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Safeguarding

How we keep young people safe

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Our position

The programme only works if the room is safe

Our mentoring asks young people to be honest about themselves, and that only happens in a room with clear boundaries, properly vetted adults, and the reassurance that what they share is treated with care and respect.
So safeguarding shapes how we recruit mentors, how sessions run, and how a concern is handled. We work in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024), the Children Acts 1989 and 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), the Prevent duty, and UK data protection law.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

Dr Elton Chawatama, Level 3 qualified, with oversight across the organisation.

Clear escalation routes

Safeguarding concerns are raised internally with us and shared with your organisation, through its existing procedures and pathways.

Professional boundaries

Written rules on conduct, contact and communication between mentors and young people.

Remote session rules

Under-16s have a parent or guardian present for any one-to-one session delivered remotely.

Photography and media consent

We never photograph, film or use a young person’s image without written consent from a parent or guardian, and they can withdraw it at any time.

Before a mentor is in the room

Vetting, training and boundaries

01

Enhanced DBS

Enhanced DBS

Every mentor holds a valid Enhanced DBS certificate checked against the Children’s Barred List. We keep a single central record of it, open to any school or club to inspect on request.

02

Trained to a high standard

Trained to a high standard

Every mentor is trained in safeguarding and child protection to Level 2 or equivalent, in Prevent duty awareness, and in the professional boundaries and signs of vulnerability specific to mentoring. Training is refreshed every year.

03

Professional boundaries

Professional boundaries

Every mentor signs a Mentors’ Code of Conduct. They do not contact a young person outside a session, reach them through personal phones or social media, or transport them.

04

Honest confidentiality

Honest confidentiality

Mentors make young people aware that they are obliged to raise any safeguarding concern through the appropriate channels. We abide by confidentiality, but where escalation is needed for a young person’s safety, we act on it.
In practice

How a concern travels

We have a safeguarding procedure that complements yours.
01

Before we begin

We make sure we know who your Designated Safeguarding Lead is and how to reach them. If a safeguarding concern arises, we contact them directly and immediately to discuss it in detail.

02

Raised in the moment

If a young person discloses something, or a mentor sees something that worries them, our mentors know what to do. They do not investigate. They report.

03

Recorded and passed on

The concern is recorded in writing and passed to your DSL the same day, with our own DSL informed. Nothing waits for the end of a programme.

04

A duty that comes first

Where a child may be at risk, we escalate to the police, children’s services, or the local authority, as our statutory safeguarding duty requires.

Raising a concern

If something worries you, tell us

If you are a young person, a parent, a teacher or a coach, and something about one of our sessions or mentors worries you, contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead. You do not need to be certain. If in doubt, raise it.
If a young person is in immediate danger, contact the police on 999, or your local authority’s children’s services, first.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

Dr Elton Chawatama safeguarding@visionarymentoring.com

In an emergency

Police on 999, or your local authority’s children’s services.

Registered office

Visionary Mentoring Ltd, 128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX. Company No. 16158966.

Raising a concern

If something worries you, tell us

If you are a young person, a parent, a teacher or a coach, and something about one of our sessions or mentors worries you, contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead. You do not need to be certain. If in doubt, raise it.
If a young person is in immediate danger, contact the police on 999, or your local authority’s children’s services, first.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

How we identify, record and act on a concern.

Available on request

Mentors’ Code of Conduct

The boundaries every mentor agrees to work within.

Available on request

Privacy Policy

How we collect, use and protect personal data, in line with UK GDPR.

Read the policy →

Terms and Conditions

The basis on which we deliver a programme.

Read the terms →
Photographs and video of a young person are only ever taken or used with written parental consent, gathered on a separate photo and video consent form that a family can withdraw at any time. We handle all young people’s information under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, using it only to deliver the programme, storing it securely, and deleting or returning it once our work is done. Our Privacy Policy sets out the full detail.
Get in touch

Questions about how we work?

We are happy to talk your safeguarding lead through our procedures before anything is agreed.
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