Helping You to Protect the People That Matter Most

Safeguarding is not an annual review or an event. It involves more than developing well written, well intended, aspirational policy documents outlining a series of institutional procedures. It is about knowing what you are doing and what you can do to protect vulnerable groups of people for whom your organisation works for or comes into contact with.

At its core, proper safeguarding is about having the right institutional culture that puts the interests and well-being of young and other groups of vulnerable people consistently first in everything your organisation does to actively minimise the risk of potential abuse or exploitation.

Personal knowledge and the ability to act in an ethical and professional manner (especially when people are not watching), are just as important as suitable ongoing training, unrelenting  supervision, or clear and effective channels to act quickly and decisively in conjunction with the appropriate authorities. Above all, effective safeguarding involves openness, transparency, firm leadership as well as a reliable process of collective vigilance that can adapt to evolving risks with time, wherever you operate in the world.

If your safeguarding culture, for whatever reason, fails in practice to put the best interests of your beneficiaries first, the reputation of your organisation, as well as any trust and confidence that the public have in you, your staff and volunteers may be irreparably damaged for many years to come if not forever.

The breadth and depth of our safeguarding experience and expertise is truly international. Our safeguarding team takes pride in being able to deliver a truly dedicated and bespoke safeguarding service for a broad range of organisations, whether you are a charity, sports club, a university, school or college, or a care home provider. We specialise in strengthening your knowledge base and operational effectiveness, ensuring your safeguarding culture is proactive, comprehensive in its coverage and leaves nothing to chance.

Our safeguarding team will help you and your colleagues excel in providing a safe and caring environment for those who matter most and help keep them safe from the risk of abuse and/or exploitation.

Our Safeguarding Practice

Our safeguarding expertise is already called upon by a wide range of national as well as international charities, covering schools, nurseries, day care centres, sports clubs and organisations, the leisure and entertainment industry, residential care homes, embassies and diplomatic missions.

We have unrivalled operational experience in developing targeted safeguarding strategies –  particularly for UK registered charities operating in Africa – co-ordinating projects alongside the UN, National Governments, law enforcement and human rights agencies in order to develop innovative safeguarding solutions  for international charities that operate in remote and hostile areas of the globe. Our work strengthens the capability of our clients to provide a resilient safeguarding environment for delivering aid, education, medical services or community focused social enterprises to some of the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in the continent.

The emphasis of our safeguarding advice and guidance is proactive rather than reactive. Our safeguarding group is often instructed to test and review the safeguarding structures and processes of international organisations on a strategic and operational level.

However, things can and do go wrong from time to time. Our safeguarding group has a proven track record of experience in co-ordinating complex safeguarding investigations into current or historic allegations of abuse and successfully defending civil claims in the UK for our clients, especially in relation to claims that originate abroad. We work closely with foreign safeguarding authorities and Ministries abroad as well as the Police and LADO’s here in the UK on behalf of our clients, to achieve a just outcome.

The skill set of our safeguarding group is unique, innovative and pragmatic. Our focus is on providing you with the necessary toolkit to ensure that your safeguarding culture and processes relate to the environment and/or sector within which you work and the people you care for.

Our safeguarding group is led by Partner Dominik Opalinski, a former qualified teacher who has substantial experience in pastoral care and child protection on a national and international level.