Future Asset, part of Didasko Education Company Limited
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
June 2023

The Purpose and Scope of this Policy Statement

Future Asset is part of Didasko Education Company Limited (“we”), a charity registered in Scotland which provides and supports educational opportunities, especially on issues relating to finance and financial education. We do this through our own projects and by supporting and collaborating with others across all sectors who have similar inclusive educational objectives. We are a charitable company led by a volunteer Board of Directors.

Didasko Education Company Limited runs two projects specifically targeted at adults, The Practical History Financial Markets course, and The Library of Mistakes, and one programme, Future Asset, which works specifically with young people aged 13-18 years of age in Scottish secondary schools.

• A Practical History of Financial Markets is a course for adults focussed on lessons from financial history.
• The Library of Mistakes was founded in 2012/13 to promote the study of financial history and is located in central Edinburgh.
• Future Asset develops and delivers materials, resources, and events for secondary school students in Scotland, their teachers, and advisers.
  • Activities are delivered by a small staff team and volunteers from the investment management sector. Activities include:
    • Events for school students and teachers
    • National investment competition in which teams of school students are linked with volunteer mentors
    • Online and in-person talks and workshops delivered by staff and volunteers

In addition, in the second half of 2023, Didasko will commence working with School Leavers’ Money Skills, a funded project which aims to promote greater financial literacy, mainly for 16-18 year olds, via in-person teaching sessions in schools across Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• to ensure that all children and young people are kept safe from harm while they are with staff or volunteers in this organisation.
• to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children, young people and their teachers and parents or carers, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Future Asset (Didasko Education Company Limited) including senior managers and the board of trustees, paid staff, volunteers, and students.

Legal Framework

This policy has been drawn up based on legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in Scotland
including the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

Supporting Documents

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies, procedures, guidance, and other related documents.

• Code of Conduct for Adults Working with Children and Young People
• Online Safeguarding Guidelines and Policy
• Code of Conduct for Young People

We believe that:

• Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind;
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of children is paramount in the work we do and in all the decisions we take. All children, regardless of age, disability, sex, or sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, religion, or belief, have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.
• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.
• working in partnership with children, young people, their schools and teachers, parents, carers, and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

Future Asset (Didasko Education Company Limited) will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• valuing, listening to and respecting them
• appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people and a lead trustee/board member for safeguarding
• adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and Code of
  Conduct for Adults Working with Children and Young People
• developing and implementing an effective Online Safety Policy and related procedures
• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through support, training, and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures, and behaviour codes confidently and competently
• ensuring our staff and volunteers are carefully recruited, screened, and trained ensuring all necessary checks are made
• recording, storing, and using information professionally and securely, in line with GDPR legislation and guidance
• sharing information about safeguarding with children, young people, teachers and parents / carers via our website and letters ensuring they know where to go for help if they have a concern
• using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, teachers, parents, and carers appropriately
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately
• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have procedures to help us
  deal effectively with any bullying that does arise
• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff, and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
• building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people, teachers, and parents
  / carers, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

Legal issues

• Under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 it is an offence for an individual who is barred to undertake the type of regulated work from which they are barred.
• It is an offence for an organisation to offer regulated work to someone who is barred or fail to remove a person from regulated work if they have been notified that they are barred.
• It is an offence for an organisation not to refer an individual to Disclosure Scotland where the grounds have been met.

Reporting Abuse

Future Asset (Didasko Education Company Limited) understands that in addition to making a referral (a written report) to Disclosure Scotland, child protection issues concerning workers (both paid and unpaid), children and young people must always be referred to the child protection agencies (i.e., social work and/or police) for appropriate investigation. Any issues of a criminal nature will be reported to the police.

Future Asset (Didasko Education Company Limited) will ensure that all staff and volunteers involved in recruitment, training, and supervision, are aware of this policy and have received appropriate training and support to ensure its full implementation.

‘Whistle Blowing’
Didasko Education Company Ltd encourages all employees and volunteers to report any concerns they have regarding potential breaches of conduct, policies, and procedures as soon as possible to the CEO Future Asset or Board member with responsibility for child protection. Any such concerns will be dealt with confidentially and investigated thoroughly. Irrespective of the outcome of the investigation, the individual employee or volunteer reporting the concern will not in any way be held to account for reporting the concerns.

Contacts

Nominated Child Protection Lead

Name: Helen Bradley
Email: helen@futureasset.org.uk
Phone: (+44) 7932 072 840

Nominated Board Member with responsibility for Child Protection

Name: Tony Foster
Email: tony@didaskoeducation.org

NSPCC Helpline
0808 800 5000

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on: 5 June 2023

Future Asset is supported by asset management and financial services firms in Scotland who are committed to informing young women about opportunities and improving diversity in the sector.

Future Asset is a division of Didasko Education Company Limited www.didaskoeducation.org Company registration Number: 352872 Scottish Charity Number: SC040205

www.futureasset.org.uk
info@futureasset.org.uk