Safeguarding expectations
Stay within your role
Volunteers must stay within the role and activities agreed with Right First Time UK.
Do not take responsibility for situations that require a qualified professional, emergency service or statutory authority.
Children and young people
Volunteers should not arrange private, unauthorised contact with children or young people through Right First Time UK.
Any activity involving children must have appropriate arrangements, boundaries and supervision.
Vulnerable adults
Take extra care where a person may be at increased risk because of disability, illness, distress, dependency, abuse or other circumstances.
Do not take advantage of someone's vulnerability or dependency.
Do not promise confidentiality you cannot keep
If someone tells you something that creates a serious safeguarding concern, you may need to report that concern.
Do not tell someone that information will always remain completely confidential.
Personal information
Only collect information that is genuinely needed for an authorised task.
Do not request unnecessary medical, financial, family or other sensitive information.
Private communications
Where possible, use approved Right First Time UK communication channels for volunteer activity.
Avoid creating unnecessary private or secret communication arrangements with vulnerable people.
Photographs and video
Do not publish photographs, video or identifying information about a child or vulnerable person without appropriate permission and a proper reason.
Consider whether publication could expose someone to unnecessary risk.
Home visits and meetings
Volunteers should not arrange potentially unsafe home visits or private meetings simply because someone has asked for help.
Any in-person activity should be appropriate to the volunteer role and assessed for safety.
Money and financial matters
Do not take control of another person's money, benefits, bank account, payment cards or passwords.
Volunteers should not borrow money from, lend money to or request personal payments from people they are supporting through their role.
Professional boundaries
Do not present yourself as providing professional legal, medical, financial, safeguarding or therapeutic services unless properly qualified and specifically authorised to do so.
Online safety
Do not share passwords, private account access, confidential documents or sensitive data through insecure channels.
Report suspected account compromise or data loss promptly.
Volunteer safety
Volunteers also have a right to consider their own safety.
You are not expected to enter dangerous situations, confront aggressive individuals or place yourself at unnecessary risk.
If somebody tells you about abuse or harm
Listen calmly and take the concern seriously.
Do not conduct your own investigation, interrogate the person or confront the person they are making an allegation about.
Where appropriate:
- Record what was said as accurately as possible.
- Separate what you personally observed from what you were told.
- Do not add assumptions to the record.
- Keep the information secure.
- Raise the concern promptly through the appropriate route.
- Escalate immediately where there appears to be an urgent risk of serious harm.
Recording a safeguarding concern
Where a concern is connected with Right First Time UK activity, make an accurate record as soon as reasonably possible.
A useful record may include:
- Date and time.
- Who was involved.
- What you personally saw or heard.
- What the person told you.
- Any immediate action taken.
- Who the concern was reported to.
Avoid speculation. Record facts and clearly identify anything that is an allegation or opinion.
Confidentiality
Safeguarding information should only be shared with people who genuinely need it for safeguarding, legal, organisational or safety reasons.
Do not discuss safeguarding cases casually, on social media or with unrelated volunteers.
Data protection
Safeguarding information can contain highly sensitive personal information.
Keep records secure, minimise unnecessary copying and do not retain information simply because it may be interesting or useful later.
Safeguarding and campaign evidence
Evidence gathered for a campaign may include descriptions of abuse, family difficulties, mental distress, disability or other sensitive matters.
The fact that information may help a campaign does not remove the need to protect the person concerned.
Where possible, identifying information should be removed from public campaign material unless there is a proper reason and appropriate permission to publish it.
Safer recruitment and checks
Not every volunteer role requires the same level of checking.
Depending on the activity, Right First Time UK may consider:
- Identity checks.
- References.
- Relevant experience.
- Role suitability.
- Safeguarding responsibilities.
- Whether additional checks are appropriate for the activity.
Checks should be proportionate to the role rather than automatically applied to every volunteer.
Accessibility and safeguarding
Disability, neurodiversity, communication needs or reasonable adjustments should not automatically be treated as safeguarding concerns.
Volunteers should be supported to explain what adjustments or communication methods may help them participate safely and effectively.
This page provides a general safeguarding framework for Right First Time UK volunteer activity. Individual projects or roles may require additional safeguarding procedures, risk assessments or checks.