Safeguarding policies

These policies apply to all staff, the board of trustees, volunteers (including students and ambassadors), or anyone working on behalf of The Brain Tumour Charity.

The purpose of these policies is:

• to protect children and adults at risk who are in contact with The Brain Tumour Charity. This includes the children of adults who are in contact with The Brain Tumour Charity.
• to protect staff and volunteers.
• to provide staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding.

Safeguarding children & young people

Find out more about our policy for safeguarding adults.

The Brain Tumour Charity believes that children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind. Through the implementation of this safeguarding policy, The Brain Tumour Charity will demonstrate its commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people.

Policy aim

The Brain Tumour Charity works with children and families as part of its activities. This includes direct contact with children and young people at family days, young adult and other charity wide events. Being a digital-first charity, we provide a large proportion of our support online, through email, social media, Live Chat and also via telephone and post. 

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

• To protect children who are in contact with The Brain Tumour Charity. This includes the children of adults who are in contact with The Brain Tumour Charity.
• To provide staff and volunteers, as well as children, young people and their families with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding.

This policy applies to all staff, the board of trustees, volunteers (including students and ambassadors), or anyone working on behalf of The Brain Tumour Charity.

For the purpose of this policy, the term children and young people is used to refer to those aged under 18. The term ‘children’ is used to refer to younger children who do not have the maturity and understanding to make decisions for themselves. The term ‘Young people’ is used to refer to older, more experienced children who typically have a greater ability to make decisions for themselves.

Legislation and guidance

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of law and guidance that seeks to protect children, including:

What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused: advice for practitioners (Department for Education, 2015). This describes the actions to take if you think a child is being abused.

Working together to safeguard children (Department for Education, 2018) details how organisations should work together to keep children safe.

The Children Act (1989) is the legal framework that protects children, with an emphasis on the children’s welfare being the paramount consideration. The Children Act (2014) strengthened the 1989 Act and encouraged closer partnerships between agencies.

It is worth noting that different guidance and laws cover different parts of the UK. The above is based on the child protection system in England. Although the child protection systems are different in each nation, they are based on similar principles.

Definitions

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment.
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development.
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes (‘Working Together’ 2018) .

In this policy, a child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday.

The abuse of children and young people:

Children and young people can be abused or mistreated in a number of ways including, but not limited to:

• Physical abuse
• Domestic abuse
• Female Genital Mutilation
• Sexual abuse
• Child sexual exploitation
• Emotional abuse
• Child trafficking and modern slavery
• Bullying
• Neglect

Further information about the different types of abuse and how to recognise the signs in children and young people can be found on the NSPCC’s website and on the charities ‘Safeguarding Children’ training on The Charity Academy.

The Brain Tumour Charity recognises that:

• The welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take.
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
• Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies and procedures and ensuring that these are regularly reviewed and available for children and families should they wish to see them.
• All staff conducting themselves in a manner that keeps children and young people safe.
• Ensuring that we take steps to safeguard children and young people’s needs online (refer to the E-Safety Policy statement for Children and Young People).
• Ensuring staff can access support and training to help them understand and respond to child protection concerns.
• Following safer recruitment practices.
• Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
• Using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately.
• Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteer appropriately
• Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

Responsibilities

Every member of staff or volunteer is responsible for familiarising themselves with the content of this policy and the associated safeguarding policies and procedures. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and it is down to the individual to raise concerns appropriately and in line with the Safeguarding procedure.

The Safeguarding Team are responsible for reviewing and deciding on the best course of action for all safeguarding enquiries which are received from staff across the charity. The safeguarding team consists of staff members from Officer to ‘Head Of’ level and they bring expertise and experience from a wide range of backgrounds including statutory social work.

The safeguarding lead, in consultation with the board of Trustees, will be responsible for regularly updating this policy and ensuring that all employees of the charity are familiar with its contents.

Policy Updated: September 2024

Next review due: September 2025

Named Safeguarding Lead: Jen Boilestad

Named Trustee Safeguarding Lead: Anna Jarvis

Safeguarding adults

The Brain Tumour Charity believes that safeguarding adults at risk is of paramount importance. Through the implementation of this policy, the Brain Tumour Charity will demonstrate its commitment to safeguarding all adults at risk who come into contact with our charity.

Policy aim

The Brain Tumour Charity may come into contact with adults at risk as part of its activities. This may include face to face contact at events or as part of the charities fundraising activities. Being a digital first charity, The Brain Tumour Charity is also likely to come into contact with adults at risk, or their carers, through support online, email, social media, Live Chat and also via telephone and post.

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

• Protect adults at risk who are in contact with The Brain Tumour Charity.
• Provide staff and volunteers and our community with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding.

This policy applies to all staff, the board of trustees, volunteers (including students and ambassadors), or anyone working on behalf of The Brain Tumour Charity.

Legal framework

The Care Act 2014 has six key principles which should underpin all adult safeguarding work.

