Charity Safeguarding Policy Template UK 2026 (Free, Trustee-Ready)

What “safeguarding” actually means for charities

Safeguarding is the action your charity takes to protect people who use its services, work for it, or come into contact with it from harm. The Charity Commission’s view is broad: trustees have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect everyone who comes into contact with the charity from harm.

This includes: children and young people under 18; adults at risk (formerly “vulnerable adults”); beneficiaries facing specific risk; staff and volunteers; trustees in their charity-related capacity.

Even charities that don’t think of themselves as “safeguarding charities” — community gardens, environmental groups, sports clubs — have safeguarding obligations the moment a child, parent, or vulnerable person walks into their work.

What the Charity Commission expects

Five things every charity must have in place: (1) A safeguarding policy — written, approved by trustees, reviewed annually; (2) Named safeguarding lead — usually a staff member; (3) DBS-checked staff and volunteers in regulated activity; (4) A reporting and recording system for safeguarding concerns; (5) Trustee oversight — safeguarding on the board agenda at least annually.

Safeguarding incidents are reportable to the Commission as serious incidents — see our serious incident reporting guide.

The free template — 2 pages

[CHARITY NAME] — Safeguarding Policy
Adopted: [date] · Approved by: [Board of Trustees]
Review date: [+12 months]

1. SCOPE AND PURPOSE
This policy applies to all trustees, staff, volunteers, contractors. It covers safeguarding of children, adults at risk, beneficiaries, staff, and volunteers.

[Charity name] is committed to:
- Treating every individual with dignity and respect
- Recognising that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility
- Taking all concerns seriously and responding promptly
- Reporting concerns to relevant authorities without delay
- Ensuring the welfare of children and adults at risk takes priority

2. KEY ROLES
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): [name + role + contact]
Deputy DSL: [name + role + contact]
Trustee Safeguarding Lead: [trustee name]
External Reporting: Local Safeguarding Partnership / Police / Charity Commission

3. RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
- DBS checks at appropriate level for everyone in regulated activity
- Reference checks for all paid staff and trustees
- Safeguarding induction for all new starters within 30 days
- Annual refresher training
- Records kept of training completion

4. RESPONDING TO CONCERNS
- Anyone with a concern reports to DSL within 24 hours
- DSL records all concerns in the safeguarding log
- DSL assesses risk: monitor, internal action, or external referral
- Where harm has occurred or is suspected: report to police and/or local authority immediately
- Where reportable to Charity Commission: trustee chair and DSL jointly approve report within 7 working days

5. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA
- Records held securely and separately from general records
- Information shared on a need-to-know basis only
- UK GDPR special category data rules apply
- Records retained per Charity Commission and ICO guidance

6. WHISTLEBLOWING
Anyone can raise concerns to: DSL; Trustee Safeguarding Lead; Charity Commission; Police; NSPCC (0808 800 5000); relevant adult safeguarding board.

7. REVIEW
This policy is reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees, or following any safeguarding incident requiring policy update.

POLICY OWNER: [DSL name]
NEXT REVIEW: [date]

When trustees should refresh

Annually at minimum. Trigger early review if: incident exposes a gap, charity activities change materially, sector regulation updates, new trustees join.

From CharityIQ. CharityIQ stores your safeguarding policy version, training register, and incident log centrally. See compliance →

Common safeguarding mistakes

1. Policy without a named DSL. A policy that says “the safeguarding lead” without naming a person isn’t actionable. 2. No incident log. Verbal concerns vanish. 3. DBS gaps. Staff DBS-checked; volunteers in same role not. 4. No trustee oversight rhythm. Safeguarding doesn’t make the board agenda until something goes wrong. 5. Confused referral routes. 6. No safeguarding for adults. Most charity safeguarding policies focus on children and miss the adults-at-risk dimension.

What to do this quarter

If your charity has no written safeguarding policy: (1) Adopt the template above — customise. (2) Name your DSL — get them training (NSPCC and SCIE both run UK courses). (3) Audit DBS coverage. (4) Add safeguarding to your annual board agenda.

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