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Just Imagine Project CIC
Safeguarding Policy
Policy JI-01, Version 5. Approved by the directors September 2026.
| Policy reference | JI-01 |
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| Version | 5 |
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| Policy owner | Lynze Bamford, Designated Safeguarding Lead |
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| Deputy DSL | Rebecca Alpe |
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| Safeguarding oversight | Lynze Bamford |
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| Approved by | Lynze Bamford, Rebecca Alpe, Catherine Howley |
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| Original issue date | 18.12.2024 |
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| Review date | Annually |
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| Primary site | Farm-based provision, Ribble Valley, Lancashire |
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Policy developed with reference to: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025, relevant Lancashire and Rochdale safeguarding procedures, Health and Safety Executive guidance for children and visitors on farms, and recognised safeguarding good practice.
This policy applies to all directors, employees, volunteers, sessional workers, contractors, practitioners, students and partner organisations acting on behalf of Just Imagine Project CIC (Just Imagine).
1. Purpose and safeguarding commitment
Just Imagine is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child and adult at risk who accesses its services. The welfare of the child is paramount. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and must be embedded in planning, recruitment, delivery, partnerships, supervision, recording and review.
Just Imagine provides early-intervention, wellbeing, psychoeducational, nature-based, animal-assisted and farm-based activities. The organisation recognises that these settings can offer significant benefits while also creating specific risks requiring clear boundaries, competent supervision and site-specific controls.
Our safeguarding response. Just Imagine will recognise, respond, record, report and review. No person should assume that somebody else will act. A concern must never be ignored because it appears minor, because a child has withdrawn an account, or because proof is unavailable.
2. Scope
This policy applies to children under 18 and, where relevant, adults at risk aged 18 or over. It applies during sessions, transport arranged by Just Imagine, online contact, off-site activity, school-commissioned provision and all activity at the farm.
A child is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. A child's status is unchanged by living independently, being in employment or further education, being in hospital or custody, or being aged 16 or 17.
An adult at risk is a person aged 18 or over who has needs for care and support, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and, because of those needs, is unable to protect themselves. Individual circumstances must be considered; a diagnosis or mental-health need alone does not automatically make somebody an adult at risk.
3. Legal and guidance framework
Just Imagine has regard to current England legislation, statutory guidance and relevant local safeguarding procedures, including:
- Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004;
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026;
- Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 until 31 August 2026 and Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 from 1 September 2026, where relevant to school-commissioned provision;
- Care Act 2014 and Mental Capacity Act 2005;
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Protection of Freedoms Act 2012;
- Sexual Offences Act 2003, Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, Modern Slavery Act 2015 and Domestic Abuse Act 2021;
- Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and current Prevent duty guidance;
- Equality Act 2010, Human Rights Act 1998, Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR;
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and relevant HSE agricultural, animal-contact and visitor guidance;
- Lancashire and Rochdale local multi-agency safeguarding procedures.
KCSIE places statutory duties on schools and colleges. Just Imagine is not presenting itself as a school; however, it aligns relevant practice with KCSIE when delivering commissioned provision for schools and colleges.
4. Principles
- The child's best interests and welfare are the primary consideration.
- Children will be listened to, taken seriously and involved in decisions according to their age, understanding and communication needs.
- All children have equal rights to protection. Particular attention will be given to barriers faced by children with SEND, communication needs, care experience, mental-health needs, trauma, discrimination or social isolation.
- Safeguarding action will be timely, proportionate, trauma-informed and professionally curious.
- Information will be shared lawfully when necessary to protect a child. Consent is not required where seeking it would increase risk, cause delay or prejudice an investigation.
- Parents and carers will normally be engaged unless this could increase risk or statutory agencies advise otherwise.
- Concerns about adults working with children will be handled fairly, without compromising child safety.
