SAFEGUARDING POLICY

Lotus Clouds believes that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse

of any kind and recognises it has a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young

people, by a commitment to practice which protects them.

Lotus Clouds recognises that: 

• The welfare of the child/young person is paramount
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and their agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare 
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• Extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.

The purpose of this policy is:

• To provide protection for children and young people who receive Lotus Clouds services.

• To provide any staff that Lotus Clouds may employ with guidance on procedures they should adopt if they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.

This policy applies to all staff working on behalf of Lotus Clouds.

Lotus Clouds will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

• Valuing them, listening to and respecting them and adopting child protection guidelines through

procedures and a code of conduct for staff

• Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

• Sharing information about child protection and good practice with staff

• Sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know and involving parents and

children appropriately

• Providing effective management for staff through supervision, support and training

Lotus Clouds will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• valuing, listening to and respecting them

• appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people,

• if working in a school setting reporting any concerns to the designated child protection lead or deputy lead in the particular school, 

• adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies,

procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers

• developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related

procedures

• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision,

support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and

volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes

confidently and competently

• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line

with data protection legislation and guidance

• sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and

their families via links to our website and one-to-one discussions

• making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go

for help if they have a concern

• using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and

relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children,

young people, parents, families and carers appropriately

• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers

appropriately

• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we

have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that

does arise

• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in

place

• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young

people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in

accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

• building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young

people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable

about sharing concerns.

Contact Details of child protection lead
Bansi Martins - 07950 288075

bansi@lotusclouds.co.uk

When working in schools - we will contact the school's designated child protection leads as appropriate

Child protection is a very sensitive issue and it raises many questions and a range of strong

emotions. Lotus Clouds everything we can to support the children in our sessions and you can

be rest assured that any action we take will always be in the best interests of the child.

Sources of information and support

NSPCC Child Protection Helpline Tel: 08088005000 help@nspcc.org.uk

Kidscape 020 7730 3300

Childline Tel: 08001111

Young Minds Tel 08008025544

Anti-terrorist / Radicalisation (Prevent) Tel: 101 (ask to speak to someone about radicalisation)

Confidential Anti-terrorist helpline Tel: 0800789321

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Hotline Tel: 08000283550 or 101

Please note that currently Lotus Clouds is run by Bansi Martins and no additional staff are employed by Lotus Clouds. The parts above in italics come into effect should Lotus Clouds employ any additional staff.

Lotus Clouds is committed to reviewing this policy annually

(Last updated May 2022)