Tag: safeguarding

World Elder Abuse Day 2023 – 15 June

Training and resources to mark World Elder Abuse Day on 15 June.

World Elder Abuse Day was launched in 2006, by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the United Nations (UN). Whilst older people aren’t a homogenous group, the term ‘elder abuse’ is a term used globally to describe the intentional or negligent act of abuse and harm by any person towards an older adult.

This year’s theme is ‘Addressing Gender Based Violence in Older Age’. For more information visit the UN website.  

In the past 5 years, in England and Wales 44% of those women known to be killed by men, were aged 50 and above.

At Age UK, we are hearing from increasing numbers of older women who are or have been subjected to harm and abuse. Whilst we acknowledge men are also at increased risk as they age, this is predominantly experienced by women, so shining a light on gender-based violence and all forms of abuse is welcome.

We launched a partnership with Hourglass earlier this year and all colleagues from our Age UK network are invited to a free WEAAD23 Hourglass Webinar.

To view the Safeguarding Speaks webinars we hosted last year click here.

Age UK’s Safeguarding Lead Carrie Bower was interviewed recently about domestic abuse in later life & World Elder Abuse Day 2023. You can view the full interview here.

Upcoming Webinar: “Why We Need Specialist Support Services For Older People Affected by Abuse”

Find out full details of Hourglass’s upcoming webinar “Why We Need Specialist Support Services For Older People Affected by Abuse”, including how to book your place.

Hourglass (a UK-wide charity working solely to call time on harm, abuse, and exploitation of older people) are hosting a free webinar on the topic “Why We Need Specialist Support Services For Older People Affected by Abuse”. The webinar will take place on Monday 16 January from 10:00 – 11:30 and you can find out more details, including how to book your place, here.

Safeguarding Speaks… Recordings

Age UK’s Safeguarding Team recently ran a series of webinars called “Safeguarding Speaks…” where our Safeguarding Manager Carrie Bower interviewed experts from across the field of Safeguarding. Hourglass’s CEO Richard and Deputy CEO Veronica were interviewed as part of this series.

You can view all the recordings from the “Safeguarding Speaks…” series here.

Safeguarding Speaks… Recordings and Summary

Age UK’s Safeguarding Team ran a webinar series “Safeguarding Speaks…” to mark Safeguarding Adults Week in November. Find out full details below, including how to access the recordings.

To mark Safeguarding Adults Week in November, Age UK’s Safeguarding Team launched a webinar series Safeguarding Speaks…. We’ve recorded each of the webinar sessions which you can access now on the Age UK e-learning platform here. Read on for a roundup of who we spoke to and details on accessing the e-learning platform if you don’t currently have login details.

We ran one lunchtime webinar a day across Safeguarding Adults Week. Find out more about each session below:

Safeguarding Speaks… to Age UK’s (National) Safeguarding Team

Carrie speaks to Age UK’s Safeguarding Team about what safeguarding means at Age UK, who we work with and what we do in terms of supporting teams, the training we deliver and the resources we produce.

Safeguarding Speaks… to Hourglass

Carrie speaks to Richard and Veronica from Hourglass about their services, the challenges for older victim-survivors of abuse and plans for Safer Ageing Week.

You can find out more about how to contact Hourglass here and their research here.

Safeguarding Speaks… to PEGS

Carrie speaks to Michelle John Founder of PEGS. PEGS was set up due to the lack of provisions for parents and caregivers experiencing domestic abuse from their child (including adult offspring). PEGS has four main aims, to support parents, to raise awareness to train professionals and to influence regional and national policy. PEGS can provide support through 1:1 consultation, peer group support, workshops, and programmes. PEGS services are online and telephone-based, and they only work with those experiencing abusive behaviours.

