Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
Cathays and Central Youth and
Community Project (CCYCP)
Safeguarding Policy
SAFEGUARDING IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS
Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone. This policy outlines CCYCPs duty to uphold this
principle and the right of young people and vulnerable adults to be protected from abuse. We
commit to ensuring all staff and volunteers work together to prevent and minimise abuse. We
commit to acting promptly when dealing with allegations or suspicions of abuse.
Where there are concerns about someone’s welfare, CCYCP has an obligation to address those
concerns and follow the appropriate procedures. It is the responsibility of the first person aware
of an issue to follow this and deal with the immediate needs of the person. They should take
reasonable steps to ensure the person is in no immediate danger and seek medical help if
necessary.
The first person made aware of a concern should, as soon as is reasonably possible, make their
designated safeguarding officer (DSO) aware. It is then the responsibility of the DSO to decide
on the most appropriate course of action.
CCYCP DSO’s
Children: Debbie Davies 07894668564/ debbie.davies@cathays.org.uk
Adults: Justin Witney 07538388610/ justin.witney@cathays.org.uk
If the above are unavailable: Bud Harper 07971324280 /
bud.harper@cathays.org.uk
Safeguarding Lead Trustee: Rhiannon Mcnamara
rhinannon.mcnamara@cathays.org.uk
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
Key Definitions
Abuse: Can be physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or financial (includes theft, fraud,
pressure about money, misuse of money). Can take place in any setting, whether in a private
dwelling, an institution or any other place.
At risk: actual abuse or neglect does not need to occur before practitioners intervene, rather
early interventions to protect an adult at risk should be considered to prevent actual abuse and
neglect;
Adult at risk(s126(1) SSW(W)A 2014:1. Is experiencing or is at risk of abuse or neglect, 2.Has
needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs), and 3.
As a result of those needs is unable to protect himself or herself against the abuse or neglect or
the risk of it.
Child at Risk (s130(4) SSW(W)A 2014: as a person under the age of 18 who; (a) Is
experiencing or is at risk of abuse, neglect or other kinds of harm and; (b) Has needs for care
and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs).
Harm: Ill treatment including sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and psychological abuse
or; the impairment of physical or mental health (including that suffered from seeing or hearing
another person suffer ill treatment) or; the impairment of physical intellectual, emotional, social
or behavioural development (including that suffered from seeing or hearing another person
suffer ill treatment).
Significant Harm:Concerns about likely or actual significant harm or abuse will justify the
threshold for initiating s47 enquiry. The standard for significant harm is the objective reasonable
person test from s31(9)Children Act 1989: Where the question of whether harm is significant
turns on the child’s health or development, the child’s health or development is to be compared
with that which could reasonably be expected of a similar child
Neglect: failure to meet a person’s basic needs, physical, emotional, social or psychological
needs, which is likely to result in an impairment of the person’s well-being (for example, an
impairment of the person’s health).
Recognising abuse
This policy demonstrates CCYCPs duty to protect those vulnerable. Therefore it is important
that all members of staff are able to recognise the different ways in which someone suffer from,
or become at risk of abuse:
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
CCYCP recognises that abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by any
other person(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 and emotional: for example, shouting, swearing, frightening, blaming, ignoring
or humiliating a person, threats of harm or abandonment, 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.
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 a 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.
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 vulnerable people. This includes a failure to ensure the necessary safeguards are in
place to protect vulnerable 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.
Exploitation: Exploitation refers to the use of an adult or child for someone else’s advantage,
gratification or profit often resulting in unjust, cruel and harmful treatment. There are two main
forms of exploitation that are recognised: Sexual exploitation - Economic exploitation. Forced
marriage can be considered a form of abuse through exploitation.
Legal Requirements
We ensure that:
Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the accompanying Working Together to
Safeguard People guidance: this details promoting the wellbeing of those who need care and
carers who need support.
The Mental Capacity Act(MCA) 2005: Designed to protect and empower those who lack the
capacity to make their own decisions. CCYCP is designed to help those vulnerable, wherever
possible, make their own decisions and guide them through this process.
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
Domestic Abuse (Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act
2015: as part of our safeguarding agreement as a voluntary organisation (S.5 4b) our actions
our capable of contributing to the purpose of combatting domestic abuse and sexual violence
The European Convention of Human Rights, particularly Articles 2,3,5,6 and 8: They are the
right to life; the prohibition of torture; right to liberty and security; right to a fair trial; and right to
respect for private and family life.
