National Safeguarding Adults Week 2022: Responding to Contemporary Challenges

This week is National Safeguarding Adults Week!

At Penny Appeal, safeguarding is integral to everything we do and is one of our top priorities - from our work overseas to our projects here in the UK, for our staff and those representing Penny Appeal.

As an international charity, we are committed to preventing any form of harm committed against children and at-risk adults – including sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment (SEAH) – and responding robustly when harm takes place. We recognise that safeguarding is not only a legal obligation but also a moral duty, and we are dedicated to ensuring the safety of all those who encounter our work.

In honour of National Safeguarding Week, we would like to share with you some of the initiatives that we have planned as part of our Safeguarding Strategy towards achieving excellence in safeguarding and promoting best practice across all our work. As part of the Strategy, we are creating a robust safeguarding framework which is embedded across the organisation. We are also adopting an organisational culture that expects and enables staff and associates to put the safeguarding framework into action!

To kick off National Safeguarding Adults Week, we will be launching a series of online modules to help our staff deepen their understanding of safeguarding adults and children. These modules provide comprehensive information about the various forms of abuse and exploitation, and how to report and respond when a concern or incident arises. We are providing our staff and associates (volunteers, contractors, partners) with the tools and knowledge they need to ensure that everyone we work with is safe and secure, and how to mitigate potential risks. We are rolling out improved training to all staff, starting in the UK. We will then be working closely with colleagues in our field offices to adapt the Policy and Safeguarding Code of Conduct to their local context, to train our staff and partners overseas.

Additionally, we are proud to be working with a range of charities and partners to further promote the importance of safeguarding, and to share learning and ways to measure impact and increase transparency. These collaborations will ensure that we continue to provide ongoing support for our staff and our project participants.

Finally, we would like to urge everyone to join in National Safeguarding Adults Week by helping us spread the word about the importance of protecting those we work with from harm.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post and learn more about our commitment to safeguarding. If you would like to find out more about Penny Appeal's work on safeguarding, including our policies, please click here! If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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