Safe Practice.
Safeguarding and promoting the safety and wellbeing of girls, young women and adults is a priority for Girlguiding.
It is at the heart of everything we do, and it’s the responsibility of every Girlguiding volunteer, member, and member of staff.
Collectively we refer to all elements of our safe practice as ‘Safer guiding’. This includes our requirements to complete DBS checks, report disclosures and attend relevant training.
It’s extremely important that you’re clear about your safeguarding responsibilities, and about Girlguiding’s commitment to safeguarding. The Girlguiding website has lots of information about providing Safer Guiding.
Ensure you are familiar with Girlguiding’s procedure for managing allegations and concerns.
If you are unsure about anything, contact your local commissioner, they are there to help.
What to do if you have a concern
Contact the HQ Safeguarding team
Tel: 0207 834 6242 ext. 3037 (usual office hours)
Out of hours emergency phone:07508 032997 (5pm – 10pm Monday – Friday and 9am – 10pm Saturday/Sunday). Please do not text the out of hours number as we are unable to access these messages.
Email: safeguarding@girlguiding.org.uk
DBS FAQs
What do you mean by ‘started your disclosure check’?
Started means that the disclosure check is submitted to the disclosure service.
What happens if I don’t start my disclosure check by the deadline?
You must hold a valid disclosure check, as without it you cannot volunteer. If you need support completing the disclosure check or are unable to start the process in time, for example because of personal circumstances, please speak to your commissioner as soon as possible. They are there to help you and can apply for an extension if you need it.
I already have a disclosure check for my work or another organisation – do I need to do another check for Girlguiding?
Girlguiding does not accept disclosure checks from other organisations.
We carry out our own checks so our approach is consistent, and we can be confident the check is valid for the purposes of volunteering with Girlguiding.
Safer Guiding
What is Safer Guiding?
Safer Guiding is Girlguiding’s new safeguarding training, covering the content used to form safe space levels 1, 2, and 3. It is compulsory for new volunteers to complete, and for current volunteers to complete before their highest level of safe space training expires.
How can I complete Safer Guiding?
Safer Guiding can be completed as an eLearning on the learning platform. This takes approximately 3 hours to complete but does not have to be completed in one go.
You can also attend a webinar or in-person training to complete Safer Guiding. Webinar sessions can also be booked through the learning platform. Head to learning.girlguiding.org.uk, click on ‘Find Learning’, and search ‘Safer Guiding Webinar’.
If there isn’t a course available when you first look, please do check back as we add new course dates when they’re available.
What happens if I don’t complete the training by the deadline?
You must have either valid A Safe Space or Safer Guiding training, as without it you cannot volunteer.
If you can’t do the training in time, for example because of personal circumstances, please speak to your County Commissioner as soon as possible. They are there to help you and can apply for an extension if you need it.
What about Safe Space Level 4?
Safe Space Level 4 still exists independently of Safer Guiding, however this training will now only need to be completed once, and will no longer need to be renewed.
Safe Space Level 4 trainings can still be booked through the learning platform. If there isn’t a course available when you first look, please do check back as we add new course dates when they’re available.
What happens if I would like to complete a face-to-face training?
Face-to-face training is organised at county level. Please refer to your county communications, such as, Facebook, website or newsletter, or contact your County Administrator.