This policy defines how Ousden Village Hall operates to safeguard children, young people
and adults at risk of abuse or neglect. The hall provides a safe and secure venue for a range
of services, activities and events. These can be accessed by all members of the local and
neighbouring communities including Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults.
We have a duty of care to those individuals involved as visitors or participants in all our
activities on site. We also want to protect and support volunteers, staff or contractors who
come into contact with these groups. This policy is made available to all adults who book
the hall, including any committee members who run events or activities on behalf of the
hall. In most cases children will be accompanied by an adult or carer who will take
responsibility for them but vulnerable adults may also attend activities independently and
need additional protection accordingly.
Children and young people are defined as those under 18 years of age and adults at risk of
abuse or neglect, refers to someone over 18 years of age who has care needs, is
experiencing abuse or neglect and is unable to protect himself/herself against abuse and
neglect or risk of it.
Ousden Village Hall Management Committee has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse. At
least one committee member, currently the Chairperson, will be named for Child and
Vulnerable Adult Protection. The committee has the responsibility of ensuring that
safeguards are in place and that policies and procedures are current and fit for purpose. In
the event of a disclosure, the relevant authority will be informed through Suffolk County
Council’s Customer First phone line 0808 800 4005.
If any member of the committee or hall user has concerns about the behaviour or actions of
anyone associated with the hall they should immediately inform the chairperson.
All members of staff and volunteers, together with hall users are responsible for monitoring
all behaviour within the building, reporting and following up any concerns.
Currently the Village Hall has no members of staff. Volunteers who clean the hall are
assessed for level of activity and do not, at present, need DBS checks.
Procedures for safeguarding
If any member of the committee or hall user has concerns about the behaviour or actions of
anyone associated with the hall they should immediately inform the named safeguarding
person or hall committee chairperson. Once a disclosure is made it will be recorded factually
but no questions asked. If a concern is noticed such as evidence of physical abuse, severe
neglect or distress this should be reported in the same way.
All referrers should follow the summary guidance:
- Record the time and date
- Don’t promise to keep what you’re told a secret
- Tell the child or vulnerable adult what you will do next
- Don’t make promises you can’t keep
All disclosures should be immediately reported to the named safeguarding person who will
in turn inform the relevant authorities.
Confidentiality cannot be promised in any case where an individual is in danger of any form
of abuse, be it physical, sexual emotional or neglect. Referral is made to the relevant
authorities (see above). The named person will take the necessary action and follow up
cases but it is not usually appropriate to feed back to the individual making the disclosure
although they should check that the information has been passed on.
Any individual making a referral will be protected by the committee under whistleblowing
procedures. Likewise, if the individual making the referral feels that insufficient
action/follow up has taken place they should inform the committee/trustees without fear of
repercussion.
Procedures for whistleblowing include:
- Protecting those who make referrals so that there is a culture of informing without
reprisal or negative consequence - As far as possible protecting the anonymity of the whistle blower (except where
doing so could endanger another individual). - Thoroughly investigating any reported incidents regardless of how unlikely they
seem - Keeping accurate records so that any patterns in behaviour can be monitored.
Monitoring
All committee members, trustees, staff, volunteers and hall users are responsible for
monitoring behaviour in the hall, reporting and following up concerns.
Named individuals such as the Chair person has overall responsibility for receiving referrals
and reporting to relevant authorities. They will scrutinise any records and monitor incidents.
Named people will seek feedback from the relevant authorities to procedures in order to
identify any improvements which are needed to prevent re-occurrence.
Policies and procedures will be subject to review or be updated when circumstances or
regulations change.
This policy is subject to annual review and update as required when necessary.
Last reviewed & published Jan 2024