Click here to find out more

Safeguarding Speaks… to Daphne Franks

Carrie speaksto Daphne, about her mother, Joan. After Joan’s death in 2016, Daphne and her family discovered that a man, much younger than Joan has secretly married her. Joan was 91, had dementia and a terminal illness. These events had a devastating effect on their family. Daphne has discovered a huge lack of safeguarding for people who lack mental capacity, when marrying. She will speak to us about her campaign to ensure better protection against such predatory marriage and the changes needed to prevent this from happening to others.

Click here to find out more.

Daphne is an engaging speaker and is happy to be contacted should you want more information or to invite her to speak at any future events – click here to contact her.

Safeguarding Speaks… to Amanda Warburton-Wynn

Carrie speaks to Amanda about their shared passion for raising awareness of domestic abuse in later life, Amanda’s role at Cambridgeshire County Council DASV Partnership, and her independent Research into Sexual Violence and Assault against older people in hospitals.

How to watch the webinar recordings

You can watch the recordings here via the Age UK e-Learning platform.

If you do not have an e-learning account, you can register for one here.

Reminder: Book your place at Age UK’s “Safeguarding Speaks…” webinars!

A quick reminder to register for our upcoming “Safeguarding Speaks…” webinar series. Find out more about each session, including how to book your place.

This is a quick reminder that Age UK will be marking Safeguarding Adults Week 2022 with a webinar series called “Safeguarding Speaks…”. Hosted by Carrie Bower from Age UK’s Safeguarding Team, we’re running a series of quick lunchtime webinars where we will interview a range of external professionals, and you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions afterwards. You can now book your place at these sessions below.

Monday 21 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Age UK’s Safeguarding Team

At our first Safeguarding Speaks… session, you’ll meet Sam, Julie, and Carrie from Age UK’s Safeguarding Team. We’ll tell you who we are and what we do, as well as outlining some safeguarding themes and risks we are seeing emerge at Age UK. We’ll also discuss what to expect from the week’s webinars.

Click here to book your place!

Tuesday 22 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Hourglass

Hourglass (Formerly Action on Elder Abuse) is the only UK-wide charity working solely to call time on harm, abuse, and exploitation of older people. Hourglass have a wide range of services for older victims of all forms of abuse and will be launching a new partnership with Age UK’s Safeguarding team during Safer Ageing week, which commences on 28th November. CEO Richard and Deputy CEO Veronica will talk about the services available to older people and what we hope to achieve from our new partnership.

To find out more about Hourglass here.

Click here to book your place!

Safeguarding Speaks… to PEGS

PEGS was set up due to the lack of provisions for parents and caregivers experiencing domestic abuse from their child (including adult offspring). In this session, we’ll speak to Michelle John, the Founder & CEO of PEGS.

Find out more about PEGS here.

Meeting Recording:

Due to scheduling issues, we have had to record this interview ahead of time, so this will no longer be a live webinar and you can watch the full recording here. This link to this recording is available to stream for a month but you can download the file and share it with colleagues across the network.

Thursday 24 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Daphne Franks

Daphne will tell us about her mother, Joan. After Joan’s death in 2016, Daphne and her family discovered that a man, much younger than Joan had secretly married her. Joan was 91, had dementia and a terminal illness. These events had a devastating effect on their family. Daphne has discovered a huge lack of safeguarding for people who lack mental capacity, when marrying. She will speak to us about her campaign to ensure better protection against such predatory marriage and the changes needed to prevent this from happening to others.

Find out more about Daphne’s work here.

Meeting recording:

Due to scheduling issues, we have had to record this interview ahead of time, so this will no longer be a live webinar and you can watch the full recording here. This link to this recording is available to stream for a month but you can download the file and share it with colleagues across the network.

Friday 25 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Amanda Warburton-Wynn

Amanda works for Cambridgeshire County Council as part of the Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence Partnership and is also an independent researcher and consultant specialising in older survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Recent pieces of work include developing and implementation of an older people’s risk assessment for domestic abuse which is used locally, and publication of a research paper highlighting sexual abuse of older people by hospital staff. Amanda is also a finalist in the 2022 Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care Awards.

