Adult safeguarding in the spotlight

National Safeguarding Adults Week 2021, led by national charity The Ann Craft Trust, will run from November 15th-21st on the theme of “Creating Safer Cultures”.

Each day of the week will focus on a different aspect of safeguarding, including emotional abuse and safeguarding mental health, digital safeguarding and creating safer organisational cultures.

The campaign is being supported by the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board, the statutory body responsible for setting the strategic direction for safeguarding adults in the Boroughs of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.

The board is led by Independent Chair Darren Best who said: “I recognise the very personal nature of abuse and understand that it can be really hard for someone to tell another person about it.

“It is really important, therefore, that anyone who is suffering from abuse or knows somebody else who is suffering, is able to report it – confident that they will be listened to and taken seriously.

 “My message is one of reassurance. In Hartlepool and in the wider Teesside area, we have some fantastic people who want to help and if they are told they can do something positive to improve an abusive situation.”

Councillor Tim Fleming, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Adult and Community Based Services Committee, added: “Safeguarding is all about protecting any adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is also very important to remember that safeguarding applies to adults of all ages, not just older people.”

“The Council works closely with the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board, and during National Safeguarding Adults Week we will be supporting their efforts to engage with the public by jointly issuing a range of proactive publicity.”

“Everyone has a role to play in safeguarding and by supporting National Safeguarding Adults Week we aim to give people the information they need to understand when a vulnerable adult is at risk and requires help. In its most basic form, safeguarding can sometimes simply be a case of looking out for relatives, friends and neighbours.”

The Council has been kindly granted the free use of an empty retail unit within the town’s Middleton Grange Shopping Centre where a range of information relating to adult safeguarding will be on display.

More information about adult safeguarding and the work of the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board is available at https://www.tsab.org.uk

To find out more about Safeguarding Adults Week 2021 visit https://www.anncrafttrust.org/events/national-safeguarding-adults-week-2021/

Hartlepool Borough Council’s dedicated Hartlepool Now website also provides a comprehensive guide to services for adults at www.hartlepoolnow.co.uk

The Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board is currently running its Annual Consultation Survey which is an opportunity for members of the public and professionals to help shape the Board’s future priorities for safeguarding.

The survey can be accessed via the following links:

Professionals Survey

https://www.tsab.org.uk/campaigns-and-initiatives/annual-survey-2021-22-professionals/

General Public Survey

https://www.tsab.org.uk/campaigns-and-initiatives/annual-survey-2021-22-general-public/

Easy Read General Public Survey

https://www.tsab.org.uk/campaigns-and-initiatives/annual-survey-2021-22-easy-read-general-public/