Safeguarding Policy

We take safeguarding seriously. Youth Worker Hub provides tools for youth practitioners to plan, deliver, and record sessions with the young people they support. The platform itself does not deliver direct youth work — the duty of care sits with the registered practitioner and their employing organisation.

We are committed to working within the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Children Act 1989 and 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), and relevant regional safeguarding frameworks across the UK.

This policy covers:

• How Youth Worker Hub handles safeguarding within its platform design
• The responsibilities of practitioners using the platform
• How concerns can be raised through the platform
• Data handling for case records and sensitive information

Practitioners using Youth Worker Hub are responsible for the safe delivery of youth work sessions. This includes:

• Ensuring sessions are delivered in appropriate, safe environments
• Obtaining appropriate consent from parent/guardian and the young person before recording any observations
• Reporting safeguarding concerns through the correct organisational channels
• Maintaining confidentiality of case notes and sensitive records in line with their organisation's policy
• Not storing explicit personal data about vulnerable young people beyond what is necessary

Youth Worker Hub is designed to minimise the personal data stored about young people. Practitioners are encouraged to:

• Use the built-in pseudonymisation system for all young person records
• Avoid entering details that could identify a child outside of a case management system
• Store safeguarding case notes in appropriate dedicated systems, not in session logs

Platform data may be shared where required by law, or where there is a legal obligation to do so (e.g. a child protection investigation). In such cases, data will be disclosed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and UK GDPR obligations.

If you have a safeguarding concern about a young person:

For non-emergency concerns about a young person:

• Contact your organisation's designated safeguarding lead (DSL)
• Follow your local authority's safeguarding procedures
• Contact the NSPCC helpline: 0808 800 5000 (24 hours)
• Childline: 0800 1111 (for young people)

Youth Worker Hub incorporates the following safeguards in its design:

• Pseudonymisation — young people are never identified by name in platform records
• Role-based access — only authorised team members can access case notes and observation records
• Audit logs — all access to sensitive records is logged for accountability
• No third-party data sharing — practitioner and young person data is never sold or shared for advertising
• Data minimisation — we collect only what is necessary for the service to function

If you have a concern about how the platform is being used, or have identified a potential data breach involving young people's information, please contact us immediately:

We aim to acknowledge safeguarding-related contacts within 4 hours and resolve within 48 hours.