Safeguarding Policy

Introduction

Retro Rendezvous Festival Ltd is a voluntary provider of community events in Ulverston. It is recognised that some of those who the events team interacts with will be children, young persons (aged under 18), and vulnerable adults.

The welfare of these individuals will always be paramount. Therefore, Retro Rendezvous Festival Ltd has to make sure that the people it is working with, including event attendees, are exposed to minimal risk in all matters, and also to make sure that organising team members and volunteers are likewise at minimal risk of being accused or in any other danger through working with each other and/or other individuals in the community.

This Safeguarding Policy applies to all organisers, event attendees, volunteers or anyone working for or volunteering on behalf of the organisation.

The purpose of this policy

To protect children, young persons and vulnerable adults who interact with the organisation and/or attend its events.

To provide members, volunteers and anyone working on behalf of Retro Rendezvous with the overarching principles that underpin the organisation’s approach to Safeguarding.

Many disabilities are hidden, and a vulnerable person may not wish to disclose their vulnerabilities (or abusers). Therefore, in most cases when interacting with members of the community, it should be assumed that somebody somewhere could be vulnerable.

The legal framework

The policy has been drawn up on the basis of law and guidance that seeks to protect children, young persons and vulnerable adults, namely:

The Mental Health Act (1983)
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006)
The Children Act (1989)
Protection of Freedoms Act (2012)
The Children Act (2004)
The Children and Families Act (2014)
The Data Protection Act (1998)
The Care Act (2014)
The Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998)
Making Safeguarding Personal Guide (2014)
The Sexual Offences Act (2003)
Working Together 2015
The United Convention of the Rights of the Child (1991)

Definitions

Young Person/Vulnerable Adult in the context of this policy. A young person is defined as anyone aged less than 18 years. A vulnerable adult is a person over the age of 18 years who:

is or may be in need of /eligible for community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness
AND is unable to take care of themselves
OR is unable to protect themselves from significant harm or exploitation
This includes people:

with a mental health need
with a learning difficulty
with physical impairment
with sensory impairment
with substance or alcohol dependency
who receive personal care, nursing or support to live independently in their own home or a care home
who are older and frail
who are family carers providing assistance to another vulnerable adults

People who may be vulnerable to abuse

Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any other persons(s) or group of people. Abuse may be single or repeated acts. It can be:

Physical: for example, hitting, slapping, burning, pushing, restraining or giving the wrong medication.

Psychological: including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, shouting, swearing, frightening, blaming, ignoring or humiliating a person, intimidation, verbal abuse.

Financial: including the illegal or unauthorised use of a person’s property, money, pension book or other valuables, pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance.

Sexual: such as forcing a person to take part in any sexual activity without his or her informed consent – this can occur in any relationship.

Discriminatory: including racist or sexist remarks or comments based on a person’s disability, age or illness, and other forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment. This also includes stopping someone from being involved in religious or cultural activity, services or support networks.

Institutional: the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people at risk of abuse. This includes a failure to ensure the necessary safeguards are in place to protect adults and maintain good standards of care in accordance with individual needs, including training of staff, supervision and management, record keeping and liaising with other providers of care.

Domestic: incident or pattern of incidents of controlling coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse by someone that can be a partner or family member, regardless of gender or sexuality.

Neglect and acts of omission: including ignoring medical or physical care needs. These can be deliberate or unintentional, amounting to abuse by a carer or self-neglect by the vulnerable person: for example, where a person is deprived of food, heat, clothing, comfort or essential medication, or failing to provide access to appropriate health or social care services.

How might we notice abuse?

Concerns about or evidence of abuse may become apparent through:

A direct disclosure by the child, young person or adult.
A complaint or expression of concern by a volunteer, a carer, a member of the public or relative.
An observation of the behaviour of the person by a volunteer, member of the public or carer.

Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone, either within or acting on behalf of the organisation. All organisers and volunteers play an important part in promoting the safety and protection of the young perons and vulnerable adults with whom the organisation works. Everyone needs to be alert to the potential of abuse of children, young persons and vulnerable adults, both within their families and also from other sources – including abuse by members of the Retro Rendezvous organisation. There is an expected responsibility for all members of the organisation to respond to any suspected or actual abuse of a child, young person or vulnerable adult in accordance with this Policy and procedures.

DOING NOTHING IS NOT AN OPTION – If we know or suspect that a child, young person or vulnerable adult is being abused, we will do something about it and ensure our work is properly recorded.

