Socialheads | Safeguarding Policy Summary

Effective date: 19 August 2026
Next review: 19 August 2027

This page provides a summary of Socialheads’ full Safeguarding Policy. The complete policy is available on request.

Socialheads is committed to actively preventing harm and promoting the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk with whom we engage. This covers two distinct kinds of work, and the difference matters.

Our research. Interviews, workshops and co-design sessions with young people and practitioners. Here we work with people directly, and this policy is the operating standard for that work.

Our software. Services use the Socialheads app to communicate with the people they support. Here the service holds the safeguarding duty for its own people, and our responsibility is to build software that supports that duty rather than obstructing it. We do not hold safeguarding responsibility for another organisation's service users, and we never place ourselves between a young person and the people responsible for their care.

Our commitment

We are dedicated to creating a safe environment for all participants, free from harm and discrimination. Safeguarding and the welfare of individuals are central to everything we do.

We believe every individual should be free from abuse of any kind.
We have a duty to promote the welfare of all participants and act to protect them from harm.
We work in partnership with young people, parents, carers and other agencies to promote safety and wellbeing.
We take additional steps to safeguard individuals who may be more vulnerable due to previous experiences, dependency or communication needs.

How we keep people safe

We appoint a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) responsible for responding to all safeguarding concerns.
We ensure all staff and volunteers receive safeguarding training and follow our Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Procedures.
All concerns or disclosures are recorded and reported promptly using our safeguarding reporting process.
We follow the legislation and guidance that applies where a service works. In England that includes the Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), the Care Act 2014 and the Children Act 1989. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own frameworks, and we follow the ones that apply.
For research involving anyone under 18, a staff member with a valid DBS certificate will always be present, and parental or guardian consent will be obtained.
All personal data is handled securely, in line with our Privacy Policy, and anonymised where the research allows it.

Safeguarding in the app

The software is built so that a service can meet its own safeguarding duty. That principle decides the design.

Anyone can raise a message with the service. Being in the conversation is all it takes, so it works on a message from anyone in there, including the person supporting you. It goes to the people whose job is keeping people safe, and never back to whoever wrote it.
Reading a conversation you are not part of is a named, recorded act. No job title grants it. One person is given it, they write their reason first, and every administrator at the service is told at the time.
The conversation is the record. It stays with the service when a member of staff moves on, so support continues and accountability survives a change of worker.
Nothing scans messages to decide what is concerning. People raise concerns and people review them.
Records are kept to the periods the law sets for the kind of record and the service holding it, which for some children's records runs for decades.

If you are worried about a young person using Socialheads at a service, contact that service. If you cannot, or the concern is about the service itself, our Designated Safeguarding Officer is below and will help you find the right route. In an emergency call 999.

Whistleblowing and reporting

We encourage anyone working with or for Socialheads to raise concerns about poor practice or risks to safety without fear of reprisal. All reports are taken seriously and handled promptly.

If you have a safeguarding concern, you can contact the Designated Safeguarding Officer directly.

Key contacts

Designated Safeguarding Officer: Jeremy Pitt
Phone: 07704 100009
Email: [email protected]

External Contacts:
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
Police (emergency): 999 / Non-emergency: 101
Southwark LADO: 020 7525 3297

This is a summary of the full Socialheads Safeguarding Policy. The complete version is available on request for regulatory or partnership review.