Safeguarding

What is safeguarding?

The Charity Commission summarises Trustees’ responsibilities with regard to safeguarding as:

“Protecting people and safeguarding responsibilities should be a governance priority for all charities. As part of fulfilling your trustee duties, you must take reasonable steps to protect people who come into contact with your charity from harm… What you need to do depends on what your charity does and who it works with.”

Who is Together’s Lead Trustee for Safeguarding?

Together’s Lead Trustee for Safeguarding is Dr. Ben Thomas.

You can read more about Ben and Together’s other Trustees here.

Who is Together’s Executive Leadership Lead for Safeguarding?

Together’s Management Team Lead for Safeguarding is Emma Edwards, Director of Operations & Quality

You can read more about Emma and the rest of our Executive Leadership Team here.

How can I contact Together with any safeguarding queries or concerns?

If you have any questions or concerns about safeguarding related to Together and our services, please contact:

contact-us@together-uk.org
020 7780 7300

Together for Mental Wellbeing
52 Walnut Tree Walk
London
SE11 6DN

What does the Lead Trustee for Safeguarding do?

The Charity Commission expects all Trustees to:

• Make sure all Trustees, employees, volunteers and beneficiaries know about safeguarding and people protection
• Have appropriate policies and procedures in place
• Check that people are suitable to act in their roles
• Know to spot and refer or report concerns
• Have a clear system of referring or reporting to relevant organisations as soon as they suspect or identify concerns
• Set out risks and how they will manage them in a risk register which is regularly reviewed
• Be quick to respond to concerns and carry out appropriate investigations
• Not let one Trustee dominate the work – Trustees should work together

In addition to those duties and responsibilities performed by all Trustees, Together’s Lead Trustee for Safeguarding will:

• Be familiar with Together’s Policies on Safeguarding (Adults, Hate Crime, Self-Neglect & Hoarding, Children & Young People)
• Act as a key consultee for any updates or changes to those policies
• Be knowledgeable about the wider context to Safeguarding through reviewing the information publicly available via organisations, such as the Charity Commission
• Act as an advocate for Safeguarding matters, ensuring that there is full and appropriate review and challenge of reports brought to the Quality & Safety Committee, and that this committee’s views and recommendations are heard by the Board as appropriate
• Act as a point of reference and advice for the CEO, COO and/or Head of Quality Improvement, who will contact them as appropriate – including with regard to any emerging concerns regarding Safeguarding, including critical individual incidents and emerging patterns of reports
• Advise Together’s Chair in a timely manner of any matters of concern regarding the above