The Charity Commission has four clear expectations of trustees:
- Provide a safe and trusted environment. Safeguarding involves a duty of care to everyone who comes into contact with your charity, not just vulnerable beneficiaries like children and young people.
- Set an organisational culture that prioritises safeguarding, so it is safe for people to report incidents and concerns in the knowledge they will be dealt with appropriately.
- Have adequate safeguarding policies, procedures and measures to protect people and make sure these are made public, reviewed regularly and kept up to date.
- Handle incidents as they arise. Report them to the relevant authorities including the police and the Charity Commission. Learn from these mistakes and put in place the relevant mechanisms to stop them happening again.
The Butterfly Tree has always considered Child Protection and Safeguarding is a priority. We have done everything in our power to ensure that the children and vulnerable people, we support, are safe.
Our volunteers in Zambia are made up of experienced local people, most of them have been with us since the founding of The Butterfly Tree in 2006. The orphan sponsorship programme is overseen by our Zambian Trustees, former sponsored orphans and school teachers. The welfare of orphans and vulnerable children is paramount. The peer education programme for HIV prevention is organised by former sponsored orphans, who have received extensive training in coaching and mentoring
Most of our UK volunteers help with administration and fundraising only, and do not work directly with children in Zambia. All of us that do visit Zambia, and other volunteers, including international ones, must produce a DBS or the equivalent from their country. Volunteers must be dedicated to helping the cause, take the experience seriously, and not use this opportunity as a holiday.
To access our latest version of our policies, updated in June 2023, please click of the link: Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
In addition to the Child Protection Policy The Butterfly Tree has in place a Volunteer Code of Conduct and a Whistleblowing Policy