Safeguarding Young People Policy

Policy Statement

In the UK, safeguarding means protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. At IRM International CIC we understand this to mean protecting vulnerable people from any potential harm that could arise from encountering our staff or activities.

For the purposes of this policy, young people are defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday.

IRM International CIC believes that young people should never experience abuse of any kind. We are committed to protecting young people, keeping them safe from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation and will take all reasonable steps to do so.

IRM International CIC will seek to keep young people safe by: – 

• Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies and procedures
• Ensuring all staff and volunteers are conducting themselves in a manner that keeps young people safe
• Ensuring staff and volunteers can access support and training that can help them to better understand protection concerns for young people and respond to them
• Following safe recruitment practices
• Ensure that all staff and volunteers know where to access this policy

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of IRM International CIC, including the Board of Directors, paid staff and volunteers. It seeks to provide them with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding young people. It also outlines the actions which are required to be taken when dealing with any safeguarding concerns.

Responsibilities

The ultimate responsibility for this policy rests with the Board of Directors.

IRM International CIC commits to ensuring: –

• All concerns or suspicions of a safeguarding nature which arise in the course of the work being carried out by IRM International CIC will be taken seriously and responded to quickly and appropriately
• All directors, staff and volunteers are clear about what their responsibilities of safeguarding young people are
• All directors, staff and volunteers know how to respond to any concerns with respect to safeguarding young people appropriately
• All personal information is stored and recorded professionally and securely
• All young people have the right to protection from all types of harm and abuse
• All young people have the right to be treated with respect and dignity
• Staff receive appropriate training with regards to safeguarding young people at a level that corresponds with their role within the organisation
• That all reports of safeguarding concerns for young people are followed up and investigated promptly
• Effective complaints measures are in place
• Our safeguarding young people policy is regularly reviewed by our Board of Directors and are made available for young people and their families should they request to see a copy

All directors, staff and volunteers have duties in relation to safeguarding young people and must know what action to take if they believe an individual to be at risk as a result of issues which arise during the course of IRM International CIC’s work.

All directors, staff and volunteers must: –

• Report any concerns they may have with respect to safeguarding young people immediately to the Board of Directors
• Consider any potential safeguarding issues when planning any activities involving young people. Any activities must be planned in a way that protects young people from any risk of harm that may arise
• Take all reasonable steps to ensure that they do not have unsupervised access to young people during their work with IRM International CIC

All directors, staff and volunteers must avoid any actions or behaviour that may constitute poor practice or (potentially) abusive behaviour or bring IRM International  CIC into disrepute. This includes the following behaviours which are unacceptable (this list is not exhaustive): – 

• Forming an abusive relationship with a young person
• Using language or behaviour that is inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexual, demeaning or culturally inappropriate towards a young person
• Make private, non-work-related contact with any young person
• Filming or taking photos of a young person without their consent and/or the consent of their guardians/carers
• Subject a young person to any form of emotional abuse
  
  

How to report a safeguarding concern

All staff and volunteers are asked to raise any concerns they may have with regards 

to safeguarding through the following routes: –

• Raising any concerns with the Board of Directors as quickly as possible. If the staff member or volunteer does not feel comfortable reporting to a specific member of the Board of Directors (for example, if that person is implicated in the concern) then they may report to another member.
• If working in an external location (such as another organisation or educational establishment) by reporting any concerns directly to their safeguarding lead officer as well as to inform a member of IRM International CIC’s Board of Directors
• If the situation is urgent or immediately dangerous, all staff and volunteers are encouraged to contact the police on 999 
  
  

Confidentiality

The Board of Directors will ensure that appropriate procedures are in place within the organisation to maintain a record of any safeguarding concerns with respect to young people which are reported along with any outcomes. 

IRM International CIC will also ensure that confidentiality is always maintained when dealing with safeguarding concerns around young people.

Any information which relates to the concern (and any subsequent actions that have been taken as a result) will be shared on a need-to-know basis only, and the information will be kept secure at all times.