Safeguarding Week: Safeguarding adults through reflection, learning, and growth

Safeguarding Adults Week is an opportunity for organisations and individuals to reflect on safeguarding practices, examining successes, challenges, and the work that still lies ahead.

At Ategi, safeguarding is core to our mission. Every day, we aim to protect and empower vulnerable adults through encouraging safe, supportive relationships via our services, Shared Lives, Supported Living and Community Support.

Our safeguarding practices have evolved significantly. Key successes include:

Increased awareness: Regular training has become standard, equipping our staff, carers and volunteers with the skills to spot and act on safeguarding concerns.

Clear reporting mechanisms: We now provide easier, more confidential ways to report concerns, ensuring that issues are addressed quickly and effectively.

Person-centred focus: Safeguarding increasingly centres on listening to and respecting the wishes of vulnerable adults, enabling more compassionate care.

We continuously strengthen our safeguarding practices through training and an emphasis on open communication, striving to empower our staff, carers, and the people we support.

Challenges persist, however complex, multi-faceted safeguarding cases require collaboration across sectors to ensure no one falls through the cracks. Additionally, despite progress, barriers to reporting still exist, and with digital risks on the rise, safeguarding must evolve to address these online threats.

To build safer communities, organisations must commit to ongoing learning.

This includes:

Reflective practice: Regular reviews of cases to identify areas of improvement and learning.

Ongoing training: Continual professional development, including new topics like digital safeguarding.

Community engagement: Building trust within diverse communities to help overcome cultural and language barriers to reporting.

At Ategi, we are dedicated to fostering a culture of openness, reflection, and growth. By doing so, we move closer to our vision of ensuring the people we support feel safe, respected, and supported to live their best lives, their way.