Last updated: 2nd April 2019

North Manchester Community Partnership’s is committed to safeguarding all children, young people and vulnerable adults that come into contact with our work. We believe that all children, young people and vulnerable adults have an equal right to protection from abuse, regardless of their age, race, religion, ability, gender, language, background or sexual identity and consider the welfare of the child/ young person / vulnerable adult is paramount.

We will take every reasonable step to ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults are protected where our staff and associates are involved in the delivery of our programs. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.


We enable all our staff and those who work with us to make informed and confident decisions regarding safeguarding. We expect everyone (staff, board, associates, volunteers and anyone working on behalf of the Company) to have read, understood and adhere to this policy and related procedures.

Aims of the Safeguarding policy

North Manchester Community Partnership’s will take every reasonable step to ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults are protected where:

  • our own staff are directly involved in a project or program.
  • we broker the relationship between a client and a subcontractor
  • we contract an associate/ organization to work with in a vulnerable setting
  • we work in partnership with another organization or agency.

We will endeavour to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults by:

  • Valuing them, listening to and respecting them.
  • Adopting this policy and adhering to our associated procedures and code of conduct for staff.
  • Recruiting all staff, volunteers and associates safely by ensuring that all the necessary checks are made.
  • Sharing information about safeguarding and child protection with all key stakeholders.
  • Providing effective management of staff and associates through supervision, support and training.

Roles and responsibilities

The designated person within the company responsible for Safeguarding is John Curtin

The role of the designated person is to:

  • assume overall responsibility for safeguarding and child protection for NMCP
  • help the rest of the NMCP understand the key issues in relation to safeguarding within education
  • be a point of contact within the organization for stakeholders in relation to safeguarding and child protection.
  • be aware of local statutory safeguarding procedures and networks.
  • make decisions about safeguarding.
  • receive and assess information from staff and associates who have a safeguarding concern.

It is not the role of the designated person or NMCP to decide whether abuse has taken place or not. The responsibility of the designated person or NMCP is to ensure that concerns are shared and appropriate action taken.

Recruitment and training of staff, associates and subcontractors.

Contracts will be issued clearly stating the role and the activities to be carried out.

All employees, associates and subcontractors will receive formal or informal induction, during which:

  • their qualifications should be substantiated.
  • the job requirements and responsibilities should be clarified.
  • they are made aware of NMCP’s safeguarding policy and procedures
  • training needs (if any) are identified

Handling concerns

If a member of staff / associate has any reason to suspect that a child, young person or vulnerable adult is being subjected to physical, emotional or sexual abuse, then these steps must be followed:

  • report the matter to the Quality Manager
  • the Quality Manager will assess the nature of the suspicions or the disclosure.
  • the Quality Manager will consult team member at the venue involved,
  • NMCP staff must not attempt to investigate the matter themselves. This is the responsibility of social services and / or the police.
  • if an allegation is made against a member of the NMCP team, NCMP will act swiftly and there will either be a criminal investigation, and/or a disciplinary or misconduct investigation.

Whistle blowing policy

All staff, associates and subcontractors are assured that they can disclose confidential information relating to unacceptable behavior by other members of staff/associates.

Images and Documentation

The collection of images for promotional purposes by NMCP employees, or those authorized to do so on the company’s behalf, is acceptable providing permission has been granted by the individuals who will be photographed/videoed.

Adults (including parents / guardians of children below the age of consent) and young people (over the age of consent) should be aware of:

  • the purpose for which the images will be used.
  • the length of time that they will be used for or that the use may be for an indefinite period.
  • good practice is that permission is not requested for any period longer than two years.

Images should not be stored on the hard drive of PCs or laptops beyond the duration of the project. Even during this period, it is recommended that they are stored on removable storage devices such as pen drives / CDs.

Once the project has been completed, then the images should be dated and archived. They should be stored in a locked cabinet or drawer. They should be erased / destroyed as soon as there is no further use for them.