Charity Safeguarding
Safeguarding is a key governance priority for all charities, ensuring the safety and protection of everyone engaged with your organisation.
Effective safeguarding goes beyond traditional definitions, it is about creating a safe, trusted environment for beneficiaries, staff, and volunteers alike.
Since 2017, following high-profile cases where charities failed to address abuse allegations, the Charity Commission has made safeguarding a key area of regulatory focus.
The regulator now makes it clear that protecting everyone who comes into contact with your organisation is essential. This duty goes beyond beneficiaries - it extends to staff, volunteers, and anyone involved with your charity.
While many charities have statutory obligations when working with children or vulnerable adults, trustees are also responsible for managing other risks such as bullying, harassment, health and safety issues, discrimination, and the abuse of positions of trust.
All charities are expected to have robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place that reflect their specific activities. Whether operating online, internationally, or with partner organisations, policies should be tailored to your charity’s work.
It’s not enough to have policies on paper - they must be regularly reviewed, and trustee boards must ensure they have proper oversight to manage safeguarding effectively.
Our expertise
Our team brings together expertise in charity safeguarding law and regulatory compliance, including the Charity Commission’s safeguarding requirements and the statutory bodies responsible for regulating the protection of children and adults at risk. This combined knowledge ensures we can offer pragmatic, commercial advice tailored to your organisation’s needs.
We help clients develop charity safeguarding policies and procedures that align with their unique activities and broader governance frameworks. Our support also extends to managing sensitive situations, such as allegations of abuse, ensuring your charity’s response is both effective and compliant.
Our team advises on the following areas:
VWV has a strong charity practice, working with a large number of large and high-profile charities in the region. Their depth of experience in the charity sector is valuable.
Our work highlights
We advised a charity supporting vulnerable individuals to review and update their safeguarding governance arrangements, including preparing a detailed and bespoke policy confirming the charity's safeguarding commitment, practices and procedures.
We supported a charity to manage safeguarding allegations including to establish a safeguarding committee with tailored terms of reference and to prepare terms of reference for a specific safeguarding trustee, and to prepare a serious incident report to the Charity Commission.
We deliver regular training to charities on the Charity Commission's expectations of charity trustees in relation to safeguarding matters and best practice in safeguarding governance generally.
