Membership Spotlight highlights the work of our member organisations and outlines how other individuals and NGOs can support them. Together is shining a light on a long-term member, Children First, specifically the Safeguarders Panel Team.

Tell us about the work of your organisation in Scotland?

Children First is Scotland’s national children’s charity. We stand up for children, keep them safe and support them to recover from trauma and abuse through our national and local services. 

Children First Safeguarders Panel Team (SPT) are responsible for managing and operating the national Safeguarders panel. This includes recruitment, training, manging feedback and concerns, and monitoring the performance of Safeguarders across Scotland.

If a Children’s Hearing or Sheriff (in related court proceedings) decide that a child needs a Safeguarder, they will be appointed from the national Safeguarders panel. A Safeguarder is tasked with protecting children’s best interests by considering their views, needs and rights, and making recommendations to the Children’s Hearing or Sheriff about what should happen next for the child. Every Safeguarder has agreed to follow national Practice Standards to make sure they do the best job they can.

What projects are you currently working on?

The SPT is currently preparing for implementation of the new Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 with the aim of upskilling Safeguarders to manage any challenges the new Act might bring for children. We are fully engaging with changes in the Children’s Hearing System which come from the work of The Promise and the Government’s response to “Hearings for Children”.  

Partnership working is important to us. We want to ensure that we continue to grow our connections and relationships with as many agencies as possible, and to ensure everyone knows how to approach us with queries or feedback about Safeguarder practice. This is with the ultimate aim of improving the experiences of children and families involved in the Children’s Hearings process. 

Between July – mid August 2025, we will be recruiting for approximately 30 new Safeguarders across Scotland. We’re especially keen to hear from anyone in the north or northeast of Scotland who is interested in applying. Reach out to us at safeguarderspanel@childrenfirst.org.uk for more information.

How do you support children and families to learn about their rights?

In recent years, the SPT have supported Safeguarders to understand children’s human rights through the provision of mandatory training. We have integrated the UNCRC articles into the Safeguarder Practice Standards which were launched in May 2023, so that Safeguarders and others understand that the Safeguarder role is about respecting, protecting and fulfilling children’s human rights.

Safeguarders have a responsibility through the Practice Standards, to ensure that children and families understand the Children’s Hearings process they are involved in, how they can be involved, express their views and ensure those views are heard by decision makers.

We have also produced an animation and Safeguarders Information Booklet, which explain children’s rights and the Safeguarders duty to respect and protect these.

How can children and young people make their views heard to influence your work?

Children and young people sit on our interview panel when we’re recruiting new Safeguarders, putting their views at the heart of the selection process and helping ensure that we select the best candidates for the role.

Children, families and professionals are encouraged to provide feedback about their engagement with a Safeguarder which can be done quickly, easily and anonymously via our website.  Any feedback received is discussed individually with the Safeguarder with the aim of improving practice and experiences for children and families.

The SPT also highly value the work of Children’s Hearings Scotland and make use of resources and tasks developed by Our Hearings, Our Voice; the independent children and young people’s board for the Children’s Hearings System, to positively influence Safeguarder practice.

We also published a report on Children and Young People’s views on the Role of the Safeguarder which documented the views of children and young people about their experiences and expectations when a Safeguarder is involved in their lives. 

Does your organisation influence policy development on issues affecting children and young people?

Children First and SPT submitted proposals to and attended the Hearings System Working Group in their consideration of the redesign of the Children’s Hearing system. We continue to engage with this agenda though our partnership work including attendance at the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) meetings to influence and improve system practice.

Recently, Children First worked successfully to influence legislation including the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, and the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019.  Children First is now working hard to make sure new laws planned to keep The Promise and redesign the Children’s Hearing System are informed by what children and families tell us works, like Family Group Decision Making.

What do you enjoy most about being a member of Together?

Together’s training and professional development opportunities ensure we are up to date on changes in the social and political landscape in relation to children and families. It’s also supports our development of key networks with other charities to work collectively on issues children across Scotland face.

How can other organisations or individuals get involved or support your work?

All children, families and professionals are invited to attend our virtual open webinars which take place regularly throughout the year. These offer more information about the role of the Safeguarder and SPT. Highlighting the work of Safeguarders and SPT is a priority for us. Reach out to us at safeguarderspanel@childrenfirst.org.uk if you want to know more, or if you think we can add value to any of your training, learning or development work.

If you think you could make a difference in a child or young person’s life, then please do consider applying to be a Safeguarder. Organisations can also raise awareness about our recruitment campaign by sharing any news and social media posts.

If your organisation was an animal what would it be and why?

A honeybee…visiting all Safeguarders in Scotland, gathering information about Children’s Hearings so that we can take this ‘back to the hive’ and work with our partners on improving the experience for children. When we visit each Safeguarder, we spend time supporting them, pollinating them with good practice ideas, helping them to grow and making sure that no matter what Safeguarder is plucked from the ‘garden’ of Safeguarders, they provide a service that supports the child’s engagement and participation, ensuring that decisions made are in the child’s best interests.

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Sign-Up and Become a Member (Individual, Supporter or Organisations)

Would you like to find out further information about joining Together’s membership?

Are you a Together organisational member and would like to collaborate for a Membership Spotlight? Email: caitlin@togetherscotland.org.uk

Consultancy and Training

Together provides training and consultancy to organisations looking to strengthen how they support children’s human rights. 

For 25 years, Together has been helping organisations and individuals from a range of backgrounds and roles to improve their awareness and understanding of children’s human rights in practice. This has included work on the Skills and Knowledge project, which explores what professionals need to know and apply to be able to implement children’s human rights. 

The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 will impact public bodies, private sector organisations and third sector organisations all over Scotland, as they look to further their work on children’s rights. Together can support organisations to identify situations in which they are already implementing children’s rights in practice, alongside how they can evolve their work using a Children’s Human Rights Approach. 

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