Training of volunteers

Induction of volunteers will include information on all relevant policies and procedures, including the safeguarding of children, young persons and vulnerable adults. All volunteers will be required to read this Safeguarding Policy, and training will be provided as necessary.

All volunteers providing services will have a designated supervisor who will provide appropriate support and supervision.

On identifying a vulnerable child, young person or adult, volunteers will at no time be left alone with them. If a volunteer arrives alone at a location where there may be a vulnerable person, they should not enter until accompanied. Volunteers are required to stay with each other when in the presence of a vulnerable adult, young person or child.

Reporting procedure

Abuse of vulnerable adults and young people can take many forms including physical, emotional, sexual, financial and institutional. It is not the responsibility of anyone working or volunteering for Retro Rendezvous Festival Ltd to decide whether or not abuse has taken place, consequently all cases of suspected or alleged abuse must be raised in line with the procedures identified in this Policy. The need to escalate concerns is essential as there may already have been worries expressed by other members and/or agencies and failure to report concerns may put a child, young person or vulnerable adult at risk.

It is the responsibility of the person that first becomes aware of a situation where there may be a child, young person or vulnerable adult subject to, or at risk of, abuse to:

Deal with the immediate needs of the person.
Inform one of the event organisers immediately, unless the organisers are implicated in the allegation.

Record the factual details of the allegation as soon as possible to include:

The allegation or concern
Date and time of the incident/when the concern was raised
What the individual said regarding the abuse and how it occurred or what has been reported
The appearance and behaviour of the individual concerned
A description of any injuries observed
Any other factual information
Clarity regarding the distinction between fact, opinion or hearsay. There must be no attempt by the person to whom the allegation has been reported or has concerns/suspicions regarding potential abuse to investigate the matter themselves.

The event organisers, in consultation with Westmorland & Furness Safeguarding Hub (phone 0300 373 2724) and/or Westmorland & Furness Adult Social Care (01228 526690) will:

Decide without delay on the most appropriate course of action
Deal with any immediate needs of the individual concerned, ensuring that other service users are not put at risk
Clarify the facts stated by the member or volunteer but should not, in any circumstances, discuss the allegation of abuse with the alleged perpetrator or, if possible, the victim
Address issues of consent and confidentiality
Follow the procedure above on the same day as the concern/allegation has been raised wherever:
A crime has been, could have been, or yet could be committed
There is suspicion that an abuse has taken place
The allegation involves a member, volunteer, or anyone who works on behalf of URG
Other children, young people or vulnerable adults are at risk
Where a decision is made not to refer, the concern/allegation must be recorded together with the reasons for the decision.

Any allegation made against an organiser or volunteer should be reported to the Westmorland & Furness Safeguarding Hub (phone 0300 373 2724) and/or Westmorland & Furness Adult Social Care (01228 526690) for further action.

Where a disclosure of abuse is made, care should be taken to explain to the individual/s the procedure that will be followed and they should be informed that it might not be possible for Retro Rendezvous Festival Ltd to maintain confidentiality.

All organisers and volunteers (where appropriate) will be familiar with good practice guidelines on the immediate action to be taken following a report of abuse (see Appendix 1).

Accusations made against a volunteer

If a volunteer is accused of abuse, they will be immediately suspended from the service provided and any position held. This does NOT mean that there is a presumption of guilt: it is to protect the member/volunteer from further accusations. The organisers will then follow the Safeguarding Policy.

Vetting of Organisers

The event organisers and anyone in a position of significant trust, such as the the Information Desk Officer during events, must have previously been successfully vetted by the Disclosure & Barring Service.

Review

This policy will be reviewed at least every 2 years. It was last updated on 8th February 2024.

Appendix 1

The following are guidelines on immediate action to be taken following a reporting of abuse by a child, young person, vulnerable adult or any member or volunteer:

React calmly so not to frighten or deter him/her
Re-assure him/her that it is not their fault
Don’t promise to keep the information to yourself
Explain that you need to make sure they will be safe and may have to pass on the information to somebody trusted to deal with it
Listen carefully to what they say and take them seriously
Allow them to tell you what happened in their own words
Clarify what you have heard to establish the basic facts
Avoid leading questions
Do not ask specific questions regarding explicit details

If possible, make brief notes during the initial disclosure, explaining why you are doing this. If this is not possible, a record of the conversation must be made as soon as possible afterwards. All notes must be dated and signed by the member or volunteer taking them, recording the information as set out within this Safeguarding Policy.