Safeguarding is a legal and ethical requirement when working with children, and a top priority for the charity Fegans which provides professional counselling for over 400 children every week across London, the South East and Oxfordshire. 

Fegans’ Safeguarding Lead Esther Green runs safeguarding CPD workshops twice annually which are open to any professionals who support families and young children, including counsellors, teachers, social workers, refuge works, foster and adoption parents, and family support workers. The workshops, which take place on 12th July and 13th December this year, cover internal safeguarding policies, spotting neglect, handling disclosure, radicalisation, sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. 

‘More so than ever, we feel the responsibility and privilege of this work; working with often very vulnerable people, and making judgement calls about safety and duty of care. Never is this felt more keenly than when we are working with children. We have a clinical and ethical responsibility, and often a social vocation, to be familiar with safeguarding guidelines, and confident in our ability to apply them in practice,’ explains Vicky Bellman, counsellor and Training Manager, Fegans. 

The one-day workshop take place at The Salvation Army, Bayhall Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent and cost £85 each (with discounts available for multiple bookings). The morning sessions focus on general safeguarding process and policies, including recognising how to meet personal and organisational legal responsibilities for safeguarding children; how to describe and recognise the four types of abuse and neglect; how to respond effectively when a child wants to disclose, and how to record and refer child protection concerns. The afternoon sessions introduce the Prevent Anti-Terrorism Intervention and consider how to support and protect those people that might be susceptible to radicalisation. They will also look at roles and responsibilities in respect of keeping children and young people safe from sexual exploitation as well as understanding female genital mutilation, the risks, and why it is a crime.

Esther Green BA (hons) MA EYPS has an eclectic experience of safeguarding children and worked as local authority child protection social worker and senior practitioner for a number of years, prior to becoming an independent social worker (ISW). Esther also co-founded Little Rascals Nurseries in 2011 and is currently a trainer, consultant and ISW for the Independent Safeguarding Hub. Esther has been the safeguarding lead for Fegans since 2015.

‘Fegans’ comprehensive training – offering robust and up to date insights on risk, duty, and impact of harm, as well as opportunities for networking and community building – acts as a powerful antidote to the loneliness of clinical responsibility, and a tangible structure for our working practice,’ adds Vicky.

Safeguarding and Prevent with Esther Green

• 9.30am–4.30pm on 12th July and 13th December
• Venue: The Salvation Army, Bayhall Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 4UT
• Cost: £85 (discounts available for multiple bookings)
• To book call 01892 538288 or book online