Canterbury Commemoration Society Safeguarding Policy
Policy date: 20 April 2022
The Canterbury Commemoration Society (“the Society”) seeks to make a positive contribution to a strong and safe community and recognises the right of every individual to stay safe.
The Society encounters children and / or vulnerable adults through the following activities: business meetings of the Society; the Society’s fund-raising social and cultural events; public events, such as the unveiling of its statues and other memorials.
This policy seeks to ensure that the Society undertakes its responsibilities regarding the protection of children and / or vulnerable adults and will respond to concerns appropriately. It establishes a framework to support trustees and members of the society in their practices and clarifies the Society’s expectations.
Safeguarding is about embedding practices to ensure the protection of children and / or vulnerable adults wherever possible.
Abuse is a selfish act of oppression and injustice, exploitation, and manipulation of power by those in a position of authority. This can be caused by those inflicting harm or those who fail to act to prevent harm. Abuse is not restricted to any socio-economic group, gender, or culture. It can take several forms, including the following:
- physical abuse
- sexual abuse
- psychological or emotional abuse
- neglect or omission to act
- financial or material abuse
- child sexual exploitation
- modern slavery
The Safeguarding Lead of the Society, appointed from within the trustee body, is currently Trustee Helen Gillis.
The process outlined below details the stages involved in raising and reporting safeguarding concerns in the Society and the Society’s subsequent actions.
- Concerns must first be raised with the lead trustee on the project or the event in question or with the Safeguarding Lead as appropriate.
- The Safeguarding Lead will discuss the concerns with the parents of the child or with the vulnerable person.
- The Safeguarding Lead will handle and record the concerns in a secure and responsible way.
- The Safeguarding Lead will act quickly, ensuring there is a stop to any further harm or damage to the person or persons concerned.
- The Safeguarding Lead will report the concerns to all relevant agencies in full.
- The Safeguarding Lead, in consultation with the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary of the Society, will plan what to say to the trustees and members of the Society and the media, if appropriate.
- The Society will be as open and transparent about what happened as is possible in the circumstances.
- The Society will review what happened to understand how to stop it from happening again.
Information will be gathered, recorded, and stored in accordance with the Society’s data protection policy.
Information may have to be shared with other agencies, such as Social Services and the Police, to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. The public interest in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults may override confidentiality interests. However, information will be shared on a need-to-know basis only, as judged by the Safeguarding Lead, in consultation with the Society’s officers.
Trustees and members will be made aware that they cannot promise that they will keep secrets.
The Society will publish this policy on its website.
The officers of the Society will review this policy every three years and whenever there are changes in legislation.