Six steps to successful safeguarding

This page shows you how to use NCVO's help and guidance content to get started with safeguarding. It focuses on the things the Charity Commission expect you to do, and tells you which Knowhow pages have guidance to doing them well.

The Charity Commission reference 10 principles, and gives additional descriptions of what they expect to see. We have summarised these as six main areas of activity.

You must understand, manage, record and review the safeguarding risks in your organisation, thinking about everyone you come into contact with.

• Learn more about the types of harm you need to protect people from, and who is most at risk, on our understanding the risks page.
• Learn about risk registers and find templates in our risk register section.

You must have the right policies and procedures for safeguarding in your organisation. You need to make them public, make sure they are used and you must review them regularly.

• We have writing guides and more information on the policies and procedures you need.

You need to make sure that safeguarding is key priority for your organisation as part of good governance. This includes having the right roles in place and adopting the right practices.

• Find out how all your trustees should be involved and the role that can be taken by a designated safeguarding lead, or named person, on our roles and responsibilities page.
• Get information on how to set expectations and standards, and links to writing guides in our code of conduct section.
• Learn about how safeguarding sits alongside the rest of governance on the Governance Code website.

You must understand when it is appropriate and legal to carry out background checks on your staff and volunteers. Where it is not appropriate to take these checks, you must put other measures in place to ensure they carry out their roles safely. You must also make sure staff and volunteers have appropriate training and you should regularly review the training you offer.

• Find out about the different measures you can use when recruiting staff or volunteers on our choosing staff and volunteers page.
• We have guidance on making decisions about taking checks, and how to use the information, on our getting started with criminal records checks page.
• Find online and face to face courses, and advice on choosing and reviewing training on our training page.

Everyone involved in your organisation should understand how to recognise, respond to, record and report a safeguarding concern.

• For a starting point for small organisations, and links to specialist information, visit our recognise, respond and report page.
• If you don't have your own policies and procedures in place yet, find guidance on our page what to do if you have immediate concerns.

You must make sure all trustees, staff, volunteers and people you work with understand safeguarding and their right to be safe. Everyone should know how to speak up and feel comfortable raising concerns. You must review whether you have got this right, and make changes if not.

Visit GOV.UK to read the full Charity Commission guidance.