Safeguarding for village halls

What are your responsibilities?

It’s sometimes said that village hall charities don’t have much responsibility for ensuring people using the venue are safe from harm, because that’s up to the organisers of all the different activities that take place in halls.  Obviously it’s true that hirers have a key role in ensuring (as best they can) the safety and well-being of their participants, but the village hall committee has an important role too.

Online briefing – Tues 30 Mar, 3.00-4.00pm

We are running a short briefing on safeguarding issues, to help village hall trustees know what they can do and what their responsibilities are around keeping all your users safe.

Please email us for the Zoom link and to book your place.

Guidance documents and information

ACRE, our national partner charity, are revising their safeguarding guidance booklet and model policy.  We will go through this guidance at the briefing on 30 March.

The information from ACRE was overhauled last November as part of a project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, and further input since then will soon be incorporated into a new version.

Charity Commission guidance: Safeguarding duties for charity trustees

Disclosure and Barring Service: guidance leaflets
(particularly see ‘Working with adults in the charity sector’  and the parallel leaflet regarding children)

DBS eligibility checker tool: on the main DBS guidance page

Training opportunities and local contacts

Introductory online training for charity trustees

This session is ideal for charity trustees, especially if you are taking on the role to lead for the Hall’s management committee on safeguarding issues.  It costs £25 per person and should take around 3 hours to complete.

NSPCC – training and resources for those working with children (i.e. under-18s)

Hampshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership – local training and information

Ann Craft Trust – safeguarding adults courses

Hampshire Safeguarding Adults Board – local training and information

Your local Council for Voluntary Service may also offer safeguarding training.  Look up the CVS covering your area on the Hampshire CVS Network website.

NHS Safeguarding app

This app has been developed to act as a comprehensive resource for healthcare professionals, carers, and citizens. It provides 24-hour, mobile access to legislation and guidance on safeguarding for people at all life stages.

The app also provides information on how to report a safeguarding concern and has a directory of safeguarding contacts for every local authority in England, searchable by region.

Full details are on the NHS England website.

Reporting concerns

Hampshire organisations should report any concerns about the welfare of a child or adult to Hampshire County Council, or to the Police if someone is in imminent danger.  Specific links for children and adults are below:

Report a concern about an adult (someone aged 18+)

Report a concern about a child (someone aged 17 or under)