We’ve teamed up with a number of arts and cultural organisations across Liverpool to create a ground-breaking charter, pledge, set of standards, resources and training for those working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

The new charter aims to make safeguarding a priority for those working to engage more with some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

In reaching out to engage more children, young people and vulnerable adults with the arts, the partnership highlighted the need to ensure safeguarding was a priority for organisations.

The work focused on practices already taking place in the schools sector, to create a bespoke approach to safeguarding for arts and cultural organisations, alongside Phil Cooper from School Improvement Liverpool.

This new approach for arts and cultural organisations covers safeguarding policies, procedures, roles and responsibilities, training requirements and quality assurance.

Now available for wider use are a new set of standards, handbook, an adaptable training resource for each organisation, termly forums, annual surgeries and advice for organisations at the end of a telephone.

Organisations can work to the standards to validate their best practice alongside a signed charter and pledge.

Rebecca Ross-Williams, our Engagement Director, is the representative for LARC on the Liverpool Cultural Education Partnership steering group and the Inclusion Task Team lead.

She said: “So many of us in Liverpool arts and cultural organisations across the city are working with children, young people and vulnerable adults as arts activity can be really effective in  engaging some our most vulnerable young people. It’s important we can validate our practice and assure we are working together with other agencies in the very best way possible.

“The new resources, training and relationship with School Improvement Liverpool is a great opportunity for us and should support our endeavours to engage with more of our city’s young people, and specifically those harder to reach.”

Nicola Moon from School Improvement Liverpool said: “School Improvement Liverpool is very proud to be part of such an exciting and innovative initiative with arts and cultural organisations from across Liverpool. We are looking forward to sharing and developing best practice in relation to supporting and protecting some of our most vulnerable individuals and are excited to see where this will lead.”

Led by an Inclusion Task team from the Liverpool Cultural Education Partnership, the new charter is the culmination of many month’s work by local organisations including:

• Liverpool Children’s Services
• School Improvement Liverpool
• Culture Liverpool
• Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium (LARC)
• Creative Organisations of Liverpool (COoL)
• National Museums Liverpool
• Resonate Music Hub
• University of Liverpool
• Curious Minds (Arts Council’s Bridge organisation for the North West)
• Arts Council England North West

Arts and Cultural organisations currently signed up to the Safeguarding initiative are:

• Everyman & Playhouse theatres
• Unity Theatre
• Tate Liverpool
• Liverpool Royal Philharmonic
• National Museums
• Liverpool Bluecoat
• DaDaFest
• Open Eye Gallery
• The Reader
• 20 Stories High
• Collective Encounters
• Merseyside Dance Initiative
• Movema
• Liverpool Biennial

Arts and cultural organisations can sign up for the Safeguarding Initiative. It includes access to a digital platform with training, resources and links, an annually updated Safeguarding Handbook for Arts and Cultural Organisations, annual refresher training and annual surgery to work through specific challenges within the arts and cultural sector. It is a three year commitment and costs £250 a year. To sign up please contact Phil Cooper or Nicola Noon at Schools Improvement Liverpool: [email protected]