Safeguarding Statement

We are committed to providing services in a way that protects the welfare of the people we work with. Nobody should experience harm, abuse or neglect while in contact with our service, and concerns are taken seriously and acted on.

We follow Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), Keeping Children Safe in Education, the Care Act 2014 and the Southend, Essex and Thurrock (SET) Safeguarding Procedures. Our full approach is set out in our Safeguarding Policy.

• Children and young people we assess or support
• Adults we assess or support, including adults at risk
• Parents, carers and family members involved in our work
• People taking part in coaching, mentoring and group sessions
• Pupils and staff we come into contact with during school observations and school work
• Everyone working with us, including associate practitioners, operational staff and partners

• The welfare of the child, young person or adult at risk comes first
• Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, not one person's job
• We listen to children, young people and adults, and we take what they tell us seriously
• We record concerns clearly, factually and promptly
• We work with families openly wherever it is safe to do so
• We work with other agencies where a concern needs to be shared
• We recognise that neurodivergent people can be at greater risk of harm, exclusion and being disbelieved

If a practitioner is worried about someone, they raise it with our safeguarding lead without delay. The concern is recorded, discussed, and a decision is made about the next step. That may include speaking with the family, contacting the person's GP or school, or making a referral to local children's or adult social care, or to the police.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Rhiann Marchant (rhiann@sensationalminds.co.uk). Concerns are reported to her the same day, and any referral is made within 24 hours, or immediately if someone is at risk of significant harm. If she is unavailable, staff contact the local authority directly.

We would normally tell a family that we are sharing a concern, unless doing so would increase the risk to someone.

If you are worried about the safety or welfare of someone connected with our service, please tell us. You can reach us through our contact page. Please give us enough information for us to make contact with you, and do not include detailed personal or clinical information in a general online form. We will arrange a secure way to talk.

If your concern is about the conduct of someone working for Sensational Minds, it is still handled under our safeguarding procedure, not as an ordinary complaint. Our complaints policy covers other concerns about our service.

Sensational Minds is not an emergency service and our contact routes are not monitored around the clock. If someone is in immediate danger or needs urgent medical help, contact the emergency services on 999.

If the situation is urgent but not an emergency, NHS 111 can help. In Essex, contact the Children and Families Hub on 0345 603 7627 about a child, or Essex Adult Social Care on 0345 603 7630 about an adult. Both numbers have out-of-hours cover.

Safeguarding information is shared on a need-to-know basis. We share what is necessary and proportionate with the people or agencies who need it to keep someone safe. Confidentiality is important to us, but it does not override the safety of a child, young person or adult at risk.

Our privacy notice explains more about how personal information is handled.

We work with associate practitioners as well as our own team, and we expect the same safeguarding standards from everyone. Checks on identity, qualifications, professional registration, references and criminal records form part of how people join us.

Everyone working with children or adults at risk has an enhanced DBS check with barred list check, renewed every three years or kept current through the DBS Update Service. We also check identity, qualifications, professional registration and two references. All staff complete safeguarding training every year, and our Designated Safeguarding Lead completes Level 3 training every two years.

This statement is reviewed regularly and after any significant safeguarding event or change in guidance. The version number and dates at the top of the page show when it was last reviewed.