Safeguarding Statement

This document will be reviewed annually by The 3H Foundation to ensure continual compliance with Charity Commission requirements and associated legislation, and for observing relevant Codes of Practice to measure service performance and to identify any areas for potential improvement, unless requested as part of, or pre-requisite to, any Service Improvement Plan (SIP).

Any changes needing to be made to this document will be made via the The 3H Foundation Change Management Process as described in Section 9 of the Governance Document.

By signing this document, the trustees nominated agree to commit to the responsibilities identified in this document. The document can be signed with an electronic signature or by typing in the names of the Chair and Deputy Chair as long as accompanied by an email confirming approval of the policy. The emails relating to the approval will be held in the office along with the electronic signatures.

The scope of this document is in the context of The 3H Foundation complying with the requirements of its regulatory bodies in relation to the services it provides as follows:

• The 3H Foundation Governance Strategy
• The 3H Foundation Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM)
• The 3H Foundation Change Management
• The 3H Foundation Continuous Service Improvement
• The 3H Foundation Group Holiday Programme
• The 3H Foundation Carers Programme
• The 3H Foundation TeensPLUS
• The 3H Foundation Grant Programme

     Purpose of Document

The 3H Foundation(referred to in this document as 3H) is a charity which arranges group holidays a year, funds a number of holiday grants for low income families and carers, provides funding for organisations working with people aged 13 – 25 with disabilities and young carers.  Supports adult carers through known organisations and home respite opportunities.

All 3H programmes have the possibility of supporting ‘Adults at Risk’ and/or ‘Children in Need’.

3H is committed to promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk and protecting them from the risk of harm. It recognises its statutory duty to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and to ensuring that all adults are safe from the risk of abuse as defined by the Care Act 2014.

Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. It’s fundamental to high-quality health and social care. Safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk is everyone’s business and defined as:

• Effective response to allegations of harm and abuse
• Using learning to improve service to service users

The policy is written to inform how 3H sets out to protect its service users.

3H is committed to devising and implementing policies so that everyone within the organisation accepts their responsibilities for safeguarding service users.  This means creating a safe environment in which our service users can flourish, following procedures to protect them and reporting any concerns about their welfare to the appropriate authorities.

The policy and procedure helps us to achieve this by:

• Supporting us to safeguard service users, by defining abuse and informing us what to do.
• Ensuring we all work to the same policy and procedure.
• Making sure we are accountable for what we do.
• Being clear about the roles and responsibilities we all have in safeguarding.
• Saying what staff can expect from the organisation to help them work effectively.

 Service users are informed of the policy as appropriate.

The policy applies to anyone with whom we are in contact in the course of our activities.

The purpose of this policy is to give all staff and volunteers a clear understanding of their statutory roles and responsibilities for safeguarding service users effectively using relevant Safeguarding procedures.

Safeguarding children – In Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) two key principles are set out which should underpin all effective safeguarding arrangements for children:

• Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: for services to be effective, each professional organisation should play their full part; and
• A child-centred approach: for services to be effective they need to be based on a clear understanding of the needs and views of children.

Working together to Safeguard Children also defines safeguarding and promoting welfare of children as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment.
• Preventing impairment of children’s health and development.
• Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Children want to be respected, their views to be heard, have stable relationships with professionals built on trust and to have consistent support provided for their individual needs.  This should guide the behaviour of professionals.  Anyone working with children should see and speak to the child; listen to what they say; take their views seriously; and work with them collaboratively when deciding how to support their needs.

Safeguarding Adults – In the Care and Support Statutory Guidance to the Care Act (updated February 2017), the government set out six principles (see below) which underpin all safeguarding work for adults. The principles apply across all sectors and settings.

• Empowerment – people being supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent.
• Prevention – It is better to take action before harm occurs.
• Proportionality – The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.
• Protection – Support and representation for those in greatest need.
• Partnership – Local solutions through services working with their communities. Communities have a part to play in preventing, detecting and reporting abuse and neglect.
• Accountability – Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.

Safeguarding adults means:

• Protecting the rights of adults to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.
• People and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect.
• People and organisations making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, taking fully into account their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action.
• Recognising that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances and therefore potential risks to their safety or wellbeing.

3H safeguarding arrangements should always promote the adult’s wellbeing.  Being safe is only one of many things that adults want for themselves and there can be some challenges in balancing safety and freedom in a way which protects and fulfils human rights.

