Safeguarding policy

Last updated: 13 September 2026  ·  Next review due: September 2027  ·  Owner: Board of Trustees

1. Our commitment

The Ambrose Initiative Limited works directly with adults at risk — people who, because of homelessness, ill health, disability, addiction or destitution, may be less able to protect themselves from harm. We regard safeguarding as the first responsibility of everyone connected with this charity, not a specialist function delegated to one person.

We are committed to:

• creating an environment in which people are safe, listened to and treated with respect;
• recognising that adults have the right to make their own choices, including unwise ones, and intervening proportionately;
• acting promptly on every concern, and never ignoring one because it seems small or awkward;
• being open about our mistakes and reporting serious incidents to our regulator.

This policy is approved by the board of trustees, who hold ultimate responsibility for safeguarding within the charity.

2. Who this applies to

This policy applies to every trustee, member of staff, volunteer, contractor, student and anyone else acting on behalf of the charity, in every setting where we work — outreach, accommodation, kitchens, offices and online.

3. Legal framework

We work within, among others:

• the Care Act 2014 and its statutory guidance, which governs adult safeguarding in England;
• the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which requires us to presume capacity and to act in a person’s best interests where capacity is lacking;
• the Children Act 1989 and 2004, where a child is involved;
• the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which is directly relevant to people sleeping rough, who are frequently targeted for exploitation;
• the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, governing DBS checks; and
• Charity Commission guidance on safeguarding and protecting people, and the duty to report serious incidents.

4. What we are looking out for

The Care Act identifies these categories of abuse and neglect. All of them occur among people sleeping rough, and several are strongly associated with it:

• Physical abuse — including assault while sleeping out
• Sexual abuse — including sexual exploitation and survival sex
• Psychological or emotional abuse — including intimidation and coercive control
• Financial or material abuse — theft, fraud, and misuse of someone’s benefits
• Modern slavery — forced labour, trafficking and debt bondage
• Discriminatory abuse — harassment based on a protected characteristic
• Organisational abuse — poor practice within a service, including our own
• Neglect and acts of omission — failing to provide necessary care
• Self-neglect — which requires a careful, capacity-aware response
• Domestic abuse — a frequent direct cause of homelessness
• “Cuckooing” and criminal exploitation — where a vulnerable person’s accommodation or identity is taken over by others

5. How to report a concern

If you are a volunteer, member of staff, service user or member of the public and you are worried about someone:

1. If there is immediate danger, call 999. Then tell us.
2. Record what you saw or were told, in the person’s own words where possible, with the date, time and place. Stick to facts; mark opinion clearly as opinion.
3. Report it the same day to the Designated Safeguarding Lead by emailing help@theambroseinitiative.org.uk with “Safeguarding” in the subject line.
4. Do not investigate it yourself, do not confront the person you are concerned about, and do not promise confidentiality you cannot keep.
5. Do not delay because you are unsure. It is our job to assess it, not yours.

You will be told that your report has been received and what will happen next, so far as it is appropriate to share.

6. What we do with a report

The Designated Safeguarding Lead will:

• make an immediate assessment of risk and take any action needed to keep the person safe;
• seek the adult’s views and consent to refer, unless doing so would increase risk to them or others, or a crime may have been committed, or others are at risk;
• refer to the relevant local authority adult social care safeguarding team and, where a crime may have occurred, to the police;
• refer to the National Referral Mechanism where modern slavery is suspected;
• consider whether the matter is a reportable serious incident to the Charity Commission and report it promptly if so;
• record the concern, decisions and reasoning securely, and review what the charity should learn from it.

7. Safer recruitment and training

• All roles involving contact with adults at risk are subject to references and an identity check.
• Roles that meet the statutory criteria are subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check at the appropriate level. Having a criminal record does not automatically bar someone — many excellent workers in this field have lived experience of the justice system — but relevant convictions are assessed individually and fairly.
• Everyone receives safeguarding induction before their first shift, and refresher training thereafter.
• No volunteer works unsupervised with a person at risk until induction and checks are complete.

8. Expected conduct

Anyone working for us must: treat people with respect; maintain professional boundaries; never lend or borrow money from a service user; never give a personal address or engage in a personal relationship with someone we support; never attend a shift under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and never photograph a service user without their informed, freely given consent. Breach of these standards is a disciplinary matter and may itself be a safeguarding concern.

9. Whistleblowing

If you believe someone within the charity — including a trustee or the Chief Executive — is putting people at risk, report it. You can raise it with any trustee, or externally to the Charity Commission or to the whistleblowing charity Protect (advice line 020 3117 2520). Qualifying disclosures are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, and we will not tolerate retaliation against anyone who raises a concern in good faith.

10. External contacts

11. Review

The trustees review this policy at least annually and after any serious incident. It is a working document, not a formality.

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This policy is approved by the board of trustees of The Ambrose Initiative Limited and reviewed at least annually and after any serious incident.