5. Safeguarding leadership and accountability
| Role | Named person | Responsibility |
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| Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) | Lynze Bamford | Leads safeguarding practice, referrals, records, liaison, training and review. |
| Deputy DSL and farm-day site checker | Rebecca Alpe | Acts in the DSL's absence; completes and records the pre-session site check. |
| Director / safeguarding escalation | Catherine Howley | Receives concerns or allegations about the DSL and delivers equine work. |
| Directors | Lynze Bamford, Rebecca Alpe and Catherine Howley | Collective governance, policy approval, risk oversight and safe delivery. |
| Farm owners | Gill and James Alpe | Control the farm premises and communicate site hazards, changes, contractors and restrictions to Just Imagine. |
Lynze or Rebecca will be the named safeguarding lead on each session day. The day lead must be identified on the session record. Both remain available for safeguarding action; absence of the DSL must never delay a referral.
5.1 Escalation where a concern involves a leader
- Concern about Lynze Bamford: report to Catherine Howley. Do not report it back to Lynze as the decision-maker.
- Concern about Catherine Howley: report to Rebecca Alpe.
- Concern about Rebecca Alpe: report to Catherine Howley.
- Concern about a farm owner, practitioner, director or other adult: report to the DSL unless the conflict route above applies.
- If the receiving director may also be conflicted, unavailable or fails to act, contact Lancashire LADO, Children's Social Care and/or police directly as appropriate.
5.2 Staff responsibilities
Everyone working for or with Just Imagine must read this policy and the staff code of conduct, attend required induction and training, maintain professional boundaries, report concerns immediately, make accurate records and cooperate with statutory agencies. Any person may make a direct referral where necessary.
6. Safer recruitment and suitability
Just Imagine is committed to safer recruitment and will complete appropriate suitability and vetting checks before a person begins working with children and young people. Checks will include proof of identity, right to work, employment history and any gaps, relevant qualifications, two verified references, interview and self-declaration. Overseas checks will also be undertaken where appropriate.
All directors, employees, volunteers, sessional workers, contractors and visiting practitioners who work directly or regularly with children and young people through Just Imagine must hold a satisfactory enhanced DBS certificate appropriate to their role before commencing this work.
Where a role meets the legal definition of regulated activity with children, Just Imagine will also obtain children's barred-list information. A barred-list check will only be requested where Just Imagine is legally entitled to obtain one.
Occasional visitors or guest speakers who deliver a talk, demonstration or one-off activity do not necessarily require a DBS check where their role does not constitute regulated activity. Such visitors must:
- Receive a brief safeguarding and professional-boundaries induction.
- Sign in and out of the premises.
- Remain within the agreed activity area.
- Be supervised by an authorised, DBS-checked Just Imagine team member.
- Never be left alone with a child or group of children.
- Have no private contact or communication with a young person.
- Report any safeguarding concern immediately to the session safeguarding lead.
Just Imagine will assess each visitor's proposed role before attendance. A visitor must not be used repeatedly or given duties that would require an appropriate DBS or barred-list check without the required checks first being completed.
Just Imagine's operational practice is to review DBS status at least every three years. Where a person is registered with the DBS Update Service, Just Imagine may conduct status checks with that person's consent. Individuals must inform Just Imagine immediately of any arrest, caution, charge, conviction, investigation, allegation or other change that may affect their suitability to work with children.
No person whose required recruitment, reference or DBS checks are incomplete may undertake regulated activity, directly supervise children or have unsupervised access to them.
All staff, volunteers, practitioners and contractors must receive safeguarding induction, understand Just Imagine's reporting procedures and professional boundaries, and agree to follow Just Imagine's safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct.
Just Imagine will consider and fulfil its legal duty to refer an individual to the Disclosure and Barring Service where the relevant referral conditions are met.
7. Training, induction and supervision
- DSL and deputy training appropriate to their responsibilities, refreshed in line with current guidance and local expectations;
- safeguarding induction for all adults before work begins, including how to access and follow Just Imagine's separate Child Protection Policy and reporting procedure;
- regular updates on child-on-child abuse, exploitation, online harm, self-harm, suicide risk, SEND, Prevent, professional boundaries and farm-specific procedures;
- first-aid competence appropriate to activities, with accessible refresher records;
- briefing on the site plan, emergency action plan, missing-child response, animals, hygiene, weather and restricted areas;
- regular supervision and opportunities to discuss safeguarding practice and emotional impact.
