One named Designated Safeguarding Lead, and one named external backup: a trustee, a board member, a safeguarding lead from another organisation, or a paid external adviser. The external backup is not involved day to day, but must be contactable when the lead is unavailable, or when the lead is too close to the situation to handle it.
One Designated Safeguarding Lead and one Alternate, both inside the organisation, both trained to the same level.
A Designated Safeguarding Lead, an Alternate, and an optional support team. The support team assists the lead — it does not hold decision-making authority. Decisions remain with the lead or the Alternate.
Every organisation, at every tier, needs a second person. A single safeguarding lead with no backup is a single point of failure — and the point at which it fails is the day the concern involves the lead, or the lead is on a train with no signal.
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Safe Spaces is an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership in the field of Youth, running from September 2025 to September 2027.
Who built Safe Spaces, the partner organisations, and how this Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership works.
find out moreWhat safeguarding looks like across the European youth sector, and where the gaps are.
find out moreFour organisations across Europe built Safe Spaces together.