All adults should be presumed to have capacity to make decisions about their lives.  If they are assessed as lacking capacity to make a particular decision at a particular time, a decision must be made in their best interests.  (See the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards for more information.

  Principles

3H is committed to the following principles:

• The welfare and safety of children and adults at risk is paramount
• The safeguarding of children and adults at risk is everyone’s responsibility
• Having processes in place that help ensure we are all safeguarding in practice
• Treat all children and adults fairly, regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or beliefs
• Listening to service users and taking account of what they tell us in making decisions about them
• Taking all reasonable steps to protect service users from abuse, harm, discrimination and degrading treatment
• All allegations and suspicions of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
• Having clear arrangements for how safeguarding is implemented within The 3H Foundation (Helping Hands for Holidays)
• Holding service users information with care and use it for agreed purposes only
• Seeking to support all those affected by abuse

In order to ensure continual compliance to the relevant legislation and guidance detailed previously in this document, the Charity (through its staff, volunteers and trustees) will measure service performance, identify any areas for potential improvement and implement a Service Improvement Plan (SIP).

Accountability

Overall accountability for safeguarding arrangements within 3H rests with the Board of Trustees.

This responsibility is delegated to the safeguarding lead has responsibility to support the organisation, staff, and volunteers to fulfil their responsibilities appropriately for safeguarding and ensuring that the trustees’ responsibilities are fulfilled.

Responsibility

In relation to safeguarding and abuse all staff and volunteers have a responsibility to:

• Be aware of their responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of service users.
• Provide all service users with the best possible service.
• Desist from any abusive/harmful action in relation to service users.
• Report any act that they may consider to be abusive or harmful.
• Co-operate in the investigation of any incident or alleged incident of abuse.
• Complete required training on safeguarding and abuse.

 Staff and volunteers must be aware of the procedure for reporting any type of abuse or circumstances that may lead to abuse and to whom this should be reported.

Safeguarding Lead Responsibilities

Within 3H the Safeguarding Lead, supported by the Charity Manager, will have responsibility for:

• Developing systems and structures which ensure that the best possible service is delivered.
• Encouraging a culture and ethos that does not tolerate any sort of abuse/harm.
• Auditing and revising the service’s policies and procedures to prevent and deal with any complaints.
• Swiftly investigating any complaints.
• Learning from any incidents of safeguarding and implementing improvements to procedures and policies to effect changes if any deficiencies which appear in the way in which 3H operates.
• Liaising with the relevant safeguarding authorities and following their guidance and instructions where applicable.

 The Safeguarding Lead will ensure that service users, advocates and/or those acting on their behalf are made aware of 3H’s safeguarding policy and procedures where applicable.

Staff and Volunteer Recruitment

3H has a recruitment process in place for all staff and volunteers. All staff and volunteers working directly with service users are subject to reference checks to ensure they are suitable. They have also undergone advanced level Disclosure and Barring Checks.

Training

3H will arrange training for all staff and volunteers working directly with service users.

Staff and Volunteer Support

3H recognises that involvement with Safeguarding issues can be very stressful and should take reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of staff or volunteers involved in safeguarding investigations by offering appropriate support e.g. counselling. This may include supporting staff or volunteers who have been accused of abuse.

Reference documents

• Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
• Mental Capacity Act 2005
• The Children Act 1989 and 2004
• The Care Act 2014
• The Human Rights Act 1998
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government 2018)
• What to do if you are worried a child is being abused – Advice for Practitioners (HM Government 2015)
• Equality Act 2010
• Sexual Offences Act 2003
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/safeguarding-duties-for-charity-trusteesSafeguarding Guidance and Procedures

 What is abuse?

Abuse is defined as ‘a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is the expectation of trust, which may cause harm or puts a person at risk, damages their quality of life or causes distresses.

Abuse can take many forms.
The list below is not exhaustive, but illustrates the sort of behaviour that would give rise to a Safeguarding concern:

• Physical abuse: includes assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, and misuse of medication, restraint, or inappropriate sanctions.
• Domestic violence: includes psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional abuse, controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and so called ‘honour’ based violence.
• Sexual abuse: includes rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, sexual assault or sexual acts to which the person has not consented or was pressured into consenting.
• Psychological abuse: includes emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation or unreasonable or unjustified withdrawal of services or support networks.
• Financial or material abuse: including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to a person’s financial affairs or arrangements, including in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, of the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.
• Modern slavery: encompasses slavery, human trafficking, and forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.
• Discriminatory abuse: includes forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
• Organisational abuse: includes neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting such as a hospital, hospice or care home or in relation to care provided in one’s own home. This may range from one-off incidents to ongoing ill-treatment.  It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.
• Neglect and acts of omission: includes ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.