8. Safeguarding concerns and the Child Protection Policy
This Safeguarding Policy sets out Just Imagine's wider arrangements for creating a safe organisation and safe provision. It does not replace or reproduce Just Imagine's separate Child Protection Policy, which contains the detailed definitions, indicators and procedures for responding to suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation and disclosures.
Required child-protection response. Any concern that a child may be suffering, or is likely to suffer, harm must be managed immediately in accordance with Just Imagine's separate Child Protection Policy and Reporting a Safeguarding Concern Procedure. Staff do not need proof before reporting a concern.
Safeguarding concerns can arise within or outside Just Imagine activities, online or in person, and may involve an adult or another child. They include concerns about abuse or neglect, exploitation, child-on-child harm, domestic abuse, online harm, self-harm, suicidal risk, radicalisation, discrimination, missing episodes or any unexplained change affecting a child's safety or welfare.
8.1 Immediate actions
- Call 999 where a child is in immediate danger, has a serious injury or an urgent police, ambulance or fire response is required.
- Listen calmly and take the child seriously. Do not promise confidentiality, investigate, ask leading questions or confront the person alleged to have caused harm.
- Report immediately to the DSL or deputy and follow the separate Child Protection Policy. Use the conflict route where the concern involves a safeguarding leader.
- Make a factual, dated and timed record using the child's own words and record all decisions and actions.
- Anyone may contact Children's Social Care or police directly where necessary. Delay, absence or disagreement involving the DSL must not prevent protective action.
8.2 Children requiring additional consideration
Just Imagine will consider communication needs, SEND, neurodivergence, trauma, care experience, mental health, discrimination, dependency on adults and other factors that may increase vulnerability or create barriers to disclosure. Behaviour, injury or distress will not be automatically attributed to a diagnosis or disability.
9. Referrals, parents and cross-boundary working
Detailed referral and parental-notification decisions are governed by Just Imagine's Child Protection Policy. Parents or carers will normally be involved unless doing so could increase risk, cause evidence to be lost, lead to coercion or removal of the child, place another person at risk, or interfere with statutory enquiries.
Just Imagine supports young people from a range of local-authority areas. Lancashire and Rochdale are the organisation's main areas of operation, but its safeguarding responsibilities are not limited to these areas. The appropriate safeguarding authority will be identified for every young person as part of the referral and admission process. Concerns about a child will normally be reported to the Children's Social Care service for the area in which the child lives. Where an incident occurs in another local-authority area, or where an allegation concerns an adult working at the farm, Just Imagine will also contact the authority responsible for the location of the incident or the adult's place of work, including the relevant Local Authority Designated Officer where applicable.
Just Imagine will not delay protective action while responsibility or jurisdiction is being clarified. Where more than one authority is involved, Just Imagine will cooperate fully and share relevant safeguarding information lawfully, securely and without unnecessary delay.
10. Recording, confidentiality and information sharing
Every safeguarding concern must be recorded internally, even where no external referral is made. Not every concern is automatically a referral to Children's Social Care. The DSL will assess the concern using current thresholds, consult where needed, record the decision and monitor any continuing risk.
- Records must distinguish fact, observation, allegation and professional opinion.
- The child's words and wishes should be recorded, together with reasons where action differs from those wishes.
- Safeguarding information is held securely, separately from general programme notes where practicable, and accessed on a need-to-know basis.
- Information may be shared without consent where there is a lawful safeguarding reason. Data protection law does not prevent necessary and proportionate sharing to protect a child.
- Decisions to share or not share must identify what was considered, who decided, why, what was shared and with whom.
- Staff must never store safeguarding information solely on a personal device or informal messaging account.
