The policy sets out Hook Shed’s values in relation to safeguarding and outlines the roles and responsibilities of Hook Shed’s Board of Trustees as well as highlighting what is not their responsibility.

Definitions

Shedders refers to any member or attendee of the Shed

Shed Volunteer refers to a Shedder that has taken on a more formal role e.g. Health and Safety Officer or Safeguarding Contact (SC). They may have had some training or be particularly experienced in that particular area.

Hook Shed recognises that by providing a Men’s Shed (herewith referred to as Shed) for the local community, it has a duty of care to protect its members (referred to as Shedders) from harm. Hook Shed’s Board of Trustees (herewith referred to as the Trustees) sets out the following values in safeguarding its members:

• All Shedders have the right to participate in the activities of the Shed, free from of abuse or neglect or fear of abuse or neglect
• All Shedders have the right to have their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs respected and taken into account
• All Shedders have the right to be provided with a safe environment with adequate health and safety procedures in place
• All Shedders have the right not to be discriminated against for their age, gender, sexuality, race or other personal characteristic
• All Shedders have the right to have any allegation they make about abuse or neglect taken seriously and acted on immediately

Hook Shed’s Safeguarding Contacts

Below are the Shed’s main contacts if you need to report a safeguarding issue as detailed in this policy, or need further information.

Safeguarding Contact (SC): Dave Butler        Safeguarding Contact (SC): Nick Somerville

SC Email: dave.butler@hook-shed.org.uk      SC Email: nick.somerville@hook-shed.org.uk

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding means protecting a person’s right to a safe environment, free from abuse or neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experiences of abuse and neglect, whilst ensuring that an adult’s wellbeing is promoted. This includes, where appropriate, having regard for their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs.

How do you determine whether an adult is at risk?

The Care Act 2014, which provides the legal framework for safeguarding, identifies ‘an adult at risk’. This supersedes the commonly known No Secrets statutory guidance which covered adult safeguarding and defined a vulnerable adult (now referred to as an adult at risk) as a person “who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation”.

The Care Act 2014 recognises an adult at risk (historically referred to as a vulnerable adult) as an adult whom:

1. Has needs for care and support.
2. Is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and
3. As a result of those needs is unable to protect himself or herself against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.

To ensure that this document reflects current legislation and to avoid any implication that people with care and support needs are inherently vulnerable, all references will be made to ‘adults at risk’, rather than ‘vulnerable adults’. 

What is Care and Support?

Care and support, which can also be known as social care, is help provided to people in need of practical support due to illness, disability, old age or a low income (NHS, 2017).

It can include, but is not limited to having a care professional help around the home, getting to and from work or the shops, or cooking meals. It can also include having structural changes made to the home to help a person manage. Care and support services are the responsibility of Local Authorities, but can also be carried out by private companies, charities or family and friends.

Are Shedders considered adults at risk?

Not necessarily. A Shedder will only be considered an adult at risk if he or she fits with the above definition of an adult at risk, as defined by the Care Act 2014, which provides a legal framework for delivering care services and safeguarding. Many Shedders live and carry out their lives independently, without the need for care or support to carry out their daily tasks and activities, they are not experiencing or at particular risk of abuse or neglect and they are able to protect themselves. 

What is abuse?

Types of abuse vary. A person can be abused verbally, physically, psychologically or financially. It can happen as a result of an action, or as a result of a failure to act. It can happen when an adult at risk is wrongly influenced to carry out a financial or sexual exchange that they do not consent to, or aren’t able to consent to.

Abuse can lead to a violation of a person’s human and civil rights and can occur in any relationship or environment. It may result in a person being hurt or exploited. Sometimes the abuse is illegal and the adult at risk is protected by the law, as is everybody else.

Abuse is a wrongful use of power and can come in any of the following forms:

Psychological e.g. emotional abuse or depriving a person of contact with another.

Sexual e.g. inappropriate looking or touching, taking sexual photos or rape.

Physical e.g. hitting, restraining or pushing.

Financial e.g. theft or putting pressure on somebody about their financial arrangements.

Modern Slavery  e.g. forced labour.

Discriminatory e.g. harassment or insults because of a person’s race, gender or identity.

Neglect e.g. ignoring emotional or physical needs.

Self-neglect e.g. a person not caring for their own personal hygiene or health.

Please note that the above are intended only as examples and not an exhaustive list. It is recognised that some instances of abuse may not fit neatly into these categories. If you have reason to believe somebody is being abused or neglected you must act in line with this policy. An abuser can be anybody - a person abusing an adult at risk might be at risk themselves. This is still abuse and should be dealt with in line with this policy.

Our role in safeguarding adults at risk

The Trustees recognises that from time to time, adults at risk may become members of the Shed. The following section details the roles and responsibilities of the Shed in safeguarding adults at risk.

