Safeguarding
The Virgin Money Foundation exists to support positive lasting change in local communities. We recognise that communities can only thrive when people are safe, supported and when harm is prevented. Safeguarding all people we come into contact with through our work is an essential building block upon which we partner with local charities.
In line with our commitment to keep people safe we consider Safeguarding at every stage of the grant making process.
Application:
In the application form, we ask all organisations to confirm whether they have a Safeguarding Policy in place.
Organisations applying for funding to support the delivery of frontline activity must have a Safeguarding Policy in place for the application to proceed.
Assessment:
During Building Digital Skills grant assessments, the Foundation will meet with applicants to discuss their work and safeguarding will form part of this discussion. The aim of this discussion is to:
Gain a closer understanding of how the organisations policy is implemented in practice and to identify best practice
Identify any areas where an organisations safeguarding practice needs to be strengthened and to understand their commitment to this.
Throughout the life of the partnership:
Within monitoring reports grantees are asked to inform the Foundation of any safeguarding incidents that have occurred during the reporting period. In addition grantees are asked to inform the Foundation outside of the reporting cycle in the event of a serious safeguarding incident. Upon receiving the report, the relevant Foundation staff member will notify the Designated Safeguarding Lead to seek guidance on what further information is required from the partner. This may include offering organisational development support, acknowledging with the partner that nothing further is required or seeking further information.
By significant safeguarding concerns or incidents, we mean:
- Where a safeguarding allegation has been made about grantee partner staff or volunteers
- Where a significant safeguarding incident or near miss occurs as a result of the failure of the grant partner’s safeguarding policies and procedures
Virgin Money Foundation recognise that, despite best efforts, safeguarding incidents can still happen. We encourage our grantee partners to tell us when they are facing safeguarding challenges as we may be able to support. Virgin Money Foundation’s priority will always be the safety and safeguarding of stakeholders. Where incidents are reported, this is seen primarily as an opportunity for learning and for us to provide support, where we can. Our Safeguarding Policy sets out our full approach to Safeguarding, what we expect from grantees, our own safeguarding practice and details of our Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Our full Safeguarding Policy is provided below.
Justice, Equity and Diversity
Virgin Money Foundation’s grant making is rooted in a commitment to support communities facing the greatest structural and systemic disadvantage. We prioritise investment in places ranked within the highest levels of the Index of Multiple Deprivation / Scottish Index of Deprivation, recognising that these communities experience barriers to opportunity that are deep rooted and multidimensional.
We also acknowledge that inequity is not experienced evenly within a geographic area. Certain demographic groups — including communities facing racial inequity, disabled people, women, LGBTQ+ people, young people leaving care, and people with experiences of homelessness or the asylum system— face disproportionately high levels of poverty, discrimination and reduced access to power and resources. These intersecting inequalities shape people’s life chances, wellbeing and sense of belonging.
As part of our commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion:
- We remain responsive and adaptive to the shifting external environment and to the realities experienced by the communities we serve, recognising that socio economic conditions, public services, digital access, housing, and cost of living pressures all influence the landscape in which our charity partners operate.
- We commit to listening deeply to community anchors, and to the voices of people with lived experience to understand emerging challenges, structural exclusions and the additional burdens placed on particular demographic groups. We will take action as appropriate based on what we hear.
- We recognise the importance of intersectionality, understanding that inequities compound for individuals and communities who sit at the crossroads of multiple forms of disadvantage — as highlighted in our intention to explore through our grantmaking the intersections of digital exclusion and the asylum experience, or digital exclusion and care experience.
- We use evidence, data and insight from communities, national research, and our own monitoring and evaluation frameworks to shape our funding decisions and adapt our strategy, consistent with our commitment to strengthening learning and knowledge around JEDI.
- We ensure our Board and governance structures remain aware of and responsive to external inequities by regularly reviewing our policies, diversity commitments and strategic frameworks.
Our aim is to ensure that our work not only allocates resources to the communities experiencing the deepest challenge, but also actively contributes to dismantling the inequities that cause and maintain that disadvantage. We hold ourselves accountable to this commitment through the development and regular review of an EDI action plan, continuous learning, transparent decision making and open dialogue with the communities we are here to serve.
Below you can find a selection of our policies which you may wish to read. Some of the policies are referred to within your Grant Terms.