11. Allegations and concerns about adults working with children
An allegation may meet the harm threshold where a person who works or volunteers with children has behaved in a way that harmed or may have harmed a child; possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child; behaved in a way indicating a risk of harm; or behaved in a way indicating they may not be suitable to work with children.
Protective action for the child takes priority. The designated receiving director will conduct only limited initial fact-finding needed to establish basic information and must not undertake an internal investigation that could prejudice statutory enquiries. Lancashire LADO referral or consultation will be made through the current online process within one working day where the threshold may be met.
Suspension is not automatic. An immediate risk assessment will determine whether duties should be restricted or the person temporarily removed, taking LADO advice where applicable. Outcomes, support, confidentiality, disciplinary action and any DBS or professional-regulator referral will be managed separately and fairly.
11.1 Low-level concerns
A low-level concern is any concern, however small, that an adult may have acted inconsistently with the staff code of conduct, including conduct creating a sense of unease, but which does not appear to meet the harm threshold. Low-level concerns must be recorded, reviewed for patterns and addressed proportionately. They must not be automatically referred to Children's Social Care or treated as proven misconduct. If the threshold is unclear, LADO consultation will be sought.
12. Whistleblowing and escalation
Staff may raise concerns about unsafe practice, organisational culture, poor decision-making or failure to act. No person will suffer retaliation for raising a genuine safeguarding concern in good faith. If internal routes are unsuitable or ineffective, concerns may be raised with the relevant local authority, police, LADO, DBS, professional regulator or NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line.
13. Professional boundaries and conduct
- Treat children with dignity, fairness and respect and use trauma-informed, non-shaming language.
- Do not establish secret, dependent, sexual, exploitative or preferential relationships.
- Do not use personal social-media accounts, private disappearing messages or unauthorised channels to contact children.
- Do not give personal gifts, money or lifts except through authorised arrangements.
- Do not consume, possess or be under the influence of alcohol or non-prescribed drugs while responsible for children.
- Do not use personal devices for images unless an authorised emergency arrangement expressly permits it; images require consent and must follow Just Imagine policy.
- Challenge discriminatory, sexualised, intimidating or bullying behaviour.
- Report boundary crossings, accidental one-to-one situations and any conduct that could be misunderstood.
13.1 Physical contact
Physical contact must be appropriate, child-led, brief, observable and responsive to the child's age, needs and wishes. Arrival choices such as a wave, fist bump, handshake, high-five or brief hug must remain genuinely optional. Staff must not request or prolong a hug, treat refusal negatively or use touch to meet their own emotional needs. Necessary safety intervention or first aid must be proportionate, recorded where significant and followed by appropriate review.
14. Supervision, one-to-one work and ratios
Just Imagine will not rely on a fixed universal ratio. Staffing will reflect the activity, environment, age, SEND, communication, behaviour, emotional regulation, self-harm or missing risk, animal interaction, public access, transport and staff competence. Group farm sessions will normally have at least two authorised adults present. Additional support will be arranged where an individual risk assessment requires it.
One-to-one conversations should take place in an observable or interruptible space while preserving reasonable privacy. Staff must avoid unnecessary isolation with a child. Any unavoidable departure from this arrangement must be time-limited and shared with another adult.
15. Farm safeguarding arrangements
Just Imagine's farm provision operates in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire. The farm is a workplace and private home as well as a programme site. Just Imagine maintains defined delivery boundaries and does not permit children general access to the farm.
15.1 Permitted and prohibited areas
| Permitted only under Just Imagine supervision | Not accessible to young people |
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| Summer house and agreed approach route | The farm owners' home and private garden unless required in an emergency and expressly directed |
| Enclosed fields approved for the day's activities | Other businesses operating on the site |
| Stables when accompanied and the area has passed the daily check | Machinery, tractors, workshops, tools and vehicle work areas |
| Agreed animal-contact and handwashing areas | Chemicals, medicines, fuel, feed stores, slurry, waste, water hazards or any locked/restricted area |
Young people will remain within the agreed delivery zone and will not interact with unrelated farm workers, contractors, visitors or other site users. Where another person unexpectedly enters the delivery area, a facilitator will maintain supervision and redirect or pause the activity if needed.
