Recognising the risks your members present

For many organisations, taking care of their own safeguarding is enough. Local infrastructure organisations should also be involved in promoting the importance of safeguarding in their area and among their members and other organisations they support.

Some organisations will use the fact that they belong to a local infrastructure organisation or have attended your training or events as evidence that they are a safe and ethical organisation with good governance. Local authorities and the media may also see your organisation as endorsing its members, and as partially responsible for their practices. You have a duty to recognise, respond and report abuse appropriately not only within your own practice, but within your members' practice.

Therefore you should consider the importance of supporting your members to develop good safeguarding. This is not only primarily because it can keep people safe from harm, or for your members' benefit, but also because of the reputational risk to your organisation.

To help with this you should consider some questions:

• Do all our members meet the values and commitment to safeguarding that we require for membership of our infrastructure organisation?
• Have we done enough to emphasise safeguarding as a vital part of good governance?
• Can we offer both guidance and signposting to more resources to support organisations?
• Do we challenge our members if we think their safeguarding practice is concerning and support them to improve it?
• Do we share information about our concerns with the relevant authorities if they are ignored?
• Do we need to do any due diligence on potential members?

• For suggestions on how to emphasise safeguarding and provide guidance and signposting, even with limited resources, see supporting groups to become safer organisations.
• To inspire you with ideas for due diligence, you could explore how practices that are necessary in grant making might also be useful to infrastructure organisations in a safer approach to grant making.

This guide was developed in partnership with NAVCA. We would like to thank Hackney CVS, Community Action Suffolk and Salford CVS for contributing their experience and knowledge of safeguarding to this resource.