Policy templates / Safeguarding Policy
Charity Safeguarding Policy Template (Free, UK)
Filled in from your workspace when you adopt it in CharityControl. A starting point to adapt, not legal advice.
1. Purpose and who this covers
your charity is committed to keeping safe everyone who comes into contact with us: our beneficiaries, our volunteers, our staff, our trustees and our visitors. This policy sets out how we do that and what to do if someone is at risk. It applies to all trustees, staff and volunteers.
2. Our safeguarding lead and how to escalate
Our safeguarding lead (sometimes called the designated safeguarding lead, or DSL) is from your register. They are the first point of contact for any concern. In their absence, contact from your register.
If the concern is about the safeguarding lead, or you cannot reach them or the deputy, do not let it stall. Go to the chair, from your register, or go straight to the outside authorities:
- Local authority safeguarding: from your register
- Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO): from your register
- Police (non-emergency): 101. If someone is in immediate danger: 999
The same route applies to an allegation against any trustee, member of staff or volunteer: it is never handled by the person it is about. Every trustee, member of staff and volunteer is told who the safeguarding lead is and how to reach them.
3. Recognising, reporting and keeping records
If you are worried that someone is being harmed or is at risk, tell the safeguarding lead the same day. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 first.
Do not investigate yourself. Never promise to keep it secret. Write down what was said in the person's own words, plus what you saw, when it happened and what you did. Record facts, not opinion.
These notes are kept in one confidential safeguarding record held by the safeguarding lead and deputy only. It is shared strictly on a need-to-know basis. It is not saved to a shared drive, a group chat or personal files.
We keep safeguarding records far longer than ordinary records, because someone may need them many years later. In line with the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA),6 we keep a record of a safeguarding concern about a child until that child's 75th birthday,6 and a record about an adult at risk for at least 7 years after our last contact, unless a specific reason means we keep it for longer. We do not keep a DBS certificate itself beyond 6 months,7 but we do record that the check was done, its level and the date. These are the exact periods our document retention policy points to.
4. Safer recruitment
Before anyone takes on a role, we risk-assess that role to decide whether it is eligible for a DBS check and at what level.5 Roles working with children or adults at risk are checked at the correct level.
Nobody starts regulated activity with children or adults at risk until the DBS certificate and at least one reference are back and recorded in our safeguarding recruitment register. We also talk about safeguarding at induction.
5. Reporting serious incidents and barring referrals
A safeguarding incident may also be a serious incident that the charity has to report to the Charity Commission.3 The safeguarding lead assesses and reports it under our Serious Incident Reporting Policy, which holds the reporting test and the timing.
Alongside any Commission report, the safeguarding lead:
- tells local authority safeguarding or the police straight away, using the numbers in clause 2, or calls 999 if someone is in immediate danger;
- makes a barring referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) where we have removed a person from regulated activity with children or adults at risk, or would have removed them, because they harmed someone or posed a risk of harm. This is a legal duty, not a choice.4 Clause 9 sets out how we do this.
If in doubt about whether something is serious, report it rather than debate it.
6. Basic training
The safeguarding lead and deputy complete lead-level safeguarding training. Front-line volunteers and staff in contact with beneficiaries have basic safeguarding awareness at induction, covering how to spot a concern and how to report it.
7. Review
The trustees review this policy at least once a year, and after any incident, because safeguarding carries more risk than most areas we govern. Approved by the board on your review date; next review your review date.
More about this policy
When you need it
Every charity has safeguarding duties. The exact law depends on what you do and who you work with. A charity working with children or adults at risk carries specific statutory duties.[1] A charity with none still has a duty to protect everyone who comes into contact with it: staff, volunteers, visitors and donors. The Charity Commission expects a written policy that fits your risk and is reviewed regularly. This is a starting point, not legal advice.
What it protects against5 examples
A new volunteer or trustee starts working with children or vulnerable adults before their DBS check comes back, or in a role nobody risk-assessed, so no check was ever done.
The policy makes someone risk-assess each role for the right DBS level, and no one starts regulated activity until the check and a reference are in and logged in the register.