The United Nations Principles of Older Persons: CCYCP does not condone age discrimination
and we give older people the opportunity to both work and volunteer in a safe environment
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Articles 8, 13, 19, and 42:
They are protection of identity; freedom of expression; be safe from violence; and to know their
rights. .
The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014: Provides the legal framework for
improving the well-being of people who need care and support. It is this legislation that provides
the framework for the Wales Safeguarding Procedures.
Welsh Language Standards and the “More than Just Words” Framework.: This act details our
commitment to improving the quality of care and outcomes Welsh speakers. (the policy asks for
an ‘active offer’? Do we have that? Its where a welsh speaker can receive a service in welsh
without having to ask)
Statutory duty to report
The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 s128 includes the duty on the practitioner
or relevant partners to report under s162 of the Act to report both adults and children where they
have reasonable belief they are at risk of harm.
General Commitments
CCYCP is committed to supporting people who are experiencing or at risk from abuse through:
1. Identifying abuse where it is occuring.
2. Responding effectively to any circumstances giving grounds for concern, or where formal
complaints or expressions of anxiety are expressed.
3. Ensuring the active participation of individuals, families, groups and communities
wherever possible and appropriate.
4. Raising awareness of the extent of abuse on vulnerable people and its impact on them.
5. Promoting and supporting work designed to reduce abuse and the fear of abuse.
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
6. Regularly monitoring and evaluating how our policies, procedures and practices for
protecting vulnerable people are working.
7. Making sure our policies, procedures and practices stay up to date with good practice
and the law in relation to safeguarding.
8. That all staff and volunteers have relevant DBS checks before having direct contact with
vulnerable people or their carers.
9. CCYCP is committed to following the guidance set out in the Wales Safeguarding
Procedures (WSPs). We will ensure every staff member involved in a safeguarding role
can easily access these.
10. Following the framework of recognise, respond, report, record and refer to appropriately
act and monitor safeguarding situations
Operation, Monitoring, Review, and Complaints
Operation
Prevention of Abuse and Confidentiality
All staff and volunteers will be requested to read Cathays & Central Youth and Community
Project’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedure, and will be requested to attend safeguarding
training according to our training policy.
Where abuse is alleged, suspected, reported or concerns are raised, the Safeguarding
Procedure must be followed. Confidentiality will be respected wherever possible and
consent obtained to share information. The person involved should be made aware that staff
cannot ignore issues around abuse and that steps will be taken to deal with them in as
sensitive a manner as possible. The welfare of the individual is paramount.
Information will be recorded and stored in line with our General Data Protection Regulation
Policy, which can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1clR--w61grg34GeZTYOVIXOJ2q78a0FG/view
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
What to do if you believe an individual is at Risk
1. Complete a CCYCP Safeguarding Form, These can be found in:
● Your project whatsapp group description.
● Your work google chrome account bookmarks
● You can ask a duty manager if you are on site
2. Send the completed copy of any form and responses to Safeguarding@cathays.org.uk
3. Contact your designated safeguarding officer:
● Children: Debbie Davies
Contact no 07894668564
Email: debbie.davies@cathays.org.uk
● Adults: Justin Witney
Contact no: 07538388610
Email: justin.witney@cathays.org.uk
● If the above are unavailable: Bud Harper
Contact no 07971324280
Email: bud.harper@cathays.org.uk
4. They may ask you to contact Cardiff Council Safeguarding Team using:
● An AS1 form for Adults:
https://www.cardiffandvalersb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Adult-Safeguarding-Duty
-to-Report-Adult-at-Risk-AS1.docx
● A MARF form for Children:
https://www.cardiffandvalersb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Multi-Agency-Report-Ref
erral-Form.pdf
In an emergency or for any advice completing the forms, these are the numbers to contact:
● If you believe a child or adult is in immediate danger, do something straight away-
contact 999 by calling or texting (If Deaf or hard of hearing) and tell the operator what is
happening.
