Safeguarding Policy

Black Curators Collective CIC: programmes, residencies, exhibitions, events, workshops, broadcasts and consultancy

Adopted: October 2026 · Last reviewed: October 2026 · Next review: October 2027

Purpose and commitment

Black Curators Collective CIC is committed to the safety and wellbeing of every child and adult at risk who comes into contact with our work. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Artistic ambition, institutional reputation, funding pressure and awkwardness do not suspend it. Where safeguarding conflicts with any other consideration, safeguarding comes first.

This policy sets out how we work safely, how we recognise and respond to concerns, and what we expect of the organisations we work with. It is proportionate to a small, volunteer-led collective that often delivers work inside partner organisations' buildings.

Scope

This policy applies to all of BCC's activity where a child or adult at risk may be present, as an audience member, participant, collaborator, artist or family member. That includes workshops, talks, residencies, participatory and engagement projects, exhibitions and events, research conversations, broadcasts, online sessions and consultancy.

It applies to BCC's director and to everyone acting on BCC's behalf, including members delivering BCC projects, freelancers, volunteers, and Editorial Board members acting for the journal.

Where we deliver work inside a host organisation, we agree in writing beforehand whose safeguarding procedures apply. Within a host's building, the host's policy usually takes precedence and we work within it. We do not begin delivery until we know who their Designated Safeguarding Lead is and how to contact them. Where members work in employed or trustee roles at other organisations, those organisations' policies govern that work.

Roles

BCC has one director, who holds overall responsibility for safeguarding.

If a concern is about the Designated Safeguarding Lead or the director, contact Laura Hesketh at safeguarding@blackcuratorscollective.org, or report it directly to the relevant statutory service listed below.

Definitions

A child is anyone under the age of 18, regardless of whether they consider themselves a child, are living independently, or are in employment.

An adult at risk is any person aged 18 or over who has needs for care and support, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves against it. This is the definition in the Care Act 2014. Risk is situational: disabled adults, older adults and adults with mental health needs are not automatically at risk, and adults outside those groups may be. We do not assume, and we do not label people.

Abuse and neglect include physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse; domestic abuse and coercive control; financial or material abuse; discriminatory abuse, including racist and disablist abuse; organisational abuse; modern slavery and exploitation; self-neglect; and online abuse.

Legal and policy framework

This policy has regard to the Children Act 1989 and 2004, the Care Act 2014, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, the Equality Act 2010 and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. When we work in Scotland, we follow the relevant Scottish legislation and guidance and the host organisation's procedures.

Safer working practice

Everyone acting on BCC's behalf works to these rules.

Work in sight of others. Avoid being alone with a child or adult at risk. Where one-to-one contact is necessary (a support conversation, an access requirement, an interview), it takes place somewhere visible, with another adult aware of where you are and for how long, and it is recorded afterwards.

No private contact. No personal phone numbers, no direct messaging with under-18s, no private social media contact, no personal email. Communication with children and young people goes through the host organisation, a parent or carer, or a monitored BCC account.

No transport or outside meetings. Do not transport participants in your own vehicle or arrange to meet them outside the project setting.

Professional boundaries, including online. Do not accept friend or follow requests from participants who are children, and keep professional and personal accounts separate.

Physical contact and personal care. Use no physical contact beyond what is necessary, consensual and appropriate. Do not provide personal or intimate care: that is the role of the person's own support worker, family member or the host organisation's trained staff.

No promises of secrecy. If someone begins to tell you something, say early and kindly that you may need to pass it on to keep them safe, and explain who to.

Plan access and safeguarding together. Access arrangements, such as interpreters, support workers, quiet spaces and breaks, are agreed in advance. Anyone providing support in a session is known to the host organisation and appropriately checked.

Stay within your competence. We are artists, curators and writers, not therapists, social workers or support workers. Where a project touches on distressing material, we agree in advance who holds pastoral responsibility and what happens if a participant becomes distressed.

Recognising and responding to concerns

A concern may arise because someone discloses something, because you observe signs that worry you, because a third party tells you, or because you witness the conduct of another adult.

If someone discloses to you:

  • listen without interrupting or pressing for detail;

  • take what they say seriously, and do not express doubt or shock;

  • avoid leading questions, and ask only what you need to understand whether someone is at risk;

  • tell them clearly that you cannot keep it secret, and explain what you will do next;

  • as soon as you can afterwards, record what was said, in their words where possible, with the date, time, setting and anyone present, keeping fact separate from interpretation.

Do not investigate, interview anyone, confront an alleged abuser, or try to resolve the situation yourself. That is the responsibility of statutory services.

Report to BCC's Designated Safeguarding Lead, and to the host organisation's Designated Safeguarding Lead where there is one, the same day and always within 24 hours. Reports can be made in writing. Report directly to the relevant statutory service if no lead is available, if the concern is about a lead or an organisation, or if you are not satisfied the concern has been acted on.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 first and report afterwards.

