Shelter Community is committed to safeguarding, caring for, and nurturing everyone we work with, including all our tenants, supporters, staff, volunteers and their families.

To support this commitment, we will:

• Promote a safe environment and culture.

• Recruit staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks, including DBS checks,  are completed.

• Respond promptly and appropriately to any safeguarding concern or allegation.

• Share information about adult and child safeguarding, as well as good practice, with staff and volunteers.

• Provide suitable training when people join the organisation, and regularly thereafter, on identifying, responding to, and reporting safeguarding concerns.

• Share information with agencies who need to know, involving those affected wherever appropriate.

• Offer appropriate support to those impacted by safeguarding issues.

Recognising safeguarding and the need to protect

Shelter Community recognises that all children, young people, and adults may be at risk of abuse or harm. We understand that those who are experiencing or are at risk of harm may require protection, and that they may need support from Shelter Community in accessing that protection.

We are committed to ensuring that our organisation, staff, and volunteers are equipped to recognise safeguarding concerns and respond to them appropriately.

Commitment to safeguarding policies and practices

Shelter Community has a Safeguarding Policy that outlines our ethos and commitment to safeguarding. It sets out the procedures that staff and volunteers must follow when responding to safeguarding concerns or incidents. This policy is reviewed annually by our trustees.

Commitment to safeguarding training and development

Training is central to Shelter Community’s safeguarding commitment.

• All new staff and volunteers complete safeguarding training as part of their induction.

• All staff and volunteers are DBS checked.

• Additional training on key topics, such as recording safeguarding concerns, suicide prevention, and supporting tenants with vulnerabilities, is provided where relevant.

Recording and record keeping

Shelter Community understands the importance of clear, confidential, and accurate recording of safeguarding incidents and concerns. This is covered in our safeguarding training.

Contacts

If you have any questions about safeguarding at Shelter Community, or if you wish to raise a safeguarding concern, you can contact our safeguarding lead using the details below. Full contact information is available in our Safeguarding Policy.

Our Safeguarding Policy

You can download a copy of our full Safeguarding Policy that is part of our handbook here.