Safeguarding Policy

Freevacy Ltd is committed to meeting its duty of care and the prevention of and protection from abuse and neglect of all vulnerable adults who may come into contact with its staff in respect of their business role.

Freevacy Ltd is committed to taking all reasonable steps to prevent the abuse of vulnerable adults.

Freevacy Ltd will ensure staff are carefully recruited and necessary checks are made.

Freevacy Ltd is committed to ensuring that the right staffing, training and reporting structure is in place to enable safeguarding concerns to be dealt with effectively and to ensure the correct processes are followed, as detailed in the procedures.

Freevacy Ltd is committed to working with the police and safeguarding authorities and local authorities where appropriate.

Freevacy Ltd will take all reasonable steps to ensure that third parties delivering training services on its behalf are aware of this policy and relevant procedures.

Abuse or neglect is any behaviour towards a person that deliberately or unknowingly causes him or her harm, endangers their life or violates their rights. This may be the result of deliberate intent, negligence or ignorance. Exploitation can be a common theme in the experience of abuse or neglect. Whilst it is acknowledged that abuse or neglect can take different forms, the Care Act guidance identifies the following types of abuse or neglect:

Physical abuse: including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate physical sanctions

Domestic abuse: including psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional abuse ‘so called ‘honour’ based violence

Sexual abuse: including rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, indecent exposure and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting

Psychological abuse: including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or supportive networks

Financial or material abuse: including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult’s financial arrangements, including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions, the misuse or misappropriation of property, possession or benefits

Modern slavery: Slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude, traffickers and slave masters using whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force people into a life of abuse, servitude and inhuman treatment.

Discriminatory abuse: including harassment, slurs or similar treatment because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion

Organisational abuse: including neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting, such as a hospital or care home, or in relation to care provided in a person’s own home. This may range from one-off incidents to ongoing ill-treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.

Neglect and acts of omission: including ignoring medical, emotional or physical needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, and the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition or heating

Self-neglect: This covers a wide range of behaviours around neglecting to care for one’s own personal hygiene, health or surroundings.

This is not an exhaustive list, there can be other types of abuse, which may include:

Radicalisation: radicalisation is comparable to other forms of exploitation, such as grooming and child sexual exploitation. Radicalisation’s aim is to attract people to another way of reasoning, inspire new recruits and embed extreme views and persuade vulnerable people of another cause’s legitimacy. This may be through face-to-face encounters or through social media. 

Click this link for more government information about radicalisation.

Hate crime: crimes committed against someone because of their disability, gender identity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation are hate crimes and should be reported to the police. 

Click this link for more information from the government about reporting hate crime.

Mate crime: The term Mate Crime is generally understood to refer to the befriending of people who are perceived by perpetrators to be vulnerable for the purpose of taking advantage of/exploiting and/or abusing them.

Sexual Exploitation: Is a form of sexual abuse that involves someone taking advantage of an adult, sexually, for their own benefit through threats, bribes and violence. Perpetrators usually hold power over their victims, due to age, gender, sexual identity, physical strength or status.

Freevacy Ltd has a named safeguarding lead who is responsible for receiving concerns and for making decisions about notifying appropriate safeguarding agencies where appropriate and necessary. They will be responsible for ensuring this policy and procedures are being followed and are updated accordingly.

In accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, information relating to safeguarding issues will be stored securely and will only be shared with those with a need to know.

• Policy: Safeguarding Policy
• Version number 1.0
• Policy owner: Jodie King
• Centre Manager & Finance Director