The below safeguarding guidance is for Fellows who wish to apply to the Activate Fund.

Safeguarding is the protection and proactive prevention of people from abuse and harm, including physical and emotional abuse, exploitation, and neglect.

The Churchill Fellowship takes its safeguarding duty seriously and promotes the welfare of all children and adults at risk, in accordance with our Safeguarding policy. Applications for grants through the Churchill Fellowship contain specific safeguarding sections to ensure all applicants have procedures that are compliant with Safeguarding regulations.

If you are applying for a grant at the Churchill Fellowship, this guidance is designed to support you to review your safeguarding procedures.

Safeguarding is for everyone and everyone’s responsibility. You have a duty to protect people who come into contact with your charity, organisation, project from abuse or mistreatment of any kind, this includes beneficiaries, staff, and volunteers. There are additional statutory (legal) and charity regulators’ requirements when working with children and adults at risk, including a written policy.

Safeguarding is a general standard of governance that must be researched and tailored for your project and/or organisation and safeguarding duties must be proportional to the level of risk involved. Staff cannot provide training in achieving best practice in Safeguarding and you are advised to connect with expert specialist organisations.

Below are the safeguarding requirements when applying for an Activate Fund grant:

• A good understanding of legislation or best practice for safeguarding children, young people, and adults at risk
• A Safeguarding policy and procedure that is up to date (dated with the date of next review)
• Clear and established practical management and a designated Safeguarding lead within your organisation
• Partnership with local services to deliver Safeguarding, where applicable
• Appropriate vetting and checks for relevant volunteers and staff, including DBS checks
• Appropriate safeguarding training for relevant volunteers and staff

The questions below are designed to help you think revise and finalise the answers and documentation you provide as part of the application form.

• Did I provide information regarding the Safeguarding framework (your project’s approach to Safeguarding) that is relative to my work?
• Do I have a written Safeguarding policy for work involving any children and adults at risk?
• Are all relevant members of staff and volunteers appropriately trained and checked for work relating to children and adults at risk?
• Have I provided a dated Safeguarding policy that was formally reviewed within the last year?
• Does it specify the date for the following review?
• Does the policy note vetting/barring checks for those working directly with children and adults at risk?
• Should I have a safeguarding lead? If yes, is the lead named in the policy?
• Have I considered Online Safeguarding and Data misuse, confidentiality, and ethical issues?

Applicants working on their own may also want to consider if they have sought out the appropriate checks and certification for their project, which involve children or adults at risk in the government's Eligibility guidance for enhanced DBS checks, including regulated activity.

Please contact office@churchillfellowship.org if you require any further guidance to complete your application and meet your safeguarding requirements.

External resources

• NCVO local and national support
• NSPCC safeguarding children and child protection
• NSPCC introductory guide to safeguarding and child protection for the voluntary and community sector
• Social Care Institute for Excellence safeguarding

Nation-specific resources

England & Wales

• The Charity Commission
• Disclosure checks

Scotland

• The Charity Regulator
• Disclosure checks

Northern Ireland

• The Charity Commission
• Disclosure checks