15.2 Daily site check
Rebecca Alpe will complete and record a pre-session site check each morning. If Rebecca is unavailable, a named competent director will be assigned and recorded. The check will cover:
- access routes, gates, fences, ground, weather and lighting;
- vehicles, machinery, tools, chemicals or contractors near the delivery zone;
- stable condition, animal health, temperament and suitability for planned contact;
- dog location and suitability for interaction;
- handwashing, drinking water, toilet access and hygiene supplies;
- first-aid kit, charged phones, signal/backup communication and emergency access;
- fire exits, assembly point and any change reported by the farm owners;
- whether the planned activity remains within the approved risk assessment.
A failed check will result in the area or activity being closed, modified or cancelled. Commercial or timetable pressure will not override safety.
15.3 Animals
Young people may interact with horses, sheep and approved dogs only with direct adult supervision. Catherine Howley leads equine work. The competent activity lead decides whether an animal is suitable on the day and may end contact immediately.
- A safety briefing and consent/opt-out will be provided. No child will be pressured to touch or approach an animal.
- Children must follow staff positioning, approach, feeding, grooming and gate instructions.
- No riding, machinery use or hazardous livestock task is permitted unless separately authorised, insured and specifically risk assessed. This policy does not authorise riding.
- Known allergies, asthma, sensory needs, fear, mobility and communication needs must be considered in the individual plan.
- Handwashing with soap and running water is required after animal contact and before eating. Hand gel is not a substitute where hands are visibly dirty or animal-contact infection risk is present.
- Eating and drinking are confined to designated clean areas.
- Bites, kicks, crushes, scratches, falls, animal escape, distressed behaviour or suspected zoonotic illness trigger the emergency/incident procedure and review.
15.4 Site interfaces and ownership
The farm owners retain control of the farm premises and must tell Just Imagine about material site changes, farm operations, animal concerns, visitors or contractors that may affect the delivery area. Just Imagine retains responsibility for programme supervision, safeguarding practice, child information and activity decisions. Each party must maintain relevant insurance. Insurance documents and the written site/partnership agreement will identify indemnity, public liability, employer liability, animal activity and incident-reporting responsibilities; this policy does not allocate legal liability beyond those agreements.
16. Emergency action plan for the farm
16.1 Emergency priorities
- Stop the activity, control immediate hazards and ensure the rest of the group is supervised in a safe location.
- Give first aid within competence. Do not move a seriously injured person unless needed to prevent further danger.
- Call 999 for immediate danger, serious injury, breathing difficulty, anaphylaxis, significant head injury, suspected fracture/crush injury, serious animal injury, fire, missing child at immediate risk, or any situation requiring urgent police, ambulance or fire response.
- State: the full farm address and postcode; exact access gate/rendezvous point; nature of incident; number, age and condition of casualties; hazards including animals; and caller's number. Send an adult to meet emergency services without leaving children unsupervised.
- Contact the DSL/session lead, then the parent/carer and commissioning school as appropriate. In a safeguarding emergency, follow police/social-care advice before contacting a parent where notification could increase risk.
- Preserve the scene and evidence where a serious accident or crime may have occurred, without delaying care.
- Record the incident, treatment, calls, decisions, witnesses and outcome. Notify insurers, farm owners, statutory services and HSE/RIDDOR where required. Review before activity resumes.
16.2 Emergency roles
| Role | Action |
|---|
| Incident lead | Takes control, assesses risk, calls emergency services and coordinates decisions. |
| First aider | Provides first aid and monitors the casualty. |
| Group supervisor | Moves and supervises remaining young people in the summer house or other designated safe area. |
| Access marshal | Meets emergency services at the agreed gate and keeps the route clear, only if staffing permits. |
| Recorder/contact lead | Records times and actions; contacts DSL, parents/school and farm owners as directed. |
With only two adults present, roles will be combined without leaving children unsupervised. Emergency planning must identify how additional farm-based help can be summoned without giving unrelated adults unsupervised access to children.
