DoES Liverpool Safeguarding Policy

DoES Liverpool Safeguarding Policy

• Last Reviewed 20/10/2020

Policy Statement

DoES Liverpool is an independent maker-space, co-working space and events space. As such the space is accessed by a wide variety of people. Events are run by outside organisations and by individuals and community members on a voluntary basis. Children are welcome in the space but under 18s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and are the responsibility of that adult whilst in the space. Our safeguarding policy is available to all community members and visitors and is accessible on https://github.com/DoESLiverpool/somebody-should/wiki/DoES-Liverpool-Safeguarding-Policy

What is Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals, which allows people - especially children, young people and vulnerable adults, to live free from abuse, harm and neglect

DoES Liverpool Guiding Principles on Safeguarding

The members of DoES Liverpool are committed to providing an inclusive and safe space for members and visitors, including children, young adults and vulnerable adults. You can read the DoES safe spaces policy here: https://github.com/DoESLiverpool/somebody-should/wiki/DoES-Liverpool-Safe-Spaces-Policy

Aim of Policy

The aim of this policy is to safeguard the wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults who are members of or visitors to DoES Liverpool.
To provide employees and community members with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child and vulnerable adult protection.

Legal Framework

This policy has been written on the basis of legislation that seeks to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults in England. The Children Act 1989 (as amended by section 53 of the Children Act 2004), Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Care Act 2014.

Definitions

Child: For the purposes of this policy a child is defined as someone who is under 18

Vulnerable Adult: A vulnerable adult is a person aged 18 years or over who may be unable to take care of themselves or protect themselves from harm or from being exploited.

This may include a person who:

• Is elderly and frail
• Has a mental illness including dementia
• Has a physical or sensory disability
• Has a learning disability
• Has a severe physical illness
• Is a substance or alcohol misuser
• Is homeless

What is abuse?

Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any other person or persons. It may be one or repeated acts of abuse,

Abuse can occur in any relationship and it may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the person subjected to it.

Abuse can be:

• Physical, for example hitting, slapping, pushing or physically restraining, or the mismanagement of medication.
• Emotional or psychological, for example shouting and swearing to make a person afraid.
• Sexual, for example unwanted touching, kissing or sexual intercourse. includes non-contact activities involving children in looking at or be involved in sexual online images and or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
• Financial, for example money or belongings taken under pressure or stolen without consent.
• Neglectful, for example not being properly cared for, mismanaging medication or being denied privacy, choice or social contact.
• Discriminatory, for example suffering abuse or neglect on the grounds of religion, culture, gender, sexuality or disability.

What is disclosure ?

If someone tells you someone is harming them - this is disclosure.

How to respond to disclosure

• Listen to what the the child or adult is telling you
• Never promise to keep something a secret or confidential
• Do explain that you will need to pass the information on.
• Don’t ask leading questions
• Don’t cast doubt on what they are telling you.
• Do reassure the person that they are doing the right thing in telling you.

Reporting Procedures

For any urgent matters contact the police detailing your concerns, and then inform the Directors.

If you need advice on less urgent matters, contact the Safeguarding Team.

Contact details for all the Directors and Safeguarding Team can be found on the People page of the wiki:

https://github.com/DoESLiverpool/somebody-should/wiki/People

Some additional useful contact details can be found at the end of this document.

Guidelines for use of images

Parental consent is required before taking photos or videos of children, or posting them on social media.

Useful Contacts

Merseyside Police	0151 709 6010
Careline	0151 233 3700
NSPCC Childline	0800 1111
Liverpool Social Services	0151 233 3000