A child or adult tells a volunteer something worrying, the volunteer promises to keep it secret, then either sits on it to gather more proof or tries to investigate it themselves.
The policy says report the same day, never promise secrecy, never investigate. Write down what was said in the person's own words and pass it to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
The only person who knows what to do is the DSL, and the concern is about the DSL, or the DSL is on holiday, so it stalls and nobody escalates outside the charity.
The policy names a DSL and a deputy with contact numbers, and gives a route round them (chair, or straight to the local authority, LADO or police) when the concern is about the lead.
A concern is dealt with quietly, but the notes end up in a shared drive, a group chat, or nowhere at all, so it is either leaked or lost.
The policy sets one confidential record kept by the DSL and deputy only, written up at the time, shared strictly on a need-to-know basis.
A serious incident happens, a disclosure of abuse, a volunteer harming someone, but nobody reports it to the Charity Commission, LADO or police because no one knows the threshold.
The policy states when to make a serious incident report and who does it, with the external numbers listed so trustees act within the reporting window instead of debating it.
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How to enforce it
Practical steps to make it live, not just filed:
- Name a Designated Safeguarding Lead and a deputy. Put their names and phone numbers on the policy, on the noticeboard, and in the induction pack so everyone knows who to tell.
- Before anyone starts a role, risk-assess it for the right DBS level, take up a reference, and log the DBS number and date in the safeguarding register. Set a reminder for renewals.
- Use one reporting route: the person who hears a concern writes it down the same day on a standard form and gives it to the DSL, who records it in a confidential file only they and the deputy can open.
- Make safeguarding a standing item at every trustee meeting. Review any concerns raised, check which DBS checks are due, and review the whole policy once a year.
- Cover it at induction. Every new trustee and volunteer reads the policy, signs to say they have, and knows the outside numbers to call: the local authority, the LADO, and the Charity Commission serious incident line.
What larger charities add4
Pull one in only when it matches something you actually do:
- Training refresh and role-appropriate levels Mid-size (£1m to £10m)+
- Formal allegations process (LADO) and DBS barring referrals Mid-size (£1m to £10m)+
- Safeguarding across partners, contractors and overseas work Large (£10m+)+
- Case management and assurance Large (£10m+)+
What people get wrong
- Copying a large charity's policy wholesale. A 25-page policy with LADO processes and overseas due-diligence you cannot run is worse than a two-page one you follow. Take only the clauses that fit your actual activities.
- Leaving the safeguarding lead blank. Name a real person and a deputy, and give a route round them for when the concern is about the safeguarding lead. A policy nobody owns is the failure the Commission sees most.
- Letting a volunteer start before checks are back. Risk-assess each role for the right DBS level, and let nobody begin regulated activity until the DBS check and a reference are back and logged.
- Forgetting the DBS barring referral when someone is removed. If you remove someone from regulated activity because they caused harm, or would have removed them had they not resigned, a referral to the DBS is a legal duty. Do it even if there was no prosecution.
- Thinking 'we don't work with children so we don't need one'. Every charity has a safeguarding duty to the people around it. Size the policy to your risk, but have one.
Terms used here6
- designated safeguarding lead
- The named person who is the first point of contact for any safeguarding concern.
- LADO
- Local Authority Designated Officer, the council contact who handles allegations against someone working with children.
- IICSA
- The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, whose recommendations set long retention periods for safeguarding records.
- DBS
- Disclosure and Barring Service, the UK criminal-record check for people working with children or adults at risk.
- regulated activity
- Work with children or adults at risk that is close or frequent enough to require an enhanced DBS check.
- serious incident
- An event the Charity Commission expects trustees to report, such as significant harm, fraud or a major loss.
Sources7
Numbered to match the [n] citations in the template.
- Safeguarding duties for charity trustees (Charity Commission) legal duty
- Safeguarding and protecting people for charities and trustees Commission guidance
- Report a serious incident (Charity Commission) legal duty
- Make barring referrals to the DBS legal duty
- DBS checks: detailed guidance and eligibility Commission guidance
- Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) good practice
- DBS code of practice Commission guidance