16.3 Weather, fire and animal incidents
- Severe weather: move indoors or cancel where heat, cold, lightning, flooding, high winds, ice or poor visibility makes activity unsafe.
- Fire: raise the alarm, evacuate by the safest route to the named assembly point, call 999, take the register and do not re-enter.
- Loose/distressed animal: stop movement, keep children together, move to the designated safe area and allow the competent animal lead/farm owner to manage the animal.
- Loss of phone signal: use the documented backup phone/location or send an authorised adult to the agreed contact point only while safe supervision is maintained.
17. Missing child, leaving the group or refusal to return
A child leaving supervision at a rural farm may face immediate risks from roads, animals, water, uneven land, machinery and isolation. Individual plans will identify known missing or absconding risk and prevention strategies.
- Alert all facilitators immediately, note the time, direction, clothing, emotional state and immediate hazards, and conduct a head count.
- One facilitator should maintain visual contact and follow at a safe distance where this can be done without escalating risk. Staff must not use unsafe restraint or pursue into hazardous areas.
- The remaining facilitator keeps the group together in the summer house or designated secure safe area and alerts the session lead/DSL and farm owners.
- Call 999 without delay if the child cannot be seen, enters or approaches a hazardous area, reaches a public road, is at risk of self-harm, is vulnerable through SEND/health/age, or circumstances otherwise indicate immediate danger. There is no mandatory waiting period.
- Notify parent/carer and commissioning school, following police/social-care advice where appropriate. Provide police with the child's details, photograph where lawfully available, risks, likely destinations and the farm access point.
- Do not leave other children without safe adult supervision and do not allow them to join the search.
- On return, attend to immediate needs, listen without punishment, complete safeguarding and incident records, notify relevant parties and review the individual and site risk assessments before further attendance.
18. Arrival, attendance, collection and transport
Most young people arrive using transport arranged by their school or parent/carer. Just Imagine will record expected attendance, arrival, handover, absence and collection. A child will be released only to an authorised person or arrangement. Unexpected absence, late collection or disputed collection will be checked promptly with the school/parent and escalated where welfare concerns arise.
Where Just Imagine transports a child, written consent and journey details are required. The driver must be authorised, appropriately licensed and insured for the use, and the vehicle roadworthy with seatbelts. The route, collection/drop-off, emergency contacts and medication needs must be known. A lone child sits in the rear where practicable. Drivers must not use a handheld phone and must stop safely if behaviour becomes distracting. Any unplanned change is recorded and communicated.
19. Health, first aid, medication and personal care
Just Imagine will obtain relevant health, allergy, dietary, medication, mobility and emergency-contact information before participation. Medication will be administered only under the medication procedure, with appropriate consent, storage, recording and access to emergency medicines such as inhalers or adrenaline auto-injectors.
First-aid treatment and significant injuries will be recorded and notified to parents/school. Emergency treatment will not be delayed while consent is sought. Personal or intimate care will only be undertaken where necessary, planned, consented, respectful and consistent with an individual care plan. Children will be supported to do as much as possible independently.
20. Behaviour support and physical intervention
Just Imagine uses relational, trauma-informed de-escalation. Staff will identify triggers, offer regulation space and use individual plans. Restrictive physical intervention is a last resort and may only be used where lawful, necessary and proportionate to prevent imminent harm, by trained staff where practicable. It must never be used as punishment or compliance. Any significant intervention is recorded, reported, reviewed and communicated to the parent/school unless safeguarding advice indicates otherwise.
21. Online safety, communications and images
- Communication with children will use approved professional channels and, where appropriate, include parents/schools.
- Staff must not accept social-media requests, use disappearing messages or engage in secret/private contact.
- Online concerns are safeguarding concerns and follow the same reporting route.
- Images require clear consent and a lawful purpose. Consent may be withdrawn for future use.
