Policies, Procedures
and Information

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Commitment

Hereford Learning Hub recognises our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and adults whom we work with.  We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children and adults are respected and valued. We are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice.  Child protection forms part of our safeguarding responsibilities and so we will take all reports of concerns seriously and in an accountable and transparent way.

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Hereford Learning Hub believes that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by a commitment to practice which protects them. We believe safeguarding is everybody's business and intervention and support is timely and right for individuals, families, schools and community groups we work with.

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​Introduction to Safeguarding (including definition) and explanation of types of concern

When we talk about safeguarding we are describing all the actions taken to protect anyone who may, in any way, be vulnerable (including but not exclusively anyone under the age of 18 and adults with care and support needs) from abuse, bullying, neglect and exploitation, which causes distress or may cause the impairment of mental and physical health or development and actions taken to prevent these situations developing.

 

It can be really hard to tell someone if you are experiencing harm or you are worried about someone else, or someone else’s behaviour.  Because of that, we have made it as easy as possible for you to tell us if you have concerns about:

• the wellbeing of someone at Hereford Learning Hub, including safeguarding concerns about abuse, neglect or exploitation

• the conduct of a team member at Hereford Learning Hub (staff or volunteers), including allegations of harmful behaviour toward participants

• how a safeguarding concern is being managed (this is often called Whistleblowing)

OR to make a complaint about Hereford Learning Hub

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​Reporting concerns, including the form

If you have concerns about any of these things you can tell us by filling in our online form.

You can get to the form by clicking on this link or following the QR code or tapping on it.

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If the person you are concerned about is in immediate danger please don't worry about this form, but call 999 and tell the police.  Their job is to act quickly, where we may need to take a couple of days to ensure the right response.

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If you are happy to, you could talk to a member of the Hereford Learning Hub team.  They are trained to listen to and act on concerns and they will also fill in the form with your concern.

The form allows you to report your concern without leaving your name, so you can do it completely anonymously.  That’s fine, but we may not be able to do anything with your concerns if we don’t have enough information and can’t follow it up with a phone call.

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The safeguarding lead at Hereford Learning Hub is Zoe Rose and so whoever you tell, they will also speak to her about the issue, unless the issue involves her.

 

You can also report your concern to the local safeguarding team at the Council.  We’ve put the websites and numbers at the bottom of the page.

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Explanation of safeguarding governance arrangements

So that we can ensure our safeguarding practice is as strong as possible, we invest in a partnership with Keep Governance and Safeguarding which ensures a transparent and accountable response to all safeguarding concerns. 

 

All concerns are reported through a secure form and are stored in a dedicated, purpose-built system called RecordMy.  Keep Governance and Safeguarding will receive, review and manage all reported concerns which will then be acted upon by Hereford Learning Hub.

 

The management of concerns in this way is secure and compliant with data protection law and we will only use it for the specific purposes of responding to the concern and improving safeguarding at Hereford Learning Hub.

 

Keep Governance and Safeguarding check our safeguarding policies and procedures every year and support us with our safeguarding practice.  Because we meet their best practice standards they give us their safeguarding quality mark, which in turn lets you know that we go above and beyond to meet our safeguarding commitments.  You can even check that our quality mark is genuine by visiting www.keepsafeguarding.com/quality-mark-verification.

 

For more information about how safeguarding works at Hereford Learning Hub and how we expect our team members to behave, whether they are employed or are volunteers, you can read our safeguarding policy and our staff and volunteer Code of Conduct (see below).

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Local safeguarding referrals

If you want to get in touch with your local council safeguarding teams their contact details are available by searching for “safeguarding in your nearest town”.  Those for the area Hereford Learning Hub work in are here:

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Herefordshire

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Concerned about an adult - 01432 260715 or visit the adult safeguarding webpage

Concerned about a child - 01432 260800 or visit the child safeguarding webpage

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