Safeguarding

Last updated: September 14, 2026

1. Policy Statement

Recover360 Ltd is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of everyone we come into contact with through our service, including children, young people, and adults at risk. We believe that every individual has the right to be protected from harm, abuse and neglect, regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or beliefs.

This policy applies to all directors, employees, volunteers, contractors and anyone acting on behalf of Recover360 Ltd (referred to in this policy as “staff”), whether contact with service users takes place in person or remotely (including by phone, video call, email, text or online chat).

This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Notice and any related internal procedures on data protection, confidentiality, lone working, and information sharing.

2. Scope: Children and Adults at Risk

This policy covers safeguarding concerns relating to:

• Children — anyone under the age of 18, in line with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004.
• Adults at risk — an adult who has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs), is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and, as a result of those needs, is unable to protect themselves against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it, as defined by the Care Act 2014.

[Operational flag: confirm which of these groups your service actually works with, and adjust the scope above accordingly. If Recover360 only ever has contact with adults who are not “at risk” under the Care Act definition, the children’s safeguarding provisions below may not be operationally relevant — but many recovery/support services do work with adults who meet the “at risk” definition due to health, addiction, or capacity issues, so please confirm rather than assume.]

3. What Is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. Abuse can take many forms, including:

• Physical abuse
• Emotional or psychological abuse
• Sexual abuse or exploitation
• Financial or material abuse
• Neglect or acts of omission
• Discriminatory abuse
• Domestic abuse
• Modern slavery or trafficking
• Self-neglect
• Organisational or institutional abuse
• Online or digital abuse, including grooming and exploitation via digital communication

Abuse may be a single act or repeated acts. It may occur in any relationship and may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the person affected.

4. Our Commitments

Recover360 Ltd commits to:

• Appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and deputy, with clear responsibility for safeguarding matters
• Ensure all staff receive appropriate safeguarding training and understand how to recognise and respond to concerns
• Carry out appropriate recruitment checks, including DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks where the role involves regulated activity with children or adults at risk
• Respond promptly, consistently and appropriately to any safeguarding concern or disclosure
• Work in cooperation with local authorities, the police and other statutory agencies as required
• Keep accurate, confidential records of any safeguarding concerns, in line with our data protection obligations
• Review this policy at least annually, or sooner if there is a relevant change in law, guidance or our service

5. Designated Safeguarding Lead

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is responsible for:

• Acting as the first point of contact for staff who have a safeguarding concern
• Deciding whether to make a referral to statutory services (such as children’s or adult social care, or the police)
• Liaising with external agencies
• Keeping accurate and secure safeguarding records
• Ensuring staff are aware of this policy and receive appropriate training

[Operational flag — important: these names and contact details must be real, current people at Recover360, not placeholders, before this policy is published or relied upon. A safeguarding policy with an unnamed or unreachable DSL does not meet good practice and could leave a genuine disclosure unactioned.]

6. Recognising Signs of Abuse or Harm

Staff should remain alert to signs that a child or adult at risk may be experiencing abuse or neglect. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Unexplained injuries, or injuries inconsistent with the explanation given
• Sudden changes in behaviour, mood or personality
• Signs of fear, anxiety or withdrawal, particularly around a specific person
• Poor hygiene, malnutrition, or signs of self-neglect
• Unexplained changes in financial circumstances
• Disclosures made directly by the individual or a third party
• Signs of exploitation, coercion or controlling behaviour by another person

This list is not exhaustive. Staff do not need to be certain that abuse is taking place — a reasonable concern is enough to raise the matter.

7. What to Do If You Have a Concern

Any member of staff who receives a disclosure, witnesses concerning behaviour, or otherwise has a safeguarding concern must act on it. Staff should:

1. Stay calm and listen. If someone discloses harm to you, listen carefully, take them seriously, and do not promise to keep what they tell you secret.
2. Do not investigate. It is not the role of staff to investigate or decide whether abuse has occurred — this is the responsibility of statutory agencies.
3. Record what you have seen or been told as soon as possible, using the person’s own words where possible, noting the date, time, and any relevant context. Do not delay reporting to write a perfect record first.
4. Report the concern to the Designated Safeguarding Lead without delay, and in any event on the same day the concern arises.
5. If there is immediate danger to life, call 999 without delay, and inform the DSL as soon as possible afterwards.

If the concern involves the Designated Safeguarding Lead themselves, staff should report the matter to [Deputy DSL / a named senior manager / director] instead.

8. Confidentiality and Information Sharing

Safeguarding concerns will be shared only with those who need to know, in line with the data protection principles set out in our Privacy Notice. However, confidentiality can never be guaranteed absolutely where there is a risk of harm to a person, and staff must not promise total confidentiality to anyone making a disclosure.

Where there is a genuine safeguarding concern, information may need to be shared with the local authority, police or other relevant agencies, even without the consent of the individual concerned, where doing so is necessary to protect them or others from harm. This is consistent with data protection law, which permits the sharing of personal data where necessary to protect someone’s vital interests or to comply with a legal obligation.

9. Safer Recruitment

Recover360 Ltd is committed to safer recruitment practices, including:

• Verifying the identity and right to work of all staff
• Obtaining references before confirming any appointment
• Carrying out Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks at the appropriate level, where a role involves regulated activity with children or adults at risk
• Providing safeguarding induction training to all new staff before they have unsupervised contact with service users

10. Online and Remote Contact

Where contact with service users takes place remotely (by phone, video call, email, text message or online chat), staff must:

• Use only approved, company-provided communication channels wherever possible
• Be alert to signs of harm that may present differently in remote contact, such as changes in tone, reluctance to speak freely, or the presence of another person controlling the conversation
• Follow the same reporting procedure set out in Section 7 for any concern arising from remote contact

11. Allegations Against Staff

Any allegation that a member of staff, volunteer or contractor has caused harm to a child or adult at risk will be treated seriously and reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead immediately. Where appropriate, such allegations will be referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) (for concerns involving children) or the local authority safeguarding adults team (for concerns involving adults at risk), and/or the police.

Staff who are the subject of an allegation may be suspended from duties involving contact with service users while the matter is investigated, in line with our disciplinary procedures, without this being taken as an assumption of guilt.

12. Whistleblowing

Any member of staff who has a concern about the conduct of a colleague, or about how a safeguarding concern has been handled, should feel able to raise it without fear of reprisal. Concerns can be raised with the Designated Safeguarding Lead, a director, or in accordance with our internal whistleblowing procedure.

Concerns may also be raised externally, where appropriate, with the relevant local authority, the police, or a relevant regulator.

13. Training

All staff will receive safeguarding training appropriate to their role, including:

• Induction-level safeguarding awareness for all staff before starting work
• Refresher training at least every [12 / 24] months
• Enhanced training for the Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputy

14. External Contacts

[Operational flag: insert the actual local authority safeguarding contacts relevant to where your service users are based — these vary by local authority area and there is no single “UK” number for non-emergency referrals.]

15. Related Policies

This policy should be read alongside our:

• Privacy Notice
• Data Protection / Confidentiality Policy [if applicable]
• Lone Working Policy [if applicable]
• Whistleblowing Policy [if applicable]
• Complaints Policy [if applicable]

16. Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually by [name/role], or sooner if there is a significant change in relevant legislation, statutory guidance, or the nature of our service.

Contact Us

If you have a safeguarding concern about yourself or someone else in connection with Recover360’s service, please contact us:

• By email: info@recover360.co.uk
• By visiting this page on our Website: recover360.co.uk/contact
• By post: [Recover360 Ltd registered office address]

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 999.