- Images will not identify a child through name, school, address, location metadata or accompanying detail.
- Court orders, care status and individual safety restrictions must be checked; "no face shown" does not automatically remove identification risk.
- Only authorised equipment and storage may be used. Personal-device images must not be taken.
22. Partnership with schools, parents and practitioners
Before placement, Just Imagine will agree safeguarding contacts, attendance and transport arrangements, emergency information, information-sharing, individual risks, consent, medication and collection. Schools must provide relevant safeguarding and support information needed for safe delivery. Just Imagine will promptly report attendance, welfare and safeguarding concerns through agreed routes while retaining the right and duty to contact statutory services directly.
External practitioners must receive written expectations covering competence, insurance, vetting, professional boundaries, supervision, incident reporting, confidentiality and safeguarding escalation. Just Imagine remains responsible for deciding whether a practitioner may deliver within its programme.
23. Complaints, monitoring and review
Safeguarding concerns will not be treated solely as complaints. Where a complaint contains a safeguarding issue, the safeguarding procedure takes priority. The directors will review safeguarding records, low-level concerns, incidents, near misses, training, checks and patterns at appropriate intervals while protecting confidentiality.
This policy will be formally reviewed at least annually and sooner after a serious incident, statutory or local guidance change, change of site/activities, material staffing change, learning from a safeguarding review, or evidence that procedures are not effective. Directors will record approval and implementation actions.
Appendix 1: Immediate safeguarding decision guide
| Situation | Immediate action |
|---|
| Immediate danger, serious injury or urgent crime | Call 999. Provide first aid/safety action. Inform DSL and Children's Social Care as appropriate. |
| Child disclosure or concern without immediate danger | Listen, record and report immediately to DSL/deputy. DSL assesses referral/consultation. |
| Concern about DSL Lynze Bamford | Report to Catherine Howley; use LADO/police/Children's Social Care directly if required. |
| Concern about Catherine Howley | Report to Rebecca Alpe. |
| Concern about Rebecca Alpe | Report to Catherine Howley. |
| Adult may meet harm threshold | Protect child; limited fact-finding only; LADO referral/consultation within one working day. |
| Low-level adult conduct concern | Record and report to DSL/unconflicted director; review patterns and seek LADO consultation if unclear. |
| Child missing or leaves safe area | Protect group, maintain safe visual contact if possible, raise alarm and call 999 promptly when risk criteria apply. |
Appendix 2: Key external contacts
| Service | Contact / route |
|---|
| Emergency services | 999 |
| Police non-emergency | 101 |
| Lancashire Children's Social Care (immediate risk/advice) | 0300 123 6720; out of hours 0300 123 6722. Professionals follow with the current online Request for Support where directed. |
| Lancashire LADO | Use Lancashire County Council's current online LADO referral/consultation form. Administrative email: lado.admin@lancashire.gov.uk (not for referrals or advice requests). |
| Lancashire Adult Safeguarding | 0300 123 6721; out of hours 0300 123 6722. |
| Rochdale Children's Social Care / EHASH | 01706 647474 office hours; 0300 303 8875 out of hours. |
| NSPCC Helpline | 0808 800 5000 |
| NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line | 0800 028 0285 |
| CEOP | ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre |
Contact details and online processes can change. The DSL must verify this appendix at approval and each review. Where a child lives outside Lancashire or Rochdale, use the local authority for the child's home area and cooperate with the authority for the incident/work location as required.
Linked organisational documents
Staff code of conduct; whistleblowing; safer recruitment; allegations and low-level concerns; information sharing and retention; transport; medication and first aid; photography and online safety; behaviour and physical intervention; missing child; complaints; farm site risk assessment; animal/equine procedure; emergency card; partnership/site agreement; individual risk and support plan; incident and safeguarding concern forms. The farm emergency information sheet and daily site checklist are held internally.
Signed by the directors: Lynze Bamford (03.09.2026), Rebecca Alpe (08.09.2026), Catherine Howley (09.09.2026).