Empowerment: Presumption of person led decisions and informed consent.

Prevention: It is better to take action before harm occurs.

Proportionality: decisions should be proportionate and 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.

Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.

The Mental Capacity Act (2005)

A key difference between safeguarding adults and children is that adults have the right to make their own decisions. Only in extreme situations where an individual is considered to lack capacity will the law intervene to protect them. The guiding principles of the Mental Capacity Act are:

• An individual should be presumed to have capacity and assumptions should not be made about an individuals ability to make their own decisions due to a medical condition or disability.
• Individuals should be supported to make their own decisions.
• People have the right to make unwise decisions.
• Where it is assessed that someone lacks capacity, any decisions made on their behalf must be done in their best interests.
• All decisions made on an individual’s behalf should be made via the least restrictive option.

Definitions

Safeguarding Adults at risk means protecting their right to live in safety free from abuse or neglect. Safeguarding duties for adults at risk apply when working with anyone aged 18 or over who:

• Has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs).
• Is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect.
• As a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect (The Care Act, 2014).

An adult at risk of abuse may:

• Have an illness affecting their mental or physical health.
• Have a learning disability.
• Suffer from drug or alcohol problems.
• Be frail.

The abuse of adults at risk

Abuse is a selfish act of oppression and injustice, exploitation and manipulation of power by those in a position of authority. This can be caused by those inflicting harm or those who fail to act to prevent harm. Abuse is not restricted to any socio-economic group, gender or culture.

The Care and Support Statutory Guidance Issued under the Care Act 2014 recognised the following categories of abuse that may be experienced by adults. However it is important to note that abuse can take on many different forms and is not solely limited to the below.

• Self-neglect
• Modern Slavery
• Domestic abuse
• Discriminatory
• Organisational
• Physical
• Sexual
• Financial or material
• Neglect and acts of omission
• Emotional or Psychological

Further information about the types of abuse and are available on the Ann Craft Trust website and on the charities ‘Safeguarding Adults’ training on The Charity Academy.

The Brain Tumour Charity recognises that:

• The welfare of adults at risk is of paramount importance.
• All people, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.
• Some adults are additionally vulnerable because of their care or support needs or because of past experiences.
• Working in partnership with adults at risk, their carers or families, communities and local agencies is essential in promoting their welfare.

We will seek to keep adults at risk safe by:

• Valuing, listening to and protecting them.
• Empowering them to make their own decisions.
• Prioritising the dignity, safety and well-being of the individual.
• Prioritising actions to protect, and be inclusive of adults at risk and prioritise actions that prevent harm from occurring.
• All staff conduct themselves in a manner that respects the dignity, pride and identity of adults at risk.
• Ensuring staff can access support and training to help them understand and respond to adult at risk concerns
• Following safer recruitment practices.
• Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for adults at risk by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
• Using our safeguarding policy and procedure to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving adults at risk, their families and carers where appropriate.
• Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately.
• Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, adults at risk and their carers and families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.
• Complying with the Fundraising Code of Practice (detailed within our Relationship Fundraising guidance) when we are working with adults at risk.

Specifically with regards to E-Safety:

• The Safeguarding lead will oversee the Charity’s approach to E-Safety along with the Safeguarding Team. We will respond to concerns about online abuse in line with The Brain Tumour Charity’s Safeguarding policy and procedure.
• We will be mindful of the fact that adults at risk can be both victims and perpetrators of online abuse.
• We will provide clear and specific directions to staff and volunteers on how to behave online including Sections 12 (Use of Company IT Hardware, Software or Other Equipment) and 13 (Social Networking Policy) of the Employee Handbook.
• We will support adults who use our social media channels to do so in a way that keeps them safe and shows respect for others. We post content in our Facebook Groups to encourage all members of the group to keep themselves safe by not sharing any personal information including their address or bank details. Members who sign up to our closed Facebook Groups are also sent a code of conduct upon joining the group.
• We will ensure personal information about the adults involved in our organisation is held securely and shared only as appropriate
• We will provide supervision and support for staff and volunteers about how to moderate our online groups and respond to any concerns identified online.
• We will risk assess any new social media platforms and technologies before they are used within the organisation.

Responsibilities

Every member of staff or volunteer is responsible for familiarising themselves with the content of this policy and the associated safeguarding policies and procedures. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and it is down to the individual to raise concerns appropriately and in line with the Safeguarding procedure.

The Safeguarding Team are responsible for reviewing and deciding on the best course of action for all safeguarding enquiries which are received from staff across the charity. The safeguarding team consists of staff members from Officer to ‘Head Of’ level and they bring expertise and experience from a wide range of backgrounds including statutory social work.

The safeguarding lead, in consultation with the board of Trustees, will be responsible for regularly updating this policy and ensuring that all employees of the charity are familiar with its contents.

Policy Updated: September 2024

Next review due: September 2025

Named Safeguarding Lead: Jen Boilestad

Named Trustee Safeguarding Lead: Anna Jarvis