Charities and community organisations
Consultancy, training and facilitation for boards, staff and volunteers. Practical support for safeguarding, governance, and confident decision making.
We work with charities and community organisations of all sizes. Sometimes that means dealing with a live safeguarding concern. Sometimes it means sorting out policies, roles and decision making so they work in real life. Sometimes it means training or facilitation for staff, volunteers or trustees.
Our approach is rights-based and trauma-informed. It draws on over twenty-five years of experience across safeguarding, governance, statutory complaints and community work.
Safeguarding
Live concern advice, audits, debriefs after incidents, and support to strengthen day to day practice. Includes our Safeguarding Health Check.
Policy and governance
Policy updates and rewrites, linked policy packs, reporting flowcharts, and governance checks on trustee oversight, roles and accountability.
Board and team development
Bespoke training for boards and volunteers, trustee induction, away day facilitation, mentoring for safeguarding leads, and coaching for managers through complex situations.
How we work with charities
The three areas above cover what we do. Most charities commission a single piece of work to start with and add more if it is useful. Below is the detail of what sits inside each area.
Safeguarding
Advice on live concerns, thresholds and next steps. Independent safeguarding audits. Structured debriefs after incidents, with clear learning and practical fixes. The Safeguarding Health Check. Practice level support to strengthen day to day safeguarding culture.
Policy and governance
Safeguarding policy update or full rewrite. Linked policy packs covering safer recruitment, volunteering, codes of conduct, online safety and recording. Reporting and escalation flowcharts. Governance reviews covering trustee oversight, roles and accountability. On call advice during periods of organisational change.
Board and team development
Bespoke training for boards, staff and volunteers. Trustee induction. Safeguarding training tailored to your context. Short term mentoring for designated safeguarding leads. Coaching for managers working through complex situations. Planning and facilitating trustee and staff away days.
What clients say
Some of our clients are named below. Others, where the work is more sensitive, are not. Confidentiality is part of how we work.
"The service was quick and easy to use with clear, actionable feedback. It's provided peace of mind that, on the whole, safeguarding procedures are robust whilst also providing areas for improvement."
Sara Newson, Manager, Stepney Bank Stables
"It was very easy to send in all our policies to be reviewed. The review itself was very quick and thorough, easy to read and understand and came with next steps and the offer of a follow up. Highly recommend, even just for peace of mind."
Jasmine Inaiyah, Managing Director, Making Changes North East
"James brought sensitivity, steadiness and real expertise at a point when we were in crisis. The revised safeguarding approach is stronger, easier to follow, and gives us confidence that we are meeting our responsibilities. The support was practical, timely and exactly what we needed."
CEO, regional charity
Case study: REACH
REACH is a national charity supporting children and families affected by upper limb difference. In late 2025 the charity asked us to provide external safeguarding support. The work is ongoing. What follows shows how we are approaching it.
Listen. We started by listening to what REACH actually needed. Not a generic audit, not an off the shelf training package, but a conversation about how the charity operates now: volunteer led activity, branch events, newer areas of work, and the questions the board wanted answered.
Reflect. We proposed a structured six month programme built around what we had heard. It begins with a diagnostic review and builds only where the findings support it. The board agreed the programme unanimously in January 2026.
Structure. The programme has clear shape. An independent review of safeguarding policies and procedures. A session for activity week mentors. A session for branch coordinators at the annual family weekend. Trustee safeguarding training at the trustee strategy weekend. Between sessions, practical tools including an allegations and urgent response flowchart, a single central register, scenario questions for volunteer recruitment, and review of event risk assessments.
Respond. The steps repeat. Each piece of work begins with listening, ends with response, and feeds the next. REACH is part way through that cycle. The full programme runs into late 2026, with workstreams delivered as the charity needs them and findings from each one shaping what follows.
All support is scoped and costed in advance. We listen first. If you think we might be able to help, the first conversation is always free.