What next after the awareness week? The VCSE sector and preventative safeguarding

Estimated reading time 5 minutes.

I am working upstairs in my office, when I hear my wife return home and call up the stairs:

‘Gosh, that was hard work on the heath today … cutting back all that thick gorse!’

Since retiring a couple of years ago, she has been volunteering with various initiatives that support causes close to her heart, including a couple of environmental conservation projects. Listening to her talk about these voluntary activities has helped me appreciate just how vital voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations are.

That importance came into sharp focus during the recent national Safeguarding Adults Week, facilitated by the Ann Craft Trust each November. Like safeguarding adults boards across the country, Norfolk uses the week to shine a light on adult safeguarding.
This year the theme was Prevention: Act Before Abuse, widening the safeguarding conversation and encouraging earlier,
more community-rooted thinking.

Prevention

Increasingly, we talk about adult safeguarding not merely as a response to crises, but as a collective commitment to preventing harm long before it reaches the threshold of abuse or neglect. Prevention is not a single event or service: it is a culture, and at the heart of that culture – often quietly, alongside statutory organisations – sits the voluntary, community and charity sector.

To explore this further, I held two NSAB “In Conversation with…” sessions as part of the safeguarding week programme. The idea is to talk with a colleague about a key safeguarding adult topic in which I dusted off my best Amol Rajan interviewing technique. In one session I talked with my excellent colleague Jo Cook, Designated Safeguarding and Mental Capacity Lead at Blind Veterans UK. As part of the discussion, we explored and celebrated the crucial role the charity sector plays in preventative safeguarding.

When people think of safeguarding, they often picture statutory bodies, procedures or inquiries. Yet effective safeguarding is much broader. It lives within thousands of everyday interactions – many of them happening in VCSE organisations.

In Norfolk alone, around 10,000 VCSE groups operate across areas such as homelessness, mental health, youth work, and disability support. About 3,500 groups are formally registered; another 6,500 are informal, embedded deeply in local life. State of the VCSE Sector in 2025 revealed | Voluntary Norfolk.

VCSE groups are the connective tissue of our communities: places where people find belonging, purpose and support. They are often the first to spot changes in someone’s behaviour, wellbeing or vulnerability, and they frequently hold the trust of individuals who may be wary of statutory services. Their contribution to prevention isn’t just helpful, it is fundamental.

Key takeaways from my conversation with Jo

• VCSE groups are often the first responders to vulnerability
  A lunch club volunteer notices someone not turning up. An outreach worker spots a subtle change in mood. These are small observations that can prompt early conversations or welfare checks, stopping worries from drifting into crises.
  
  
• The greatest strength of VCSE groups is reach and relationships
  Volunteers, faith leaders, peer supporters and charity staff are the people who 'notice first'. Prevention starts with noticing, powered by the simple human act of paying attention.
  
  
• We must strengthen partnership working!
  The VCSE is a safeguarding partner, even under increasing pressure. How do we better support and connect with them?
  
  
• A VCSE voice at the board
  NSAB is fortunate to have two VCSE representatives, James Kearns (The Build Charity) and Daniel Childerhouse (Future Projects). They bring a vital sector perspective. When did you last speak with them about safeguarding, sharing an insight or seeking advice?

A temperature check for trustees and colleagues (taken from a recent SCIE audit):

Safeguarding knowledge exists, but it’s patchy
Awareness varies widely across organisations. In some, understanding is strong; in others, misunderstandings persist about what safeguarding is (and isn’t), how to raise concerns, or when to escalate. Trustees and senior managers must ensure training is contextualised, refreshed and linked to real organisational risk.

Oversight of training needs strengthening
How confident do your staff and volunteers feel about safeguarding? Are they trained online, in person, or both? Do managers receive the support they need?

Safe recruitment is improving – keep going!
Background checks, references and risk assessments matter. These are signals of an organisation’s safeguarding culture and leadership.

Culture, leadership and governance shape everything
Boards must ask not just “Are we compliant?”, but “Are we learning and improving?” Safeguarding must be a regular, purposeful agenda item.

What next?

Building on the conversation with Jo, the question is (and I am keen to hear from colleagues): what is the next best step to draw the VCSE and charity sector more fully into the safeguarding ecosystem?

Final thoughts

Preventative safeguarding does not live in a single office or profession. It lives in the relationships we build, the trust we maintain, and the communities we shape together. The VCSE sector has always understood this. 

The challenge – and the opportunity – is for Norfolk’s VCSEs and the safeguarding adults board to work even more closely, treating safeguarding as an everyday responsibility shared by all.

Thank you.

Walter Lloyd-Smith
Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board manager