London Youth believes that it is always unacceptable for a child, young person or vulnerable adult to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by a commitment to practice, which protects them.

We recognise that:

• The welfare of the child, young person or vulnerable adult is paramount and that their voice is central and represented in our safeguarding systems.
• London Youth is committed to being an anti-racist organisation and will advance a culture of non-discrimination and respect in order to promote equality and enable fair treatment of young people, vulnerable adults and other users of London Youth’s services. All children, young people and vulnerable adults regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief or lack thereof, sexual orientation or identity have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
• All our staff and volunteers need to be carefully selected, trained and supervised and accept responsibility for safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults they encounter.
• London Youth should subscribe to the ‘do no harm’ principle. It is possible, inadvertently, to cause harm to young people if our work with young people is not well thought through, documented, and delivered with quality.

This policy is mandatory for anybody working for or on behalf of London Youth meaning all paid staff, including staff working on short-term contracts and permanent contractors (e.g., the catering contractor at Hindleap and Woodrow), and volunteers including the Board of Trustees and Advisers. The policy must be applied whenever there is a concern about a child, young person or vulnerable adult or about the behaviour of an adult or child who may be causing or intends to cause harm to a child, young person or vulnerable adult.

We will endeavour to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults by:

• Valuing them, listening to and respecting them.
• Adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
• Taking a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
• Conducting robust recruitment and selection processes including the necessary safety checks in respect of references, declarations and DBS checks.
• Sharing information about safeguarding concerns and good practice with stakeholders.
• Reporting to the appropriate Statutory Service any suspicion that a child, young person or vulnerable adult has suffered, is suffering, or is at risk of suffering abuse.
• Reporting to the Local Area Designated Officer (LADO) any accusations or concerns raised about a member of London Youth’s staff or volunteers.
• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training including guidance on what to do if an individual is worried about a child or young person.

This Policy will be reviewed when needed or at least annually.

View our full Safeguarding Policy.