training session. If in doubt, talk to your volunteer coordinator.
• If you do have any concerns whilst on your volunteer placement, please escalate these to a senior member of staff immediately.
• Should you be approached by a patient, carer, family member, visitor or member of staff to sign any form of legal document such as Power of Attorney forms or a Will, you must decline and immediately inform a senior member of staff.