Safeguarding Policy 

United Kingdom

Last updated: May 2024

Policy Statement 

Greggs Foundation is committed to protecting people in contact with our organisation from risk of harm, including those within our organisation and those that we fund.  This policy sets out our approach to and responsibilities for safeguarding at the Foundation.   

Definition 

In relation to this policy: 

  • Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, well-being and rights so that everyone, especially children and adults at risk can live free from abuse, harm and neglect. 

  • This policy has been drawn up based on safeguarding legislation, policy and guidance including, and most relevant to us, the Charity Commission 2022 guidance ‘Safeguarding and protecting people for charities and trustees’ and the HM Government 2023 guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’. We also aim to support statutory requirements under the Children Acts 1989 and 2004; the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Social Work Act 2017. 

  • A child or young person is anyone who has not yet reached the age of 18. 

  • An adult at risk is someone over the age of 18 at risk of abuse or neglect but is unable to protect themselves because of their need for care and support.  

The Foundation does not work directly with children, young people, or adults at risk but key safeguarding risks in our work include but are not limited to: 

  • intentional harm from people in organisations we fund to their beneficiaries or wider public;  

  • harm arising from poorly designed projects we support;  

  • those acting on our behalf doing harm to staff, volunteers or beneficiaries in organisations we support;  

  • bullying, harassment, unlawful discrimination, or other forms of abuse within our staff, trustee directors or volunteer team. 

Safeguarding concerns could arise in relation to:  

  • organisations applying for or receiving funding from us;   

  • children or adults at risk applying for or receiving individual grants from us;  

  • partners and donors or potential partners and donors;  

  • those acting on our behalf including staff, volunteers and trustee directors 

Scope 

This policy and associated procedures apply to anyone acting on behalf of the Foundation including all staff, trustee directors, volunteers (including non-trustee director sub-committee members), consultants, breakfast club visitors and any other person visiting a school or other organisation on our behalf.   

Principles 

We will make all efforts to comply with the Charity Commission’s guidance on safeguarding. We must be confident that every organisation we fund has in place adequate safeguarding policies and procedures.  

No trustee director, staff or volunteer role at the Foundation is involved in working directly unsupervised with children or adults at risk as part of their role with the Foundation and so are not eligible for enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.  Staff whose roles may require frequent contact with children or adults at risk, albeit on a supervised basis, will obtain satisfactory basic or standard DBS checks.  In the first instance the Foundation manager, breakfast club managers and grants manager shall obtain a DBS check but such other members of staff as the Foundation manager deems necessary shall also obtain a DBS check. 

We will share information about the right to be safe and safeguarding practices to all engaged in our work, including through induction and training.  Any new trustee director, staff member or volunteer will, as a minimum, be provided with this and any related policies.  Foundation staff and trustee directors will be made aware of any updated and relevant safeguarding policy and training. 

Anyone who believes they are not receiving the support necessary to meet their safeguarding duties should raise this with their line manager as appropriate without fear of penalty or victimisation.  

Those designing new programmes, projects or activities will ensure risks of harm are identified and designed with safeguarding in mind, and regularly reviewed as part of monitoring activities.  

Before undertaking activities that may involve contact with children or adults at risk, staff, trustee directors, volunteers, consultants, breakfast club visitors and any other person visiting a school or other organisation on our behalf should: 

  • Be aware of the safeguarding policy and code of conduct. 

  • Behave in an appropriate way as ambassadors for the Foundation and in accordance with the code of conduct. 

  • Never be left in sole charge of children or adults at risk when travelling to or visiting an organisation, or when attending an event. 

Children and adults at risk may be present at certain Foundation events or meetings but they must always be accompanied by an appropriate representative of an organisation, or by a family member or carer. 

 How to report a safeguarding concern 

Someone acting on behalf of the Foundation including a trustee director, staff member or volunteer, may become aware of a safeguarding concern because: 

  • a grantee has reported an incident at their organisation to us; 

  • a whistle blower or member of the public raises concerns about a grantee; 

  • an allegation is made about the conduct of someone acting on behalf of the Foundation; 

  • an individual in connection with the Foundation discloses something of concern about themselves; 

  • we observe something of concern ourselves 

All staff, trustee directors and others acting on our behalf are responsible for reporting all concerns, allegations or disclosures of abuse, harm and neglect.  

If someone acting on our behalf believes there is a significant risk of immediate harm, they should contact and share the relevant information with the appropriate agencies as soon as possible (e.g. police, social services etc) and inform the Foundation’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) of the action taken, usually within one day.   

The DSL for the Foundation is Tracy Lynch, Foundation manager  whose email address is Tracy.lynch@greggsfoundation.org.uk  Reports can also be made to the safeguarding lead trustee director, Jo Dyson whose email address is joannamdyson@gmail.com.

Where a safeguarding concern is reported, there are several possible actions that the DSL may take including: 

  • Contacting the safeguarding lead or most senior employee of a funded organisation if the concern relates to that organisation, to obtain assurance that appropriate measures have been taken and any relevant statutory agencies have been notified;    

  • If the DSL has reason to think that an organisation may not deal appropriately with a concern raised the DSL may decide to inform relevant statutory agencies directly:  

  • If the concern relates to an external person not linked to a funded organisation, the DSL will refer the matter directly to the appropriate statutory agency (if appropriate) or signpost to other support or welfare services;  

  • If the concern relates to alleged conduct by an employee, volunteer or trustee director of the Foundation, the DSL will refer the matter to statutory agencies (if appropriate) and action may be taken in line with the Foundation’s wider policies and procedures, including its disciplinary procedures. 

In managing the concern, the DSL is responsible for providing the Foundation’s Board with the relevant and appropriate information, including advice as to whether a report to the Charity Commission is required.  The DSL will report all safeguarding incidents to the Foundation’s Board.     

Monitoring and review 

  • This policy will be reviewed by the trustee board every year or when legislation changes.