● Adults:
If you think or believe an adult is being abused, please contact the Adult
Safeguarding Team on: 029 2233 0888
● Children:
If you think a child is at risk, not being looked after properly, or you have
concerns about their welfare, please contact 029 2053 6490
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For emergencies that fall outside of normal working hours, you can contact these numbers
● Cardiff Multi-Agency adult Safeguarding Hub (MASH):
02922 330888
● Adult Out of Hours:
02920 788570
● Children’s safeguarding hub (MASH):
029 2053 6490
● Children's Out of Office Hours Emergency Duty Team:
● 029 2078 8570
Monitoring
Safeguarding concerns will be processed upon receipt by the relevant DSO who will make an
assessment on what action to take next. Throughout the required action the DSO will liaise with
all relevant parties to ensure best practice is followed, these actions shall be shared and
monitored throughout by the three named DSO’s.
Review
Safeguarding operations and procedures are reviewed every other month by the three named
DSO’s. The Safeguarding lead on the Board of Trustees and other trustees on the Protection
Committee. This is summarised to the Board of Trustees also every other month in order to
review progress made, plan for future developments and ensure a high level of standards based
on good practice is maintained.
Complaints
Professional Concerns will be dealt with by the DSO and reported via the AS1 and MARF forms
but also reported to the Safeguarding Lead on the board of Trustees in the event that an internal
investigation or the Charity’s disciplinary procedures need to be invoked. It may be necessary to
contact the Police. Complaints concerning DCO’s and the Charity’s safeguarding procedures
should be directed towards the Safeguarding Lead Trustee and/or Chairperson of the Board
who may wish to follow investigatory or disciplinary procedures.
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
Helpful Resources:
Welsh Government safeguarding guidance:
https://www.gov.wales/safeguarding-guidance
Children in Wales safeguarding guide:
https://www.childreninwales.org.uk/safeguarding/
Wales Safeguarding procedures:
https://www.safeguarding.wales/en/
Code of Safeguarding Practice:
https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2022-01/working-together-to-safeguard-pe
ople--code-of-safeguarding-practice_0.pdf
Operational plan (Safeguarding procedure)
Safer Recruitment
As part of our commitment to safeguarding, CCYCP will endeavour to request appropriate
background checks for new and continuing members of staff (inc. volunteers). For further
information on this please see the Safer Recruitment and DBS Policies and Procedures.
Commitment to Training & Development
As part of CCYCP’s commitment to safeguarding, all staff (inc. Volunteers and students on
placement) and trustees will undergo regular safeguarding training as part of their induction
process and at regular intervals of at least 18 months.
Within this structure there are training requirements for safeguarding, the level of which
corresponds to the persons involvement with the public and their role in the organisation. All
staff who work in a public facing role with young people or adults will be required to attend
the Local Authority’s Level 2 Safeguarding training for Children and Adults.
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External hirers
External Hirers not directly operated by the CCYCP and who are regularly working with
children and/or vulnerable adults, shall refer to our terms of hire which contains a clause to
demonstrate that the organisation, group or individual is appropriately taking safeguarding
precautions and that they agree to fall in-line with this policy which shall be provided to them.
We will request contact details for a Safeguarding lead with an up to date DBS check. All
external hirers will be provided with a link to our Safeguarding policy.
Adults at Risk and Consent
As part of CCYCP’s ethical and legal requirements there is an importance to protect people’s
information, but we must also meet our ethical and legal requirements to safeguard the
welfare of our beneficiaries as a charity and the legal duty discharged through our
partnership with the Local Authority. To ensure legal compliance CCYCP will endeavour to
seek consent from a service user where it is possible before sharing information with
relevant authorities, where this consent is refused but the concerns or disclosure of
information would put adult-at-risk, then we shall carry out our legal obligation to report this
information.
Managing Risks for activities
For the management of activities, it is important that staff appropriately risk assess their
planned activities. This should be done in-line with the organisations Health & Safety Policy.
Ratios of service users to staff
Youth provisions
In the youth provisions the staff to young person ratio should be 1:10 unless where additional
needs make up more than 50% of the demographic of the young people attending, which
then the staff ratio should be 1:8. In this calculation there should always be at least 2
members of staff (inc. volunteers and students on placement). When working out the
calculation if a person is receiving designated one-to-one or two-to-one support then these
members of staff must not be included in the ratio. These must be recorded on session
sheets to be used as part of our annual reporting. When running residential activities please
see the section Residentials With Service Users for more information.
