Our safeguarding commitment

Safeguarding is a key priority for us. We work with some of the most marginalised and at-risk children, adults, families, and communities, both within the UK and overseas. At Penny Appeal, we understand safeguarding to mean protecting people, in particular children and at-risk adults, from maltreatment or harm caused by our staff, associates, programmes, or operations.

Penny Appeal is committed to being a safe organisation - for those who work with us, as well as for all the children and at-risk adults we support. We are creating a workplace where all staff and associates (volunteers, contractors, donors, consultants, partners, and other service providers) are treated with respect and dignity, and is characterised by honesty, integrity, and mutual trust. Penny Appeal welcomes diversity and believes every staff and associate has the right to work in an environment which encourages harmonious relationships. Penny Appeal expects that our staff and associates shall behave responsibly and represent our values at all times, and maintain the highest professional, moral and ethical standards in their day-to-day work.

Zero tolerance policy towards inaction against all forms of harm

Penny Appeal believes that everyone we come into contact with, regardless of age, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, if parents, pregnant or otherwise has the right to be protected from all forms of harm. We are committed to preventing any form of sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment (SEAH), including child abuse and adult at-risk abuse, and responding robustly when harm takes place. We are working towards adopting a comprehensive safeguarding practice and culture, with safeguarding of children and at-risk adults being the primary focus in all our programmes and operations.

Often having less power, women and children are particularly vulnerable to SEAH, and this group of individuals is most at risk of discrimination due to one or more protected characteristics. At Penny Appeal, we recognise that the natural process of our work can create an imbalance of power between our staff, associates, programmes or operations, and the lives of people we support. It is our moral and legal duty to ensure that this power is never abused in a way which causes or risks harm and that all persons who receive or deliver development programming or humanitarian assistance, do so in a way that is safe, respectful, and nurturing.

Penny Appeal will not tolerate our staff or associates carrying out any form of harm or SEAH towards anyone we come into contact with through our work. Our zero-tolerance approach means we will always take action when a safeguarding harm takes place. We ensure that support is offered to all those affected, and that the organisation learns from the harm, so it does not happen again. Our staff and representatives accept and recognise their responsibility to provide an environment that promotes the safety of the people we work with at all times, and demonstrate the highest standards of behaviour towards children and at-risk adults, in both their professional and personal lives. We therefore require everyone contracted by Penny Appeal to sign and adhere to our Safeguarding Code of Conduct, referring to appropriate and inappropriate behaviour of adults towards children and at-risk adults, and providing rules that ensure the safety of children and at-risk adults, which can be found in appendix 2 of the Safeguarding Policy.

Safeguarding Policy

The purpose of the Safeguarding Policy is to protect people, particularly children, at-risk adults, and project participants and community members, from any maltreatment or harm that may be caused due to their coming into contact with Penny Appeal. This policy enables us to prevent, report and respond to safeguarding concerns and always ensure accountability and transparency. The Policy provides guidance and informs staff and associates of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. It sets out our commitments to ensure that Penny Appeal provides a safe environment for everyone we work with and for.

Reporting a concern

If you are a member of staff, a donor, a volunteer, a contractor, a service user (child or adult), a community member, a staff member from a partner organisation, and if you SEE, HEAR or SUSPECT that abuse or harm is taking place, you can report a safeguarding concern or incident by e-mailing: safeguarding@pennyappeal.org or by phoning +44 7852340438.

Please remember that your duty is to report, and not investigate. All e-mails and calls will be treated in the strictest of confidence and in compliance with GDPR and data protection regulations.

We continuously monitor guidance from the UK Government, the Charity Commission, Keeping Children Safe, BOND and CHS Alliance to keep abreast of developments and good practice standards for safeguarding.

Our Trustees are accountable to the UK Charity Commission for England and Wales for any harm caused by Penny Appeal staff, associates, programmes, or operations and take all safeguarding matters extremely seriously.

Safer recruitment

Our vetting process for staff, volunteers and contractors includes the appropriate background checks, interviews with questions around safeguarding, and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, where relevant. All staff, contractors and volunteers who join the organisation will need to sign a commitment to our Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct upon signing an agreement and undertake an online safeguarding course within six weeks of joining, and annually thereafter. Our trustees as well as our staff who are based in the UK attend a comprehensive, in-house safeguarding training which is delivered regularly, and is mandatory. Volunteers who support us during our challenges, events or visit our programmes both in the UK and abroad are required to attend a safeguarding briefing with our Safeguarding Department to be able to represent us.