Safeguarding Policy

1. Policy Statement
Coral Futures Research and Innovation Centre is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk. The charity will take all reasonable steps to prevent harm, respond appropriately to concerns, and create a safe environment in which beneficiaries, participants, and communities can engage in the charity’s education, conservation and research activities for the public benefit.
• Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All trustees, staff and volunteers must act in a way that protects people from harm.
• Trustees retain oversight and ensure safeguarding arrangements are proportionate, effective, and regularly reviewed.
• The charity will work in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and free from abuse, exploitation, bullying, harassment, or discrimination.
• Where the charity operates through partners, it will take reasonable steps to ensure safeguarding responsibilities are clear and risks are managed.

2. Purpose and Scope
This policy:
• sets standards for safeguarding children and adults at risk in all charity activities, including education events, outreach, training, research and conservation work;
• defines roles and responsibilities;
• explains how concerns and allegations are handled; and
• supports compliance with trustees’ legal duties, public benefit obligations, and Charity Commission expectations.
This policy applies to:
• all trustees, employees, volunteers and contractors;
• all charity activities in England and Wales and in overseas locations (including UK Overseas Territories) where the charity operates or partners deliver on its behalf; and
• in-person and online activities, communications, and digital content.

3. Definitions
For the purposes of this Policy:
• Child: anyone under the age of 18.
• Adult at risk: a person aged 18 or over who has needs for care and support, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves because of those needs.
• Safeguarding: protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect.
• Abuse: may be physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, financial/material, discriminatory, organisational/institutional, neglect, domestic abuse, modern slavery/trafficking, or online abuse.

4. Legal and Regulatory Context
Safeguarding obligations arise from trustees’ duties to act in the charity’s best interests, manage risks, and protect beneficiaries and participants. Relevant UK legislation and guidance may include (non-exhaustive):
• Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004;
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) arrangements;
• Care Act 2014 (adult safeguarding);
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (statutory guidance);
• Data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) when handling safeguarding information; and
• Charity Commission safeguarding guidance, including expectations on reporting serious incidents and managing safeguarding risks.

Where activities take place overseas, the charity will comply with local law and apply UK-equivalent safeguarding standards as a minimum, adapted to local context and risk.

5. Safeguarding Principles
• Prevention: we assess and reduce safeguarding risks through planning, safer recruitment, training, and supervision.
• Proportionality: controls are appropriate to the activity and level of risk.
• Protection: we take prompt action where concerns arise, prioritising immediate safety.
• Partnership: we work with partner organisations and authorities where appropriate to safeguard people effectively.
• Accountability: safeguarding decisions are recorded, reviewed, and overseen by trustees.

6. Roles and Responsibilities
6.1 Trustees
• Approve and review this policy at least annually and after any serious incident.
• Appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and ensure appropriate training and support.
• Ensure safeguarding is integrated into risk management, programme design, partner arrangements, and decision-making.
• Ensure appropriate insurance, resources, and procedures are in place for safe delivery (including overseas work).
• Ensure serious safeguarding incidents are managed appropriately and reported to the Charity Commission when required.

6.2 Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
• Acts as the primary point of contact for safeguarding concerns and advice.
• Maintains safeguarding records, ensuring confidentiality and appropriate information sharing.
• Ensures safeguarding induction and refresher training are delivered and kept up to date.
• Coordinates referrals to statutory services or partner safeguarding leads as appropriate.
• Provides regular safeguarding updates to trustees (e.g., via a standing agenda item).

6.3 Staff, volunteers and contractors
• Read and follow this policy and the charity’s Code of Conduct.
• Complete required safeguarding training and follow safer working practices.
• Report safeguarding concerns immediately to the DSL (or Deputy DSL / Chair if the concern involves the DSL).
• Never investigate concerns personally or promise confidentiality to a person disclosing a concern.

7. Safer Recruitment and Selection
The charity applies safer recruitment practices proportionate to roles and activities, including:
• role descriptions that identify safeguarding responsibilities and required competencies;
• references and verification appropriate to the role;
• induction covering safeguarding, conduct expectations, reporting procedures, and boundaries; and
• DBS checks where roles are eligible (e.g., regulated activity or frequent, unsupervised contact with children or adults at risk).

The charity will not place individuals in roles involving significant safeguarding risk unless appropriate checks, supervision, and controls are in place.

8. Training and Awareness
• All trustees, staff and volunteers receive safeguarding induction appropriate to their role.
• The DSL and Deputy DSL receive role-specific safeguarding training and refresh it regularly.
• Safeguarding is revisited through periodic briefings, especially before outreach, fieldwork or overseas activity.
• Partners and external speakers are briefed on the charity’s safeguarding expectations where relevant.

