Voluntary and Community Sector
What to do if you have immediate concerns about a child?
If you have non-immediate concerns for a child, need support or guidance with an Early Help Assessment or TAF, or wish to complete a No Names Consultation please contact the Locality and Community Support Service.
OSCB Online Procedure Manual
Multi-agency guidance and tools
VCS Safeguarding Policy and Checklist
In collaboration with colleagues from OCVA, Oxfordshire Youth, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council, the OSCB has created a draft safeguarding policy template and checklist specific to the Voluntary and Community Sector. These documents are an example of best practice, which can be adapted by third sector groups.
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy Template for the VCS – updated 2019
Policy checklist
Safeguarding Self-Assessment
Record Retention and Information Sharing
The NSPCC has published guidelines on child protection records retention and storage. The guidelines cover the storage of child protection records, retention periods, recording concerns about adult behaviour, disclosure and barring check, and the destruction of child protection records.
NSPCC: Child protection records retention and storage guidance
Information sharing is crucial to safeguarding children, please see below for guidance on information sharing and General Data Protection Regulations 2016 (GDPR)
OSCB 7 Golden Rules for Information Sharing
Children and Young People’s Forum (CYPF)
Initiated in early 2015, the CYPF forum creates a space for all voluntary organisations who work with children and young people to come together to form stronger relationships and a collective voice of influence. The forum is organised by Oxfordshire Youth and focusses on best practice and current issues.
For more information on the forum, please see 
Training
The OSCB offers free face-to-face and online training on a variety of safeguarding topics. There is a selection of core safeguarding training courses designed to reflect the needs of delegates and take on board any relevant changes to national and local guidance.
What training should I do?
Please see the banner at the top of the page for training arrangements during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
See here for guidance on which level of training you should complete relevant to your role and/or see the Training Brochure for further information. Please click on Training/Booking system to register or book your place.
News and Updates
‘Emerging Minds’ in collaboration with ‘Mental Elf’ have come together to provide a series of webinars. These webinars are covering topics to do with young people’s mental health during this time.
To find out more information, sign up to the webinars and to explore other resources available check out their webpage.
Who can I apply to for funding in the current climate?
Our conversations with local charitable trusts suggest that most trusts are still open to applications as normal, although some may have changed their focus to covid19 emergency relief, this is not the case with all. Please contact each trust directly or check on their website, if applicable, for updates. Do not assume the funding is not available.
On Wednesday, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £750m package to keep struggling charities afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. Watch this space.
The Youth Endowment Fund is opening a new funding round in the next few weeks to support vulnerable young people. They will bias this funding towards those voluntary youth organisations that are most at risk of closing due to the crisis.
Local
Our local community foundation has launched a community resilience fund.
National
Youth Futures Foundation. In launching its grants programme as planned, they hope to be as helpful as possible with a simple to access, rolling grants programme, so that you can focus on the vital work of supporting some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities now and in the future.
Sport England Community Emergency Fund. This new fund aims to help community sport and physical activity organisations who are experiencing short term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Arts Council. £160m of emergency funding available. Ensuring the people and organisations that make up our arts, museums and libraries are protected during the coronavirus crisis is our number one priority
Shanly Foundation Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund to assist organisations in creating initiatives and delivering services which directly help individuals affected by the pandemic.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Resilient Communities Fund The 2020 round of the fund is focused specifically on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and community-based responses to assist the most vulnerable during the pandemic.
