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Expert safeguarding support for charity & business:

Many organisations struggle to find safeguarding advice that fits their specific area of work or the unique situations of their client group.

 

I begin by taking the time to understand what you do, how you do it and why you work in the way you do. This allows me to offer support that is specialised in terms of its expertise, but also grounded in the realities of each organisation's needs.

 

I often find that what people want help with is the detail. They have a good general understanding of child protection and a basic safeguarding policy in place.  But they want to discuss the intricacies of how to handle a difficult conversation with a parent. Or how best to explore comments a young person has made about a staff member. Or how to write a referral to Social Care that increases the liklihood of them offering a service. Others may need policies or ways of working reviewed by someone with significant experience in child protection, social care, legislation, charity management or the outdoors as a matter of best practice or following a serious incident.

What I offer:

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       What I offer:

 

Over the years I have found that what organisations value is someone to come alongside them and engage with the real world complexities of their work. And to do this in a plain, straightforward, grounded way. I aim to create space for shared thinking and analysis, rather than simply providing standardised one size fits all advice or policies. 

 

  • Policy & structures reviews: All organisations should review safeguarding policies every two years. For new organisations I can help create child protection, confidentiality and other policies moulded around the charity or business's area of work or unique circumstances.

 

  • Bespoke consultation: Either on an ongoing basis or for defined peroids e.g the duration of a project.

 

  • Mentoring support: For your organisation's Designated Safeguarding Officer or specific staff.

 

  • Training: Delivering child protection training or reviewing training needs.

 

  • Serious incident reviews: Whether around incidents with young people or with staff/volunteers.

 

  • Support with statutory referrals: Whether to Social Services, CAMHS or elsewhere, using my experience to ensure referrals are more likely to meet ever rising thresholds.

 

I tailor each of my services to your needs. So if there is an area not listed above with which you require support, please just get in touch and we can discuss ways I may be able to help.

       How it works:

 

Because my philosphy is to base support around your specific needs, I don't have a set structure or pricing. Any of the above, or any other support required, can be adapted to fit your situation.

 

Safeguarding support is not something that makes anyone a fortune. I'm more interested in having a straightforward conversation about how I can help and agreeing a sensible package of support with pricing based on what seems fair. Some pay a one off fee for a specific project. Others choose ongoing monthly consultation or mentoring, effectively using me as readily available safeguarding advice which their staff can then access as needed. With others I join team meetings or provide safeguarding surgeries on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. For some young peoples' summer camps I am commissioned for a few months each summer to  be on standby for round the clock safeguarding advice. Essentially I believe in sensible support that fills the gap you need it to.

       Who I work with:

 

I am able to offer expert help to charites, businesses or educational provisions working with children, vulnerable young people/adults, or their families. Examples of types of organisations I have supported:

 

  • Charities/businesses working with young people in the outdoors, or via residential breaks/trips with the extra safeguards that need to come with this.

 

  • Child and adult therapy based provisions wanting to pay careful regard to boundaries and confidentiality.

 

  • Organisations working with families that hover just on or below Social Care thresholds but where referrals are not reliably picked up by Social Services.

 

  • Busineses/social enterprises who do not solely work with vulnerable young people and who do not have their own safeguarding staff but who find they need specialist help in setting up or reviewing areas of their business that relate to children.

 

  • Street level youth services, where young people come and go, and who use innovative ways to engage hard to reach families such as community cooking, bike workshops,  the arts & music.

 

  • Smaller charities operating solely via the goodwill of volunteers.

 

  • Organisations based online only, with the unique challenges this brings.

 

  • Larger charities or busineses who commission me to lead one-off projects that fall outside their own staff's expertise.

 

What all have in common is that they are interested in providing high quality services to young people but find that generic policies or guidelines are not enough for their more specific circumstances.

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What others say:

'Mike’s specialism in children’s safeguarding has been invaluable to us in setting up a children’s charity.  Not only does he have in depth knowledge and experience, but he is highly articulate and able to convey all that is desired of common sense safeguarding, as well as all the legal requirements.  Without his input, putting a safeguarding policy in place which met our specific requirements would have been a hugely daunting experience.'

Lead manager of a new children’s nature charity

'Mike provides safeguarding consultancy for us as and when situations arise. He is very patient and always takes time to understand complex issues in full. When we first worked with Mike he took the time to develop a strong understanding of the nature of our charity, as our work is quite different to many others. Because of this the advice he gives is always thorough, measured, detailed but also based around our circumstances and this made him stand out from the rest. He is very supportive of our aims and I have learned a great deal from him over the years.'

Designated child protection officer for a volunteer led children’s organisation

'We commissioned Mike to lead an external best practice review following a potentially serious incident within our organisation. He was diplomatic, efficient and above all got to the real crux of the problem and made several excellent recommendations. He demonstrated a considerable wealth of experience and calm, thoughtful leadership throughout. I really could not recommend him highly enough.'

Chair of Trustee Board for a children’s respite holiday charity

'Mike is incredibly helpful when thinking through cases, especially when situations feel ‘stuck’, unmanageable or when there are challenges in getting statutory agencies to pick up risk. He is calming and a really creative thinker whilst also being extremely thorough.'

Therapeutic keyworker in an outreach organisation

 

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