What does safeguarding mean?

At its core, safeguarding protects people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse or neglect. It’s vital to Youth Music’s work, driven by our focus on young people facing barriers.

Safeguarding is different from other associated terms, such as child protection. Child protection involves a more reactive approach to protecting children who are suffering or are at risk of suffering significant harm. Safeguarding should be a pro-active practice that becomes embedded across all your work.

What does Youth Music expect from funded partners?

Youth Music’s safeguarding policy states that all organisations receiving grant funding or applying for grant funding from Youth Music have the primary responsibility for safeguarding beneficiaries, staff and volunteers, and must take all the necessary steps to ensure that their organisation is operating in a safe and secure environment.

In order to be eligible for Youth Music funding, safeguarding must be an essential part of your culture and ways of working, and you must meet our minimum safeguarding standards. Click on each of tiles below to find out more our expectations. You can also download a PDF copy of this information.