 Actions we will take to prevent abuse form occurring

• Informing all trustees, staff and volunteers of procedures in place within our organisation and being aware of the types of abuse to service users and the steps taken to report such incidents.
• Implementing a recruitment policy that demands that all relevant staff and volunteers, who directly work with service users, have the required references in place and are subject to clearance through the DBS criminal records and barred list. Equivalent checks will be made for staff employed from overseas.
• Ensure that all staff and volunteers, who work directly with service users, at all levels are given the correct training about abuse, harm and safeguarding.
• Our staff and volunteers, who work directly with service users, will receive training of how to protect the rights of others. As part of their induction, staff and volunteers will be made aware of discrimination, which might amount to discriminatory abuse or cause psychological harm.  This includes discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion, belief or sexual orientation.
• Incorporated into our staff and volunteers induction will be information on diversity, beliefs and values of people who use services and how this impacts on their everyday lives.
• If The 3H Foundation employs nursing staff, even as a volunteer, it is the responsibility of the safeguarding lead to ensure that checks are made to ascertain the current status of the applicant’s registration category.
• Our staff and volunteers must take appropriate action from any source where abuse and harm are reported.
• Fostering an environment of openness and transparency where trustees, staff, volunteers, service users and other stakeholders feel able to report any concerns they may have of a service user being subjected to abuse.
• Reporting any safeguarding concerns to the officers of the Local Adults Safeguarding Board and the Care Quality Commission within the framework of current policies and professional guidance.

 Acting on and reporting abuse

• Any trustee, member of staff or volunteer must be aware of the procedure for reporting to the safeguarding lead any type of abuse or circumstances that may lead to abuse. If the abuse involves the safeguarding lead, then the incident must be passed on to the manager next in line. This will either be the charity manager or a trustee.
• Staff and volunteers should be aware of situations which might cause actual or potential harm and use their best judgement to stop any further harm being perpetrated. Staff and volunteers should seek help and support during any intervention and report it to the safeguarding lead as soon as possible.
• The safeguarding lead will take immediate action to identify and stop any abuse, including separating the abuser from the abused person; this might be a service user, volunteer or staff member.
• The safeguarding lead must take additional action to provide further support, protection and care to a service user, volunteer or staff member who has been harmed.
• A best interest’s decision may be made on behalf of a service user who has been subject to harm. They may lack capacity and be unable to give their consent to the matter being reported.  This will be carried out in line with Mental Capacity Procedures.
• It is the responsibility of the safeguarding lead to discuss with any service user, volunteer or staff member that has been considered to be abused or harmed and what type of action might be taken. The service user, volunteer or staff member may not want the matter to proceed with a referral being made to any authority.  It is still the holiday leader’s responsibility to seek advice from the charity manager about the appropriate course of action to take.
• The safeguarding lead will ensure that the trustees are kept informed of any incident or investigation and will provide a report/reports as is necessary.
• The safeguarding lead will ensure that the local safeguarding authority is informed of the abuse according to local safeguarding procedures in place. This will ensure that any investigation that is deemed necessary will take place.
• It is the responsibility of the safeguarding lead to report any allegations or actual abuse to appropriate family and other stakeholders.
• In some circumstances, the safeguarding lead will need to inform the police of the matter and take guidance from them on what measures need to be taken.
• All aspects of the service user, volunteer or staff member’s privacy and dignity will be protected at this time.
• As part of any investigation, the safeguarding lead will take the lead from the Local Safeguarding Authority and attend strategy meetings where requested with other interested stakeholders to ensure that an action plan is in place to safeguard the service user, volunteer and staff member and prevent similar incidents occurring. This will be met following the timescales and direction of the Safeguarding Authority.
• The safeguarding lead should contribute to actions required including sharing information and attending forums where experience and lessons learned can be shared with other providers.
• The safeguarding lead may seek specialist advice and support when addressing and managing an incident of abuse that has occurred.

