Training & awareness

Training your workers and raising awareness of safeguarding among your staff, volunteers and community members is a vital part of preventing and identifying harm and abuse.

Safeguarding training will equip and empower your staff and volunteers to know, understand, and have confidence in how to respond well to safeguarding issues and to work within appropriate boundaries which can reduce the risk of abuse occurring.

Raising awareness of safeguarding with those your organisation works with and for is also important. You need to consider ways to make children, young people and adults at risk aware of how to ask for help if they are worried or have concerns and what they can expect from you in terms of safe practice.

Across UK charity regulators, safeguarding legislation, and policy guidance, there is a clear expectation that individuals involved in charities—particularly trustees, staff, and volunteers—are provided with appropriate safeguarding training and awareness. This includes not only formal training but also ongoing opportunities to build understanding, stay informed about safeguarding responsibilities, and respond effectively to risks and concerns.

Charity regulators across the UK all agree that safeguarding training is important for trustees, staff, and volunteers. Whether you're working in England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, the message is the same: people involved in charities need to understand their safeguarding responsibilities and take steps to protect vulnerable individuals.

None of the regulators require specific training courses, but they all expect organisations to make sure training fits the type of work they do, matches the level of risk, and stays up to date. Trustees are seen as ultimately responsible for making sure safeguarding is taken seriously. Overall, safeguarding training and awareness is seen as a key part of running a responsible charity, no matter where you are in the UK.

Training levels and national frameworks

We’re often asked, “What level of safeguarding is your training equivalent to?” While it seems straightforward, there’s no UK-wide framework. Instead, different nations and sectors have their own standards.

Even though England and Northern Ireland don’t currently have national frameworks for safeguarding training and awareness, there is statutory guidance in place.

• Working Together to Safeguard Children (England)
• Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in NI (Northern Ireland) 

These require staff and volunteers working with children or adults at risk to have appropriate safeguarding awareness, and for training should be role-specific and regularly updated.

Sector based frameworks

Some sectors (e.g., NHS, local authorities, National Youth Agency) use safeguarding levels. There are little similarities across these different frameworks. These are less relevant to community, voluntary, and faith sector delegates.

Learning sites and CPD accreditation

There’s no universal CPD level system, but a common structure is:

• Level 1 – Basic awareness for all
• Level 2 – For those working directly with vulnerable groups
• Level 3 – For roles with safeguarding responsibilities (e.g., Safeguarding Leads, trustees)

Thirtyone:eight do not assign these levels to our training due to lack of standardisation.