Charity Retail Association publishes first safeguarding report

The Charity Retail Association has today (8 April 2019) published its first safeguarding report. Data was obtained in March 2019 from 83 charities, operating more than 5,300 charity shops between them. This equates to around 50 per cent of all charity shops in the United Kingdom.

The aim of the report is to understand and capture the steps our members are taking to maintain the highest standards of safeguarding within the charity retail sector.

The report includes data on steps for safe recruitment, safeguarding policy and training, whistle-blowing procedures, and safeguarding incidents in 2018, plus a range of resources in order to help inform and improve charities safeguarding practices. The resources supplement our guidance on paid staff and volunteers, and are aimed at ensuring paid staff and volunteers working in our sector raise vital funds in a risk-free climate.

Charity Retail Association Chief Executive, Robin Osterley, said: “There has never been a more important time to undertake research on safeguarding within the charity retail sector and publish our first report surrounding this topic.

“This report shows our members are committed to provide a safe and rewarding workplace to all employees and volunteers and it is important for the health of the sector to continually review and implement safeguarding practices.”

The report, available exclusively for our members, is now free to download.