Reporting routes

  • Immediate risk or a crime in progress: 999.

  • Non-emergency police: 101.

  • Concerns about a child: local authority children's services or the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for the area where the child lives.

  • Concerns about an adult at risk: the local authority adult social care safeguarding team for the area where the adult lives.

  • Concerns about an adult who works with children (including a member, artist, freelancer, volunteer or director of BCC): the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for the area where the work takes place, within one working day.

  • In Scotland: the local council's social work services or Police Scotland.

  • If you are unsure whether to report: the NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000) for advice about children; the Ann Craft Trust for advice about adults at risk.

  • For children and young people themselves: Childline, 0800 1111.

Before each project, we confirm the local numbers for the area and keep them with us during delivery. Uncertainty is not a reason to delay. Seeking advice does not require the person's consent.

Allegations against someone working for BCC

If an allegation is made about anyone acting on BCC's behalf, including the director, they will not manage it themselves, investigate it, or approach the person who raised it. It is referred straight away to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (or the deputy, if the allegation concerns the lead), to the host organisation's safeguarding lead, and to the LADO where a child is involved. The person steps back from delivery while it is considered, where asked, and cooperates fully with any process.

Relationship to our Transformative Justice Policy

Our Transformative Justice Policy commits us to responding to harm through repair, worked out with the person harmed. That framework does not apply to safeguarding concerns and never overrides this policy.

A concern involving a child or an adult at risk goes through the statutory routes above immediately. It does not go through any community accountability process first. We do not wait for the person harmed to decide what they want, we do not apply our own judgement about whether a report is proportionate, and we do not promise confidentiality we cannot keep. Community accountability is a framework for adults with the capacity to negotiate their own safety. It is not a substitute for statutory child protection or adult safeguarding.

The two policies share a commitment: the safety of the people with least power comes before the comfort or reputation of institutions.

Records and confidentiality

Safeguarding records are made promptly and kept factual. They are stored securely and separately from project files, and only the Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputy can access them. Records are shared only with those who need them: a host organisation's safeguarding lead, statutory services or the police. Concern for confidentiality never outweighs the need to protect someone. Where a host organisation holds the record, theirs is the definitive one, and we keep our own contemporaneous note until any process concludes. Records are held in line with our Privacy Notice and for as long as statutory guidance requires.

Photography, filming and consent

Images and recordings are only made with informed, specific, written consent. Where a child is involved, consent comes from a parent or carer as well as the young person. Adults give their own consent wherever they have capacity to. Consent covers what is being made, where it will appear and for how long, and it can be withdrawn. We do not use identifying details alongside images of children. We do not photograph anyone who has asked not to be, and we follow any stricter rules set by a host organisation. Images are stored securely and not kept beyond the agreed period.

Online and remote delivery

Online sessions with children take place through a host organisation's or BCC's account, with another adult present, and are not recorded without explicit consent. No one contacts participants through personal accounts. The same reporting duties apply to concerns arising online, including disclosures made in chat functions or private messages.

DBS checks and safer recruitment

As an organisation, BCC can arrange criminal record checks for people working on its behalf. Where a role is eligible and involves regulated activity with children or adults at risk, we arrange an Enhanced DBS check with a barred list check before the work begins, through a registered umbrella body, or we confirm in writing that the host organisation has done so. In Scotland, we use the PVG Scheme through Disclosure Scotland. For other roles involving contact with participants, we may ask for a Basic check. We encourage anyone holding an Enhanced certificate to subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

For roles involving regular contact with children or adults at risk, we also take up references and discuss safeguarding with the person before they start.

A DBS check is a baseline. It says nothing about conduct that has not been reported, which is why the working practices above matter more.

Training

The Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputy complete designated-lead training, refreshed at least every two years. Anyone leading participatory sessions for BCC completes safeguarding awareness training covering children and adults at risk, refreshed at least every three years or as a host organisation requires. We keep a record of training and can evidence it on request.

Insurance

BCC is volunteer-led and does not employ staff. It does not yet hold its own insurance. We plan to arrange directors' and officers' liability, public liability and professional indemnity insurance for the CIC by early 2027. Until then, before BCC delivers any event or participatory work, we confirm in writing with the host organisation how the activity is insured.

What we ask of organisations we work with

Before delivery begins, we ask partner organisations:

  • to share their safeguarding policy and the contact details of their Designated Safeguarding Lead;

  • to arrange any Enhanced DBS or PVG check the work requires, or to confirm that BCC should;

  • to confirm who holds pastoral responsibility during sessions;

  • to make sure ratios and supervision are adequate, and that no one working for BCC is left alone with participants;

  • to acknowledge and act on any concerns we raise.

Where an organisation cannot meet these, we will say so in writing and may decline the work.

Review

This policy is reviewed annually by the Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputy. It is also reviewed after any safeguarding incident, change in guidance, or significant change in the kind of work we do. Questions, challenges and suggestions are welcome at info@blackcuratorscollective.org.