9. Planning Safe Activities and Managing Risk
Safeguarding risk assessment is required for activities that involve children or adults at risk, or where there is potential for harm (including online and overseas activities). Risk assessments should consider:
• nature of contact (group vs one-to-one), supervision arrangements, and setting;
• who has primary safeguarding responsibility (e.g., schools) and confirmation of arrangements;
• travel, accommodation, and lone working (especially overseas or field settings);
• online engagement (moderation, messaging rules, recording and consent);
• photography/filming and consent requirements;
• emergency planning, incident response and local contacts; and
• biosecurity and environmental risks where relevant to fieldwork.

Activities will not proceed where safeguarding risks cannot be reduced to an acceptable level.

10. Safer Working Practice and Code of Conduct
Everyone acting for the charity must:
• treat all people with respect and dignity and maintain professional boundaries;
• avoid being alone with a child or adult at risk where possible; if unavoidable, ensure visibility/traceability and follow risk controls;
• avoid private or secret communications with children; use approved channels and, where appropriate, copy in a parent/guardian or partner lead;
• not engage in any form of abuse, exploitation, harassment, discrimination, or inappropriate behaviour;
• not accept inappropriate gifts or create dependency;
• use images/recordings only with informed consent and in line with the charity’s privacy arrangements.
• raise concerns immediately if something does not feel right.

10.1 Online and digital safeguarding
• Online events involving under-18s will be designed to minimise risk (e.g., supervised participation, moderated chat, and clear joining instructions).
• No one-to-one private messaging with children. Communication must use approved charity channels and be auditable.
• Where sessions are recorded, this will be communicated in advance and consent obtained where required.
• Digital content and social media will be moderated to prevent harassment, grooming, exploitation, or harmful content.
Breaches of the Code of Conduct may result in removal from duties and further action.

11. Responding to Safeguarding Concerns
11.1 Immediate risk
If someone is in immediate danger or requires urgent medical attention, call emergency services (999 in the UK) and then inform the DSL as soon as possible.

11.2 Receiving a disclosure
• Listen calmly, take the person seriously, and reassure them they have done the right thing by speaking up.
• Do not promise confidentiality. Explain you must share information with the DSL and, where necessary, with relevant authorities.
• Record the concern as soon as possible using the charity’s Safeguarding Concern Form (Annex B).
• Report immediately to the DSL (or Deputy DSL / Chair if the DSL is implicated).

11.3 DSL actions
The DSL will assess the information, consult relevant partner safeguarding leads where appropriate, and decide on next steps, which may include:
• referral to local authority children’s social care, adult safeguarding services, the police, or other relevant agencies;
• internal protective actions (e.g., removing someone from duties, increasing supervision);
• support to the person affected; and
• recording and escalation to trustees where appropriate.

12. Managing Allegations Against Staff, Volunteers or Trustees
Any allegation that a person acting for the charity has harmed, may have harmed, or poses a risk of harm to a child or adult at risk must be reported immediately to the DSL. If the allegation concerns the DSL, it must be reported to the Chair of Trustees.
Where appropriate, the DSL/Chair will liaise with relevant statutory processes, including (as applicable):
• Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) arrangements for allegations involving children (England);
• local authority adult safeguarding teams for adults at risk;
• police involvement where a criminal offence may have occurred; and
• suspension or restriction of duties where necessary to protect people and the charity.

The charity will not conduct internal investigations that could compromise statutory investigations.

13. Information Sharing and Record Keeping
• Safeguarding information is sensitive and will be shared only on a need-to-know basis.
• Records will be accurate, factual, dated, and stored securely with restricted access.
• Information may be shared with authorities where necessary to protect a child or adult at risk, in line with data protection law and safeguarding principles.
• Records will be retained for an appropriate period, then securely destroyed.

14. Working with Partners, Agents and Third Parties
Where the charity delivers activities with partners (including overseas partners), trustees ensure safeguarding responsibilities are clear and proportionate controls are in place. This may include:
• due diligence and confirmation of partner safeguarding policies and procedures (where relevant);
• written agreements setting out safeguarding responsibilities, reporting routes, and incident escalation;
• confirmation of supervision arrangements for children and adults at risk (e.g., schools retain primary responsibility during school-led sessions);
• briefing external speakers/trainers on the charity’s expectations and code of conduct; and
• monitoring and review of partner delivery and incident reporting.

15. Serious Incidents and Reporting
Trustees will consider whether a safeguarding incident is serious and requires reporting to the Charity Commission, and will make reports promptly where required. Trustees will also meet any obligations to report to other regulators or authorities as appropriate.

Factors trustees consider may include:
• actual or alleged abuse or mistreatment of a beneficiary or participant;
• serious harm or risk of serious harm;
• a significant safeguarding allegation against a person in a position of trust;
• systemic or repeated safeguarding failures; or
• significant reputational risk to the charity arising from a safeguarding incident.

16. Monitoring, Review and Continuous Improvement
• Safeguarding is a standing agenda item at trustee meetings at least quarterly (or more frequently during active delivery).
• This policy is reviewed at least annually and after any serious safeguarding incident.
• Lessons learned are documented and used to improve training, procedures, risk assessments and partner arrangements.