Sarah is a Senior Associate in our Regulatory Compliance team.
Sarah is passionate about safeguarding and has a particular expertise in supporting and advising charities on safeguarding children and other vulnerable people. With experience of advising on sensitive safeguarding issues, Sarah ensures robust protections are in place for beneficiaries, staff and volunteers. This includes advising on creating a healthy organisational safeguarding culture, legal compliance & best practice, good safeguarding governance, policies & procedures, and managing allegations or incidents.
She has experience of working with an interim manager appointed by the Charity Commission where serious safeguarding failings were identified as part of a Charity Commission inquiry, and engaging with the Commission on a variety of regulatory issues including serious incident reporting and official warnings.
Sarah provides training for charities on a range of safeguarding areas, including an introduction to safeguarding for trustees, the importance of good governance in relation to safeguarding, safer recruitment and how to manage a safeguarding incident.
Sarah is based in the Bristol office, but can support you nationally.
What you might like to know
Sarah loves being outdoors in nature, whether in the countryside around where she lives in Dorset with her dog or exploring further afield, such as hiking in Snowdonia or Dartmoor. She has done many walks for charity including raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support by taking part in the 'Mighty Hike' on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
Until recently she was Chair of a Local Governing body at a school which is part of a Multi Academy Trust and carried out the role of governor with responsibility for safeguarding for over 6 years. During this time, she has trained as a Designated Safeguarding Lead and represented the school at two OFSTED inspections. She also sat on various panels for the academy trust including parental complaints and exclusion panels.
She volunteers for the Anaphylaxis Campaign in both a professional and personal capacity, and is a qualified Mental Health First Aider.
Sarah is also a member of the Charity Law Association.
Other teams Sarah works with
Through her work in the Regulatory Compliance team, Sarah also works with our Charity, Education, Corporate, and Employment teams.
