Safeguarding policy

Your safety is our priority - A New Direction is committed to safeguarding everyone that comes into contact with our work

As a young adult participating in our programmes or as someone working with us, you need to be confident that any abuse, neglect and other discrimination that affects you - or that you observe taking place - within A New Direction's programmes is dealt with quickly and effectively. Your safety is our priority, and A New Direction is committed to safeguarding everyone that comes into contact with our work. This Policy Statement outlines our safeguarding priorities, how you can raise and disclose concerns, and how those concerns will be dealt with.

We believe that everyone has an equal right to protection from abuse, emotional abuse and neglect regardless of their age, race, religion and belief, ability, gender, language, background or sexual identity. You can see our comprehensive company Safeguarding policy and procedures here.

This policy statement recognises that:

  • The welfare of the young adult is paramount
  • All young adults have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
  • Some young adults are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
  • Some young adults, such as some with disabilities or some from global majority backgrounds or experiencing poverty, can be excluded from mainstream services
  • Working in partnership with young adults, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young adult welfare.

A New Direction recognises that there are different types of abuse affecting young adults. They can include:

  • Physical
  • Sexual
  • Emotional and psychological
  • Organisational (for example, through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the policies and practices within an organisation)
  • Discrimination (based on gender, race, colour, language, culture, religion, politics or sexual orientation, disability or age)
  • Domestic violence and abuse

We will take every reasonable step to ensure young adults are protected within:

  • Our own projects and programmes
  • Our employment practices, including engagement of freelance practitioners
  • Our partnerships with other organisations and agencies
  • Our online engagement channels and communications

We safeguard young adults by:

  • Valuing them, listening to and respecting them
  • Taking leadership responsibility at senior board level
  • Implementing effective social media and IT/online safety policies
  • Recruiting trustees, staff, creative practitioners and other adults working in young adult settings with safeguarding procedures paramount, and to ensure that they have read, understood and adhere to this policy and related procedures
  • Recording and storing information professionally and securely
  • Sharing information about safeguarding and young adult protection with all partner organisations and individuals
  • Ensuring that children, young people, young adults and parents are able to raise concerns
  • Sharing concerns about young adults with agencies and individuals who need to know, appropriately and without delay
  • Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
  • Ensuring that we provide a safe physical and online environment for our children, young adults, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

Disclosure, and Contacts

A young adult has the right to make a disclosure of abuse and/or neglect to any member of A New Direction staff and know that the disclosure will be dealt with quickly, sensitively and appropriately. All staff are trained in the appropriate response to a disclosure and the correct procedures to follow.

A New Direction has a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) for both children and young adults, plus a Deputy DSO, and these Officers have received appropriate training and support for this role:

Designated Safeguarding Officer (young people aged to 18)

Rebecca Branch, Director of Education and Culture
rebecca.branch@anewdirection.org.uk / 0207 608 2132

Designated Safeguarding Officer (young people aged 18-30 years of age)

Oliver Benjamin, Director of Employment and Skills
oliver.benjamin@anewdirection.org.uk / 0207 608 2132

Deputy DSO - Operational

Steve Moffitt, CEO
steve.moffitt@anewdirection.org.uk / 0207 608 2132

Senior Trustee Lead for Safeguarding

Arfa Butt, Chair of the Board
0207 608 2132

It is not the role of A New Direction or its Designated Safeguarding Officer to decide whether abuse has taken place or not. It is however, our role to ensure that concerns are shared with appropriate agencies and relevant action taken.

Consent

In our work with young adults, A New Direction draws on a set of national principles and best practice that reflects our approach to information sharing including consent, capacity and confidentiality. A New Direction’s approach to safeguarding is to share information appropriately with those who need to know both within the organisation and externally if there is a concern that a young adult is at risk. There may be occasions when this has to happen without the young adult’s consent. You can view a detailed summary of our approach here.

All enquiries into allegations will be overseen by the Designated Safeguarding Officer who will liaise with police, Social Care, the Disclosure and Barring Service (if necessary), and other interested parties, and attend relevant meetings as required.

Code of conduct

A New Direction will ensure that all staff, trustees, partners, agency staff, volunteers and anyone working on behalf of A New Direction is familiar with our Code of Conduct. You can find this Code of Conduct under Section 6 of our full Safeguarding Policy which outlines prohibited behaviours and our expectations of anyone working with young adults.

Any member of staff who is charged or questioned in connection with a criminal offence against a child or young adult receiving a service from A New Direction, or another child or adult, will be immediately suspended. Any volunteer will be withdrawn from duties, and any third-party colleagues from a partner organisation will be withdrawn from their participation in any activities managed by A New Direction. This suspension or withdrawal will remain in place until the outcome of any criminal proceedings is known or until the police eliminate the person from their enquiries or drop the investigation.