Safeguarding
At British Heart Foundation, we have a strict safeguarding policy in place to ensure we're creating a safe and rewarding environment for all of our people to work and volunteer. Read our policy, your responsibilities as a volunteer and how to report a concern.
Our safeguarding policy
We’re committed to creating a safe and rewarding environment for all of our people to work and volunteer.This means we have a robust safeguarding policy to ensure everyone is treated properly, and a whistle blowing service so people can raise any concerns they have confidentially.
Some of our staff carry out roles that require them to work with people who are considered to be at higher risk of harm, including children and vulnerable adults. We carry out criminal record checks for people in these roles, and offer comprehensive safeguarding training to senior managers in other relevant positions.
We have a zero tolerance approach to breaches of our safeguarding policies and thoroughly investigate all alleged breaches. We regularly review our safeguarding policy, which aims to improve the knowledge and understanding of staff and volunteers, irrespective of their position, about safeguarding at the BHF.
To ensure we are continually maintaining the highest standards of safeguarding, we monitor guidance from Government, the Charity Commission and The Charity Retail Association on procedures and protocols for safeguarding.
Your responsibilities
To protect yourself and others from harm, we ask you to carry out any volunteer duties to the highest levels of health and safety shown in your training. This includes using the personal protective equipment provided by us when required – such as high vis wear.
We ask that you bring to the attention of your BHF contact any situation or practice that you think could lead to injuries or ill health and that you report all incidents including, near misses, accidents or dangerous occurrences.
We ask that you remain alert and vigilant to any suspicious, unsafe or concerning behaviours and report these to your BHF contact in a timely manner.
Report a concern
Remember the 3 Rs: Recognise it, respond to it and report it
As a volunteer you can confidentially report a concern by:
- phoning the safeguarding team on 0300 222 5868 and choosing option 1
- emailing [email protected]