  Action to be taken following an investigation

• If abuse was established and was perpetrated from a trustee, staff member or volunteer, the safeguarding lead should initiate the 3H Disciplinary Policy. If the abuse is proved against a trustee or staff member, the most likely action would be dismissal and a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.  If the abuse is proved against a volunteer, the most likely action would be a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.  This would prevent the individual concerned from obtaining future employment in the care sector.
• Other sanctions could apply depending on whether there might have been mitigating or extenuating circumstances. In some cases, retraining could be appropriate.
• The service user, volunteer or staff member and their family (as appropriate) will be informed of any further outcomes from the investigation and be consulted about any form of redress or apology being issued by 3H.

 Support given to staff, volunteers and services users

• As part of the supporting role, the safeguarding lead should ensure that reasonable steps are taken to ensure arrangements are put in place to enable trustees, staff, volunteers and service users affected by the incident to access counselling services if required.
• Any allegation of abuse, harm or discrimination will be treated seriously.
• People should be supported to take part in the safeguarding process to the extent to which they want or are able to, or to which the process allows and are kept informed of progress.
• The safeguarding lead should ensure that people are made aware of support and encourage the service user to access sources of support outside the service, including local independent information advice, independent mental capacity advocacy services or independent mental health advocacy services where relevant.
• The safeguarding lead promotes a culture within 3H where people feel reassured that treatment and support will not be compromised if they raise issues of abuse.

 Records to be taken

• At each stage of the process, accurate records of all actions will be recorded, paying close attention to the sensitivity of the situation regarding the service user, volunteer or staff member and their family as appropriate.
• All records relating to any safeguarding incident will be kept separate from other records and in a confidential folder.
• A record will be kept of all staff and volunteers who have been made aware, read and understood our policy on safeguarding and abuse.
• A record will be kept of all staff and volunteers who have received safeguarding training. This training will be updated for all staff and volunteers when due.
• The record will display the status of staff and volunteer safeguarding training for compliance.

 Learning from incidents of abuse

• At the end of an incident involving possible or actual abuse/harm, the safeguarding lead should carry out a review of what has happened. The purpose of the review is to establish whether 3H, its management, staff or volunteers, have been in any way culpable, ineffective or negligent.  The lessons learnt should pave the way for how 3H should operate in the future.
• If necessary 3H policies, procedures and training arrangement should be modified in response to any material that has emerged from the incident or the investigation.

Reporting incidences and accidents

Police

Call 999 if a person is in immediate danger or 101 to report a crime or non-emergency.

Contact details for local police forces can be found on the police website.
https://www.police.uk/

Social Care Team

If a child or young person is a risk of or is being abused contact the children’s social team at their local council.

If you are concerned about someone not being treated appropriately whilst living in a care home or being mistreated by a carer contact the local council.

Contact details for local councils can be found on the Government website.
https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council

Other Organisations available for support and advice

• NSPCC Helpline – 0808 800 5000
  Counsellors available for help, advice and support if you are worried about a child.
  (Free and open 24 hours a day)
• Childline – 0800 1111
  Free, confidential advice and support for people under 18.
  (Free and open 24 hours a day)
• Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0808 2000 247
  Support if you are facing domestic abuse.
  (Free and open 24 hours a day)
• Galop – 0800 999 5428
  Support for those who identify as LGBT+ and who are victims of domestic abuse.
• Respect Men’s advice line – 0808 8010327
  Freephone helpline for male victims of domestic abuse.
• Hourglass – Freetext – 078 60005 2906/ Helpline 0808 808 8141
  Helpline for elderly people experiencing abuse.
• The Survivors Trust – 08088 010818
  Support for those who have been victims and survivors of sexual violence.
  (Free Helpline)
• The Samaritans – 0116 123
  Support for those who are having a difficult time or for those who are worried about someone else.
  (Free Helpline)
• Age UK – 0800 678 1174
  Advice line for those concerned about abuse.

The Charity Commission

3H is registered and regulated by The Charity Commission.  The Charity Commission requires any registered charity to report ‘serious incidents’ including safeguarding concerns.

Where a safeguarding incident has been or has potentially been committed it should usually be reported to the police in the area where the offence took place.  If the offence took place across a number of police force areas, the offence should be reported to the police in the area where the primary or greatest prevalence of offences took place.

The Charity Commission requires any safeguarding concerns to be reported to them which have resulted or could have resulted in harm.

Any incidents involving a partner of a charity which affects the charity, its staff, operations, finances and/or reputation may also need to be reported to The Charity Commission. Partners may include an organisation who is delivering a service on behalf of the charity or an organisation/individual the charity has awarded funding to.

The reporting of serious incidents to The Charity Commission rests with the trustees however can be delegated to someone else in the charity.