What is safeguarding?

The NSPCC describes safeguarding as the action you take to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

A safeguarding issue or concern is anything that might impact on children and young people's safety and welfare, cause them harm, or put them at risk of harm.

This could include a volunteer not following the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card). Sometimes, a child or young person might tell someone about (or disclose) harm, abuse or neglect.

Safeguarding at Scouts

In Scouts, keeping children and young people safe is our number one priority and we take action to achieve this. Most importantly, all adults in Scouts must follow our Yellow Card and Safeguarding Policy, and volunteers must complete safeguarding learning every three years.  

All safeguarding concerns are reported to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team who offer advice and guidance, and ensure the appropriate steps are taken. Find out more about reporting a safeguarding concern and the Scouts safeguarding process.

We also have volunteer roles with specific safeguarding responsibilities. The UK HQ Safeguarding team works with local volunteers as part of our joint approach to handling safeguarding issues and concerns. To support them, we've made safeguarding procedures for Lead Volunteers. We also have Safeguarding Advisers who support safeguarding in their local areas.

Invite the UK HQ Safeguarding Team to your event

If you’re planning an event and would like support from the UK HQ Safeguarding Team - whether that’s a workshop, a marketplace stand or something else - please download and complete this form and send it to [email protected].

While we may not be able to attend every event, we carefully review each request and will give full consideration to how we can best support you.