Safeguarding Volunteers: What Every Organisation Absolutely Must Have in Place

Safeguarding is not a compliance exercise. It is not a box to tick before a funding application, a policy document filed in a drawer, or a training course completed once and forgotten. It is the foundation on which every organisation working with children, young people, or adults at risk must build its entire volunteer programme — and the organisations that treat it otherwise are creating the conditions in which harm can occur and remain hidden.

Too many organisations — particularly smaller charities, community groups, and faith organisations — still have safeguarding arrangements that are inadequate for the risk they carry. This is not usually the result of indifference. It is the result of under-resourcing, unclear guidance, and an understandable but dangerous assumption that harm is something that happens elsewhere, to other organisations, with other volunteers.

The Non-Negotiables: What Every Organisation Must Have

A written safeguarding policy

A safeguarding policy is a public statement of how your organisation will protect the people in its care. It must be written in plain language, reviewed and updated at least annually, formally approved by your board or governing body, and accessible to every volunteer, staff member, and trustee. Adopting a template without reviewing it for your specific context is not enough. A policy that does not reflect how your organisation actually works will fail when it is most needed.

A named Designated Safeguarding Lead

Every organisation working with vulnerable people must have at least one named individual — the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) — with the specific training, authority, and capacity to handle safeguarding concerns. The DSL must be accessible to volunteers and staff, trained to the appropriate level for their jurisdiction, and empowered to act — including, where necessary, referring to statutory authorities — without requiring sign-off from above.

Safe recruitment processes

Safeguarding begins before a volunteer arrives. Safe recruitment means obtaining and following up references that actually speak to the applicant's suitability for the role; conducting criminal record checks at the appropriate level (a DBS check in England and Wales, PVG scheme membership in Scotland, or AccessNI in Northern Ireland); and making clear during recruitment that the organisation takes its safeguarding obligations seriously. It also means training everyone involved in recruitment to recognise warning signs of someone who might misuse a volunteering position.

Safeguarding induction for every volunteer

Every volunteer who will have contact with children or adults at risk must receive safeguarding induction before they start — not during their first week. This induction must include what safeguarding means and why it matters; the specific risks associated with their role; how to recognise signs of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; how to respond if a service user discloses something concerning; and who to report concerns to and how.

A clear reporting process that everyone knows and trusts

A safeguarding framework that depends on people raising concerns is only as strong as the confidence those people have that concerns will be taken seriously. If volunteers believe that raising a concern will be dismissed or result in negative consequences for them, they will not raise concerns — and harm will go undetected. The reporting process must be clear, widely communicated, and demonstrably followed through.

The Culture Question: Why Policies Are Not Enough

An organisation can have a technically compliant safeguarding policy, a qualified DSL, and regular training — and still have a safeguarding culture that is dangerously inadequate. Culture is not captured in documents. It is expressed in how people behave, what is considered normal, and what gets said or left unsaid in ordinary interactions.

A safeguarding culture is one where safety is understood as everyone's responsibility, not just the DSL's; volunteers and staff feel genuinely safe to raise concerns, however small; boundary-setting is modelled and expected at every level; and the instinct to protect the organisation's reputation does not override the instinct to protect a vulnerable person.

Volunteer-Specific Safeguarding Risks

Volunteers often work in less supervised environments — community settings, people's homes, one-to-one support roles, out-of-hours provision. They may form closer, more informal relationships with service users than paid staff do. Your safeguarding framework must explicitly address the volunteer context — not just adapt a staff-facing policy. Volunteer-specific considerations should include appropriate boundaries in volunteer relationships; the particular risks of home visiting or one-to-one support; how volunteers should respond if a service user wants to maintain contact outside the formal volunteering context; and what supervision and debrief support is available.

Keeping Safeguarding Current

Safeguarding is not static. Legislation changes. Guidance is updated — as the December 2023 revision of Working Together to Safeguard Children demonstrated. New forms of harm — online exploitation, coercive control — emerge and require specific responses. An organisation whose safeguarding policy has not been reviewed in three years is not compliant with current practice, whatever its original quality. Annual review of the policy, regular refresher training for the DSL and all volunteers in relevant roles, and active engagement with sector-specific guidance from your national safeguarding authority are minimum requirements.

Safeguarding is not an optional extra. Getting it right is not complicated — but it does require genuine commitment, appropriate resource, named accountability, and a culture that puts the safety of vulnerable people above every other consideration. Start with the non-negotiables. Build from there.

Our training packs on Adult Protection, Safer Recruitment, Assessing & Dealing with Risk, and Working Safely, together with the Keeping Safe self-study workbook, give organisations the frameworks, session plans and tools to build genuine safeguarding into every volunteer role.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do volunteers need a DBS check?

Not all volunteers — it depends on the role. In England and Wales, volunteers in "regulated activity" with children or adults at risk are eligible for an enhanced DBS check, and some roles require one by law. Volunteers with no direct contact with vulnerable people usually do not need one. The equivalent schemes are PVG in Scotland and AccessNI in Northern Ireland. Always check the role against current eligibility guidance.

What safeguarding policies does a small charity need?

At minimum: a written safeguarding policy approved by the trustees and reviewed annually, a named Designated Safeguarding Lead, safe recruitment procedures, a clear reporting process, and safeguarding induction for everyone in contact with children or adults at risk. Size is not an exemption — a small charity carries the same duty of care as a large one.

What is the main UK guidance for safeguarding children?

In England it is Working Together to Safeguard Children, the statutory multi-agency guidance most recently updated in December 2023, which sits alongside the Children Act 1989 and 2004. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own equivalent frameworks. Organisations should follow the guidance for the nation in which they operate.

How often should safeguarding training be refreshed?

There is no single legal interval, but good practice is safeguarding induction before a volunteer starts, followed by refresher training at regular intervals — commonly every two to three years for general volunteers, and more frequently for the Designated Safeguarding Lead. Training should also be refreshed whenever legislation or guidance changes significantly.

Are background checks enough to keep people safe?

No. Criminal record checks only identify people with known previous offences, and much harm is caused by individuals with no record. They are a necessary part of safe recruitment but never sufficient on their own. A genuine safeguarding culture — supervision, clear boundaries, and an environment where concerns are raised and acted on — is what protects people in practice.