Adult services
These services shall maintain a 1:15 ratio, unless the service is targeted to those with
additional needs due to; disability, age or ill-health, which then a ratio of 1:10 should be
maintained. When working out the calculation if a person is receiving designated one-to-one
or two-to-one support then these members of staff must not be included in the ratio. When
running residential activities please see the section Residentials With Service Users for
Grace Fadahunsi, Bud Harper, Joe Semmens and Justin Witney 2024
more information.
Mixed Services
To follow Youth Service Ratios
Open Access Community Activities/events
These ratios shall be determined for the staff member who has carried out the risk
assessment for the activity or event.
Residentials with service users
Residential rules apply when staff are expected to work with services users after 11pm and
before 7am. During residentials there are many factors that can add to pressures on staff to
appropriately safeguard beneficiaries, such as length of hours, need for breaks, tiredness,
etc. For this reason additional rules have been created regarding residentials. These include
a blanket 1:8 staff to service user ratio. These ratios should not include staff members that
are designated to provide one-to-one or two-to-one support.
In regards to sleeping arrangements of service users there should be an age division when
allocating rooms or sleeping quarters of under the age of 16 and those 16+ or 16/17 year
olds separated from 18+ year olds where all participants are 16 or over. Additional age
divisions can be added at the discretion of the lead worker. Staff should be suitably placed
that they can appropriately safeguard service users without intruding on their right to privacy
such as an adjacent sleeping quarter. Due to the consideration of varying gender identities
and sexual orientations of service users it is not down to workers to decide artificial gender
divides in sleeping arrangements but to proactively work on respectful relationships prior to
the residential, creating agreed ground rules for the residential and empowering service
users to make choices that would actively make them feel safe and secure.
There are some extenuating circumstances such as under the age of consent individuals
who are known to have sexual or romantic history. Workers can at their discretion provide
additional boundaries to appropriately safeguard those young people.
Risk Assessments
Each project and department should have an individual risk assessment designed for the
make-up of the group it works with. In addition to this each youth or adult provision should
then include activity risk assessments, these are recommended to be accompanied by an
activity plan in the NAOMIE format, with the worker in charge of carrying out the activity to
sign off that the safety precautions for the session will be carried out. All risk assessments
should be approved by our Site Manager responsible for Health and Safety.
Cyberbullying and digital safety
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CCYCP have a commitment to provide an effective web filtering system that disables
harmful content such as Pornography, Gambling, Terrorism and other inappropriate content
for young people and vulnerable adults. Workers have duties to safeguard children and
adults they work with from not only in the physical world but also to assist in their safety in
the digital one. It can be sometimes difficult navigating a safe response to emerging
technologies without disempowering the service user and preventing them from engaging in
the potential benefits of socially focussed technology.
Should a person disclose that they are a victim of cyberbullying then some guidance for staff
would include:
1. Reassuring the victim that they have done the right thing in their disclosure to the worker
2. Showing empathy for the person's situation
3. Reiterating that the victim has the right to feeling safe and that the behaviour of the bully is
inappropriate
4. Suggesting that the victim keep a record should this need to go further to police or other
services
5. That the staff member where possible will facilitate them speaking to friends, family, or
other significant individuals or specialist agencies about this
6. Advising the victim not to reply or if they do feel compelled to reply that this is done
non-aggressively but assertively enough that the message is clear. They will also be
reminded how to prevent the bully from contacting them such as; blocking them on social
media apps/sites, adding them to a block list in their contacts, changing their number or
temporarily deactivating their account.
Youth Provisions and Adult Services
In youth and adult service settings where the environment or activity is hosted and/or
organised by us, the safe use of technology should be done as part of developing group
codes of conducts. Articles on this agreement could include but not limited to; only using
phones on downtime, not posting other group members photos without consent, defining
and prohibition of inappropriate websites and apps such as those used for porn, not to use
social media to troll people and to not add staff on social media.
Further to this there should also be regular workshops throughout the year, particularly
before residentials with service users, to refresh service users with the code of conduct and
to cover safety measures such as; ensuring that privacy settings on social media settings
are appropriately set, that they don’t post images with identifiable information such as a
school logo or their home street address in it.
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As part of digital safety, staff and volunteers must get written consent around whether a
service user can be featured in materials posted using CCYCP social media outlets and the
CCYCP website. In addition to the written consent staff are also advised to clarify this
consent verbally before images or otherwise other potentially sensitive information can be
posted about the service user such as disclosing they attend provisions that may reveal that
they are LGBTQ+ or that if the post relates to overcoming a personal struggle.
