Child Protection Policy

What you need to know

This policy applies to all staff, including the board of trustees, managers, paid staff, volunteers, agency staff, students, sessional workers or anyone working on behalf of the WildAid Foundation Trust

The purpose of this policy:

• to protect children and young people who receive WildAid Foundation Trust services. This includes the children of adults who use our services
• to provide staff and volunteers with guidance on procedures they should adopt in the event that they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.

The WildAid Foundation Trust believes that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by commitment to practice which protects them.

Legal Framework:

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.org.uk/learning.

We recognise that:

• The welfare of the child/young person is paramount as enshrined in the Children Act 1989.
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identiy, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers, guardians and their agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

• Valuing them, listening to and respecting them.
• Appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people, a deputy and a lead trustee/board member for safeguarding.
• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
• Adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
• Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made  recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance [more information about this is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/for-organisations]
• Making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.
• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
• Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.  
• Sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know and involving parents and guardians and children appropriately.
• Sharing information about child protection and good practice with children, parents, staff and volunteers

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on: September 2022