Our Safeguarding Lead is Kamadeva Andrew Nicholls and he is our first point of contact for any concerns. He can be contacted on: amidaorder@gmail.com

1. Purpose – Protecting Children and/or Vulnerable Adults

Our charitable activities include working with vulnerable people.  The purpose of this policy is to protect children and vulnerable adults and provide stakeholders and the public with the overarching principles that guide our approach in doing so. 

2. Safeguarding Principles

We believe that:

• Nobody who is involved in our work should ever experience abuse, harm, neglect or exploitation.
• We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all of our beneficiaries, staff and volunteers, to keep them safe and to work in a way that protects them.
• We all have a collective responsibility for creating a culture in which our people not only feel safe, but also able to speak up, if they have any concerns.
• We all have a responsibility to ensure that those in positions of power do not exploit those who may be vulnerable because of being in a less powerful position, mental health concerns, physical health concerns, faith, sex, sexuality, gender, disability or race.

3. Safeguarding Policy Applicability

This safeguarding policy applies to anyone working on our behalf, including our charity trustees and other volunteers.Partner organisations will be required to have their own safeguarding procedures that must, as a minimum, meet the standards outlined below, and include any additional legal or regulatory requirements specific to their work.  These may, but are not limited to:

• Other UK regulators, if applicable, such as Ofsted or CQC.
• Other authorities, such as the DfES or NHS.

There may be other requirements or frameworks for those working overseas.

• Charity Commission guidance – working overseas.
• The International Child Safeguarding Standards.
• Keeping children safe online assessment tool.

Safeguarding should be appropriately reflected in other relevant policies and procedures. 

4. Types of Abuse

Abuse can take many forms, such as physical, psychological or emotional, financial, sexual, spiritual or institutional abuse, including neglect and exploitation  Signs that may indicate the different types of abuse are:

• Physical abuse is intentional bodily injury. Some examples include slapping, pinching, choking, kicking, shoving, or inappropriately using drugs or physical restraints.

• Sexual abuse is nonconsensual sexual contact (any unwanted sexual contact). Examples include unwanted touching, rape, sodomy, coerced nudity, sexual explicit photographing.

• Psychological  or emotional abuse is deliberately causing mental or emotional pain. Examples include intimidation, coercion, ridiculing, harassment, treating an adult like a child, isolating an adult from family, friends, or regular activity, use of silence to control behaviour, and yelling or swearing which results in mental distress. 

• Spiritual abuse is when someone uses spiritual or religious beliefs to hurt, scare or control someone and is a form of psychological abuse.

• Financial abuse / exploitation occurs when a vulnerable adult or his/her/their resources or income are illegally or improperly used for another person’s profit or gain. Examples include illegally withdrawing money out of another person’s account, forging checks, or stealing things out of the vulnerable adult’s house. 

• Neglect occurs when a person, either through his/her action or inaction, deprives a vulnerable adult of the care necessary to maintain the vulnerable adult’s physical or mental health. Examples include not providing basic items such as food, water, clothing, a safe place to live, medicine, or health care.

• Self-neglect occurs when a vulnerable adult fails to provide adequately for themselves and jeopardises his/her well-being. Examples include a vulnerable adult living in hazardous, unsafe, or unsanitary living conditions or not having enough food or water.

• Abandonment occurs when a vulnerable adult is left without the ability to obtain necessary food, clothing, shelter or health care. Examples include deserting a vulnerable adult in a public place or leaving a vulnerable adult at home without the means of getting basic life necessities.

Signs of physical abuse:

• bruises, black eyes, welts, lacerations, and rope marks
• broken bones
• open wounds, cuts, punctures, untreated injuries in various stages of healing
• broken eyeglasses/frames, or any physical signs of being punished or restrained
• laboratory findings of either an overdose or underdose medications
• individual’s report being hit, slapped, kicked, or mistreated
• vulnerable adult’s sudden change in behaviour
• the caregiver’s refusal to allow visitors to see a vulnerable adult alone

Signs of sexual abuse:

• bruises around the breasts or genital area
• unexplained venereal disease or genital infections
• unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding
• torn, stained, or bloody underclothing
• an individual’s report of being sexually assaulted or raped

Signs of psychological / emotional / spiritual abuse:

• being emotionally upset or agitated
• being extremely withdrawn and non communicative or non responsive
• unusual behaviour usually attributed to dementia (e.g., sucking, biting, rocking)
• nervousness around certain people
• an individual’s report of being verbally or mentally mistreated

Signs of neglect:

• dehydration, malnutrition, untreated bed sores and poor personal hygiene
• unattended or untreated health problems
• hazardous or unsafe living condition (e.g., improper wiring, no heat or running water)
• unsanitary and unclean living conditions (e.g., dirt, fleas, lice on person, soiled bedding, faecal/urine smell, inadequate clothing)
• an individual’s report of being mistreated

Signs of self-neglect:

• dehydration, malnutrition, untreated or improperly attended medical conditions, and poor personal hygiene
• hazardous or unsafe living conditions
• unsanitary or unclean living quarters (e.g., animal/insect infestation, no functioning toilet, faecal or urine smell)
• inappropriate and/or inadequate clothing, lack of the necessary medical aids
• grossly inadequate housing or homelessness
• inadequate medical care, not taking prescribed medications properly

Signs of exploitation:

• sudden changes in bank account or banking practice, including an unexplained withdrawal of large sums of money
• adding additional names on bank signature cards
• unauthorised withdrawal of funds using an ATM card
• abrupt changes in a will or other financial documents
• unexplained disappearance of funds or valuable possessions
• bills unpaid despite the money being available to pay them
• forging a signature on financial transactions or for the titles of possessions
• sudden appearance of previously uninvolved relatives claiming rights to a vulnerable adult’s possessions
• unexplained sudden transfer of assets to a family member or someone outside the family
• providing services that are not necessary
• individual’s report of exploitation

Signs of abandonment:

• deserting a vulnerable adult in a public place
• deserting a vulnerable adult in his/her own home or living space
• individual’s report of being abandoned

5. Reporting Safeguarding Concerns

If a crime is in progress, or an individual in immediate danger, call the police, as you would in any other circumstances. If necessary liaise with the local Safeguarding Board, where the person is a resident in the UK. 

If you are part of the Community of Amida Buddhists, a beneficiary, or member of the public, make your concerns known to our Safeguarding Lead, who will alert a trustee of the charity (member of Amida Gana). For members of the charity (i.e. Order Members) , make your concerns known to a trustee (member of Amida Gana) or the Safeguarding Lead.   

Our Safeguarding Lead is: Kamadeva Andrew Nicholls. He is our first point of contact for any concerns and can be contacted on: amidaorder@gmail.com

The trustees are mindful of their reporting obligations to the Charity Commission in respect of Serious Incident Reporting and, if applicable, other regulators.  They are aware of the Government guidance on handling safeguarding allegations.

6. Trustee Safeguarding Responsibilities

Responsibilities should be made clear and individuals provided with any necessary training and resources to enable them to carry out their role.  It should be reflected in Committee ToRs, job descriptions, annual plan and appraisal objectives, reporting to the trustee Board and other procedures, as necessary. .

6.1 Trustees.  

This safeguarding policy will be reviewed and approved by the Trustees annually. Trustees are aware of and will comply with the Charity Commission guidance on safeguarding and protecting people and also the 10 actions trustee boards need to take to ensure good safeguarding governance. Our Safeguarding Lead will have responsibility for the oversight of all aspects of this policy including: 

• Creating a culture of respect, in which everyone feel safe and able to speak up.
• An annual review of safety, with recommendations to the Board.
• Receiving regular reports, to ensure this and related policies are being applied consistently.
• Providing oversight of any lapses in safeguarding.
• And ensuring that any issues are properly investigated and dealt with quickly, fairly and sensitively, and any reporting to the Police/statutory authorities is carried out.
• Leading the organisation in a way that makes everyone feels safe and able to speak up.
• Ensuring safeguarding risk assessments are carried out and appropriate action taken to minimise these risks, as part of our risk management processes.
• Ensuring that all relevant checks are carried out in recruiting staff and volunteers.
• Planning programmes/activities to take into account potential safeguarding risks, to ensure these are adequately mitigated.
• Ensuring that all appointments that require DBS clearance and safeguarding training are identified, including the level of DBS and any training required.
• Ensuring that a central register is maintained and subject to regular monitoring to ensure that DBS clearances and training are kept up-to-date.
• Ensuring that safeguarding requirements (eg DBS) and responsibilities are reflected in job descriptions, appraisal objectives and personal development plans, as appropriate.
• Listening and engaging, beneficiaries, staff, volunteers and others and involving them as appropriate.
• Responding to any concerns sensitively and acting quickly to address these.
• Ensuring that personal data is stored and managed in a safe way that is compliant with data protection regulations, including valid consent to use any imagery or video.
• Making staff, volunteers and others aware of:
  • Our safeguarding procedures and their specific safeguarding responsibilities on induction, with regular updates/reminders, as necessary.
  • The signs of potential abuse and how to report these.

6.2 Safeguarding Lead

Our Safeguarding Lead is: Kamadeva Andrew Nicholls. His is our first point of contact for any concerns and he can be contacted on:

T: +44 7398 359802 and E: andreww60@yahoo.co.uk

6.3 Everyone. 

To be aware of our procedures, undertake any necessary training, be aware of the risks and signs of potential abuse and, if you have concerns, to report these immediately (see above).

7. Safeguarding And Fundraising

We will ensure that:

• We comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice, including fundraising that involves children.
• Staff and volunteers are made aware of the Institute of Fundraising guidance on keeping fundraising safe and the NCVO Guidance on vulnerable people and fundraising.
• Our fundraising material is accessible, clear and ethical, including not placing any undue pressure on individuals to donate.
• We do not either solicit nor accept donations from anyone whom we know or think may not be competent to make their own decisions.
• We are sensitive to any particular need that a donor may have.

8. Charity Commission Guidance – Online Safeguarding

We will identify and manage online risks by ensuring:

• Volunteers, staff and trustees understand how to keep themselves safe online, for example using high privacy settings and password access to meetings to support this.
• The online services we provide are suitable for our users. For example, using age restrictions and offering password protection to help keep people safe
• The services we use and/or provide are safe and in line with our code of conduct.
• Protect people’s personal data and follow GDPR legislation.
• We have permission to display any images on our website or social media accounts, including consent from an individual, parent, etc.

We clearly explain how users can report online concerns. Concerns may be reported using this policy, or direct to a social media provider using their reporting process.  If you are unsure, you can contact one of these organisations, who will help you.