Safeguarding

Last updated September 2025

The Foundation is committed to promoting the safety and wellbeing of anyone connected with our work. The safety and welfare of children and adults is paramount, and we do not tolerate the abuse of any person in any form 

Safeguarding describes the measures taken to protect people who come into contact with us through our work from abuse or mistreatment of any kind.  

As a charity itself, the Foundation is committed to promoting safeguarding throughout the Foundation, ensuring a safeguarding policy and procedures are in place and that safeguarding concerns are effectively managed. We also take steps to ensure that our partners deliver their services safely and have appropriate systems, policies, and procedures in place to safeguard those with whom they work.   

We are committed to: 

• safeguarding, and recognising our duty of care to children, adults, the organisations that we work with and to those who work for or on behalf of the Foundation; 
• creating a safe and secure environment where everyone can work together confidently and with mutual respect; 
• considering how safeguarding concerns may become apparent within a ‘think family’ approach. For example, safeguarding concerns about a child may lead to worries about the safety of their adult carer, or a concern about an adult may lead to worries about the well-being of their child. Our safeguarding policy and procedure apply to children and adults; 
• promoting the safeguarding of all individuals, both in the Foundation and in the organisations that we work with. We recognise that the individuals who use the services of organisations that we support may be particularly vulnerable or at risk of harm and we take our responsibility seriously to promote safeguarding with those we commission to work on behalf of the Foundation with those organisations. 

You can see our full Safeguarding Policy here. 

Jump to a section:

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs)

Our expectations of our partners

Our expectations and procedures for external suppliers (including our Development Support Partners)

How do I raise a safeguarding concern with the Foundation

If you have concerns linked to any of our partners

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs)

The Foundation has two Designated Safeguarding Leads with strategic and operational responsibilities for safeguarding. They ensure our policies and procedures are up to date, promote a positive safeguarding culture and lead on the management of safeguarding issues. Our DSLs are:

Sara Canullo, Head of Grant Management

André Clarke, Director of Charity Development (Senior Leadership Team).

Our expectations of our partners

In line with our commitment to keeping people safe, we consider safeguarding at each stage of our funding process. 

Application:

In the application form, we ask all organisations to confirm whether they have a safeguarding policy in place.  

Organisation applying for funding to support the delivery of front-line services to children and/or adults, must have a safeguarding policy is in place for the application to proceed.  

We may progress applications for funding for other types of work, such as policy and influencing, where no safeguarding policy is in place. However, applicants will be expected to demonstrate at assessment stage that they have appropriate measures in place to manage safeguarding risks and be willing to develop a safeguarding policy if funding is agreed. 

Assessment

During the assessment, the Foundation will meet with applicants to discuss their work, and safeguarding will form part of this discussion. The aim of this discussion is to: 

• explore the Foundation’s four safeguarding standards and assess how far the partner meets these requirements. 
• gain a better understanding of how safeguarding is understood and implemented in practice, identifying and valuing existing good practice  
• identify any areas where safeguarding may need to be strengthened and assess the partner’s level of commitment to addressing any gaps should funding be approved. 

You can find out more about the Foundation’s Safeguarding Standards here 

When assessing the application, we will consider whether safeguarding measures are in place across the four standards and whether these address the key areas of safeguarding risk. 

If an organisation is turned down at the assessment stage and there are concerns about safeguarding practice, those concerns will be communicated back to the organisation, signposting which organisations/agencies may be able to help them address the issue. 

During the life of our partnership

Safeguarding is a journey of continuous improvement, and the Foundation expects organisations to have strengths in some areas while needing further development in others. Where there are gaps, the Foundation may consider how support is provided to an organisation as part of our ongoing work together. 

• In addition, our partners are required to notify the Foundation of incidents that have resulted in, or risk, significant harm or abuse: 
• Where the harm was caused by someone connected with the partner organisation 
• Where the harm or risk of harm was created by a breach or serious failure in organisational safeguarding procedures. 
• Where the incident may result in negative publicity or media attention about your organisation or the Foundation.  

The partner is responsible for responding to the concern, including notifying relevant authorities and the regulator, and this should be undertaken in accordance with their own safeguarding procedures. 

Upon receiving the report, the relevant Foundation staff member will notify the Designated Safeguarding Lead to seek guidance on what further information is required from the partner. This may include offering organisational development support, acknowledging with the partner that nothing further is required or seeking further information. 

If you have any general questions about our approach to safeguarding when working with partners, please email: enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk.  

If you have safeguarding concerns, please email: safeguarding@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk. 

Our expectations and procedures for external suppliers (including our Development Support Partners

Suppliers or external contractors may find themselves working directly with partner or community agencies that work with children (defined as anyone aged under 18 years) and adults, many of whom will have vulnerabilities or be at risk. In doing so, they will be representing the Foundation.  

Suppliers must always conduct themselves and practice in ways that demonstrate the highest professional standards.  

They must act in accordance with the safeguarding policy of the partner or community agency they are supporting through the course of the consultancy and it is their responsibility to familiarise themselves with these policies.  

If suppliers encounter safeguarding concerns in the course of their work with a partner or community agency, they are expected to raise the concerns with the designated safeguarding lead of the partner or community agency immediately.  They must also advise their Foundation contact person, and we will make further enquiries as required.    

How do I raise a safeguarding concern with the Foundation?

Safeguarding concerns or allegations come to light from a wide variety of sources.  

In an emergency where an adult or child has been seriously hurt or is in imminent danger, you should ring 999 and ask for the emergency service required - police and/or ambulance.  

If you are concerned about the conduct of Foundation staff or anyone working on our behalf, you can contact us in the following: 

• By emailing our Safeguarding Lead. 
• By contacting the Foundation and asking to speak to our Safeguarding Lead 
• If your concern relates to the Safeguarding lead, you can ask to speak to our SLT Safeguarding Lead and vice versa. You can email them at: scanullo@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk or aclarke@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk as appropriate.  

Ideally, you should include the following information, although we accept that this is not always possible. 

• Basic details about the person affected by the concern. If this is a child or adult at risk, then details of parents/guardians/carers should also be recorded.  
• Basic details of the individual against whom the concern is perceived, including their relationship with the Foundation organisation and relationship to the person affected  
• A factual description of the concern, dates when the concern/incident arose, and what action, if any, has already been taken  
• The views and wishes of the person affected about what action they would like taken, including whether the safeguarding concern should be passed to the statutory agency or not. 

The Foundation will take all concerns seriously and ensure that they are acted upon in a timely way. This may include conducting an investigation, reporting concerns to statutory agencies, including the police, and taking other actions to prevent harm in the future.  

Further information is available in our Safeguarding Procedures. 

If you have concerns linked to any of our partners