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Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and protect them from harm. Safeguarding means: protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and maltreatment.

A child is anyone under the age of 18.  A vulnerable adult is a person aged 18 years or over who may be unable to take care of themselves or protect themselves from harm or from being exploited.

Everyone has a safeguarding responsibility to both children and vulnerable adults. This may be raising a concern, or passing on information or, if you are in a professional role, taking on more responsibilities.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to investigate where they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child or vulnerable adult is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm and to take appropriate action to protect the child or vulnerable adult where necessary.

Useful links for safeguarding children:


Useful links for safeguarding adults: