Safeguarding policy

Kindness Counts UK is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by taking all reasonable steps to protect them from neglect, physical, sexual or emotional harm.

Kindness Counts UK aims to keep safe all children and young people who use its services, as well as the paid staff and volunteers who work for the charity.

Kindness Counts UK aims to provide safe, positive and empowering environments for all young people who engage in projects, programmes and events organised directly by it, or in partnership with other organisations.

Kindness Counts UK's work with young people aims to be fun and informative. This can only be achieved in an atmosphere of trust and respect.

Kindness Counts UK recognises that there are a variety of approaches required to ensure an effective prevention of harm strategy. These include creating the right environment, developing practice standards, empowering young people, paid staff and volunteers, sharing information and developing a monitoring role.

This policy and procedure will be reviewed every two years, to ensure that the operation of this procedure is satisfactory. This document was created in August 2024.

Kindness Counts UK will review any incidents during the year and take the appropriate action to resolve them, adapting policies and procedures immediately if so required.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer will be specifically trained to carry out this role, and will be familiar with and have an understanding of all legislation and guidance relating to safeguarding and child protection.

They receive information from paid staff, volunteers, children and young people, parents and carers about child protection concerns, assess that information promptly and take appropriate action.

They maintain secure, confidential records of any child protection or other safeguarding concerns raised, action taken and follow-up required, and provide support during and after incidents involving child protection.

They know how to contact and establish links with the Local Safeguarding Children Boards and the relevant departments within local authorities and police, and are familiar with local referral procedures.

They assess the safeguarding and child protection learning and development needs of all staff and volunteers and coordinate the training, promote safeguarding across the organisation, and keep all staff and volunteers informed on good practice and new legislation and guidance.

They monitor the overall trend of safeguarding concerns, keep records of their disposal, and feed back to the organisation on the quality of its safeguarding work.

It is not the responsibility of staff to decide whether a young person has been abused or is at significant risk. Investigation of child abuse is a specialised professional task which should only be undertaken by the designated agencies — the local authority children's services, the police, the Local Safeguarding Children's Board or the NSPCC. However, staff have a responsibility to act on any concerns and report them in accordance with the reporting procedure.

The one thing a staff member must not do is nothing.

Act immediately — do not delay. Consider whether the child or young person is in immediate danger. If they are, contact the police, local authority, Local Safeguarding Children's Board, or parents or carers if appropriate.

If allegations have been made about a member of staff or a volunteer, report the matter to someone higher within the organisation. The organisation's disciplinary procedure should be followed.

If the child is not in immediate danger and you are with the child, listen to what they want to share with you about the incident. Do not ask leading or interrogating questions — only questions for clarification.

Contact your local services team and discuss any future action with them. For an allegation against a member of staff or a volunteer, contact the Local Safeguarding Children's Board Local Authority Designated Officer; regarding a child, contact children's services; regarding a vulnerable adult, contact adult services.

Agree with the Local Safeguarding Children's Board team ongoing support for the child. When considering and taking any action, the child or young person's welfare must be paramount.

Record the name, age, date of birth, home address and telephone number of the child.

Record whether the person making the report is expressing their own concerns or those of someone else.

Record the nature of the allegation, including dates, times, any special factors and other relevant information.

Make a clear distinction between what is fact, opinion or hearsay.

Record a description of any visible bruising or other injuries, and any indirect signs such as unusual or distinctive behaviour.

Consent must be obtained from a child's parent or carer for any Kindness Counts UK activity involving a person under the age of 18. A Kindness Counts UK consent form will be used for this purpose.

Kindness Counts UK may want to take photographs or record the activities undertaken by the children, and commits to ensure that all publications and media represent participants appropriately and with due respect.

Individuals and organisations commissioned by us, or working in partnership with us, cannot use film and photography without the consent of the participating groups.

Where possible and appropriate, Kindness Counts UK gets explicit consent when people register for an event directly.

During activities, copies of consent forms will be available to relevant staff present, in case of an emergency and the need to contact a parent or carer. Forms will be kept in a place which is only accessible to staff, and the location of the forms must be known to all staff participating in the event. Personal information about the individual will not accompany the image.

Kindness Counts UK receives a blanket permission to record our events through film and photography. However, should a parent, carer or child not give consent, then no filming or photographs of them shall take place. This permission restricts use to Kindness Counts UK's own promotional use — our website and social media.

Kindness Counts UK states at events that it will be taking photographs and video of activities and performances for use within its photographic library, printed publications, publicity and on its website, to support and promote the work of the charity.

While Kindness Counts UK staff will ensure that young people's rights to privacy and confidence are respected, there may be times when that confidence needs to be breached.

If a child discloses information about themselves or another child which raises safeguarding concerns about the safety of that young person or others, then these concerns will be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Officer in line with the reporting procedure included in this policy.

Kindness Counts UK will ensure that the young person is involved, consulted and kept informed about what action, if any, is to be taken, and during each step of the reporting procedure.

Any personal information gathered about a child regarding a child protection concern will be stored in a secure and confidential place. Only appropriate staff will have access to this information — the paid staff member or volunteer involved, and the Designated Safeguarding Officer. It may be necessary to pass this information on to the relevant local authority and police.

Kindness Counts UK staff will ensure that any information gained or given will be treated with the strictest confidence. Children will be consulted and involved in the decision-making.

Neglect: the persistent or severe neglect and failure to meet the child's or young person's basic physical or psychological needs — food, warmth, shelter, clothing, care and protection.

Physical: any form of non-accidental injury, or failure to protect against injury to a child or young person. This may involve hitting, shaking, poisoning, throwing, suffocating, burning and scalding. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes, ill health to a child or young person under their care.

Emotional: severe or persistent rejection or emotional ill treatment of the child or young person which would negatively affect their emotional or behavioural development.

Sexual: the actual, or likely, sexual exploitation of the child or young person by any person, whether or not that child or young person is aware of what is happening. This includes physical contact and non-physical contact — looking at pornographic material, watching sexual activities, or encouraging children and young people to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

It is also recognised that there are other sources of stress for children and their families, for example social exclusion, domestic violence, mental illness, or drug and alcohol misuse.

Children's wellbeing is paramount, and therefore staff, where applicable, will be Enhanced DBS checked.

A parent or another responsible adult must be present during Kindness Counts UK's activities.

Kindness Counts UK does not take any responsibility for anyone entering or leaving the hub or any other venue in relation to its activities, except when due to the negligence of Kindness Counts UK's staff, including volunteers.