Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

Cosmic Cactus is an organisation which aims to

Support person-centred learning and transitions
Develop and improve decision-making and planning
Celebrate difference and encourage the achievement of potential

The purpose of this policy is:

to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults who receive Cosmic Cactus’ services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services
to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection and adult safeguarding.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Cosmic Cactus including senior managers and directors, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children and vulnerable adults in England.

Summaries of the key legislation are available from nspcc.org.uk/learning and scie.org.uk/safeguarding/adults

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related documents.

We believe that:

Children, young people and vulnerable adults should never experience abuse of any kind
We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

the welfare of children and vulnerable adults is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take all children and vulnerable adults, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse
some children and vulnerable adults are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children, young people and vulnerable adults safe by:

valuing, listening to and respecting them
appointing a nominated safeguarding lead for children, young people and vulnerable adults
adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers
developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures
providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently
recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance [more information about this is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/fororganisations]
sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and adults via written materials in plain language, group work and one-to-one discussions
making sure that children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, vulnerable adults parents, families and carers appropriately
using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately
creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise
ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our participants, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, participants and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

The designated safeguarding lead for Cosmic Cactus is:

Jules Benton (CEO) talktojules@outlook.com 07749 627012

Or you can contact us through this website

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on 06/03/22