Prevent:

• Hook Shed’s risk assessment will be regularly reviewed and will include an assessment of safeguarding for adults at risk, including mitigation strategies
• All Shed volunteers will be carefully recruited and references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks will be carried out for any Shed volunteer working unsupervised and directly with adults at risk
• All new Shed volunteers will be given an induction that covers health and safety and safeguarding procedures including reading and understanding this policy
• Health and safety procedures will be regularly reviewed by the Trustees to ensure minimal risk to all Shedders, including adults at risk. 
• Any adult at risk wanting to join the Shed will be met with by a suitable Shed volunteer to understand their needs for any additional provision. A judgement will be made as to whether the prospective member needs professional support at each visit to safeguard them and the other Shedders from harm or allegation of harm.
• The Trustees will ensure that no adult at risk is left alone with any Shed volunteer or Shedder at any time unless they have had the relevant checks and training
• If at any time the Trustees introduce sessions for adults at risk where no professional support worker is supervising, it will seek advice from the Local Authority Adult Social Care department and arrange safeguarding training and DBS checks for Shed volunteers leading the sessions.
• The Trustees will always ensure recorded information is stored safely and securely and is accessible only to those who need the information in the protection of adults at risk.

Report:

Although every effort will be made to prevent instances of abuse, if you do witness an incident, or have a concern about an adult at risk you should:

• Take ALL suspicions or allegations of abuse seriously
• Report quickly using the reporting form included in this document, giving all of the detail you know and leaving nothing out
• Submit your form to a Safeguarding Contact (SC) with no delay. 
• If you think the matter is serious and the adult at risk may be being, or have been harmed, do not wait to find a SC and phone the police

On receipt of a completed reporting form, the SC will:

• Seek help from the Local Authority’s Adult Social Care department (details at rear of policy) or call the police if they think a crime is being committed. 
• If the concern is considered minor and an adult at risk has brought a worry about another volunteer or Shedder to the SC’s attention, they will discuss with the Trustees to ensure that all efforts are in place to protect the person i.e. they are supervised or the activities are in large groups.
• Never try to resolve a serious allegation of abuse or neglect themselves. It could make things worse.

Remember, an adult at risk should never be left alone with an untrained person who has not had the relevant checks.

Record:

The SC lead who receives a report, or witnesses any incident of abuse will:

• Listen carefully, giving full attention and never directly questioning the adult at risk unless the report comes from them in person.
• Allow the reporter to provide a spontaneous account, never interrupting to ask something when the person is recalling events.
• Make an accurate record of the information, taking care not to miss any details, however insignificant they may feel at the time.
• Use the reporters own words where possible.
• Explain that they cannot promise to not share this information with other appropriately selected people – never offering false confidentiality.
• Reassure the reporter that they did the right thing by raising the issue.
• Explain what they will do next and that they will need to get help to keep the adult at risk safe.
• Never ask the reporter to repeat their account to anybody.

Choosing an appropriate level of safeguarding

Not all of the responsibilities will apply at all times, but the above summarises the safeguarding actions that the SC or Shed volunteers might carry out, depending on the assessed level of risk to Shedders at any one time. For example, if the Shed currently has no members considered at risk then an introductory talk to all new Shed volunteers that includes reading this safeguarding policy may suffice. If the Shed has members that are deemed to be at risk and Shed volunteers are likely to spend time supporting them, all of the preventative actions may be necessary and a full, formal investigation and reporting strategy will need to be in place. Due to the nature of the Shed environment, it is very unlikely that Shed volunteers will ever be alone with adults at risk and the safeguarding actions will reflect that.

The safeguarding strategy is based heavily on prevention, however it recognises that having recording and reporting systems in place is good practice in case of the event of abuse.

Hook Shed’s Trustees recognises that its Shed volunteers are not care practitioners and that an adult at risk wanting to be a member of the Shed may need professional support to do so. Therefore it will ensure that appropriate steps are taken to ensure that prospective members are met with and an assessment is made as to whether the Shed is a safe place for them, or whether they may need professional support, at an appropriate person to person ratio to be able to safely attend the Shed. Where every effort will be made for the Shed to be accessible to everyone, it is recognised that safety is the most important factor and the nature of the Shed activities may mean that not everybody will be able to attend. The Trustees will seek advice from their Local Authority wherever there is any doubt.

Safeguarding is not a one-off exercise and this policy and the procedures within it will be regularly reviewed and updated as appropriate.

When we cannot act 

Hook Shed is a voluntary organisation and not professional care practitioners. Therefore, help will need to be sought for any instance or allegation of abuse towards an adult at risk. Local Authorities take the lead in providing care to adults at risk in their area and should always be the first point of contact, unless the situation is deemed an emergency or crime, at which point the police should be called.

If you believe an adult to be at risk who has no care arrangements in place and you are concerned, you should speak with your local care giving authority for advice. It is not the responsibility of Hook Shed to organise or seek carers for Shedders.

Hook Shed

Glebe Cottage

Tunworth Road

Mapledurwell

Basingstoke

RG25 2LU

Local Authority Adult Social Care Dept. Details

Hampshire County Council

0300 555 1386

Note that it is appropriate to call 999 if the person s at immediate risk

Publication date: 7th March 2024. This document will be reviewed annually to ensure if reflects best practice and the needs of the Shed.