Find out more about Amanda’s work here.

Click here to book your place!

These webinars are available to all Age UK colleagues across the network. It will be an opportunity for us all to come together to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues, start conversations and raise awareness.

Q & A Sessions

During the webinars we will invite attendees to ask questions. We will ask you to raise your hand, when prompted you be invited to turn your microphone & camera on to ask a question. We won’t be using the chat box. If you prefer to submit a question ahead of time you can do this by emailing safeguardingteam@ageuk.org.uk and Carrie will read out your question. Most speakers have agreed to be recorded for their interviews, but we won’t record the open Q & A session.

Book your place at Age UK’s “Safeguarding Speaks…” webinars!

The registration links for our upcoming “Safeguarding Speaks…” webinar series are now available! Find out more about each session, including how to book your place.

We recently messaged to let you know that Age UK will be marking Safeguarding Adults Week 2022 with a webinar series called “Safeguarding Speaks…”. Hosted by Carrie Bower from Age UK’s Safeguarding Team, each day we’ll run a quick lunchtime webinar where we will interview a range of external professionals, and you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions afterwards. You can now book your place at as many of these sessions as you like, below.

Monday 21 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Age UK’s Safeguarding Team

At our first Safeguarding Speaks… session, you’ll meet Sam, Julie, and Carrie from Age UK’s Safeguarding Team. We’ll tell you who we are and what we do, as well as outlining some safeguarding themes and risks we are seeing emerge at Age UK. We’ll also discuss what to expect from the week’s webinars.

Click here to book your place!

Tuesday 22 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Hourglass

Hourglass (Formerly Action on Elder Abuse) is the only UK-wide charity working solely to call time on harm, abuse, and exploitation of older people. Hourglass have a wide range of services for older victims of all forms of abuse and will be launching a new partnership with Age UK’s Safeguarding team during Safer Ageing week, which commences on 28th November. CEO Richard and Deputy CEO Veronica will talk about the services available to older people and what we hope to achieve from our new partnership.

To find out more about Hourglass here.

Click here to book your place!

Wednesday 23 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to PEGS

PEGS was set up due to the lack of provisions for parents and caregivers experiencing domestic abuse from their child (including adult offspring). In this session, we’ll speak to Michelle John, the Founder & CEO of PEGS.

Find out more about PEGS here.

Click here to book your place!

Thursday 24 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Daphne Franks

Daphne will tell us about her mother, Joan. After Joan’s death in 2016, Daphne and her family discovered that a man, much younger than Joan had secretly married her. Joan was 91, had dementia and a terminal illness. These events had a devastating effect on their family. Daphne has discovered a huge lack of safeguarding for people who lack mental capacity, when marrying. She will speak to us about her campaign to ensure better protection against such predatory marriage and the changes needed to prevent this from happening to others.

Find out more about Daphne’s work here.

Click here to book your place!

Friday 25 November | 12:30-13:00 | Safeguarding Speaks… to Amanda Warburton-Wynn

Amanda works for Cambridgeshire County Council as part of the Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence Partnership and is also an independent researcher and consultant specialising in older survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.  Recent pieces of work include developing and implementation of an older people’s risk assessment for domestic abuse which is used locally, and publication of a research paper highlighting sexual abuse of older people by hospital staff.  Amanda is also a finalist in the 2022 Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care Awards.

Find out more about Amanda’s work here.

Click here to book your place!

These webinars are available to all Age UK colleagues across the network. It will be an opportunity for us all to come together to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues, start conversations and raise awareness.

Q & A Sessions

During the webinars we will invite attendees to ask questions. We will ask you to raise your hand, when prompted you be invited to turn your microphone & camera on to ask a question. We won’t be using the chat box. If you prefer to submit a question ahead of time you can do this by emailing safeguardingteam@ageuk.org.uk and Carrie will read out your question. Most speakers have agreed to be recorded for their interviews, but we won’t record the open Q & A session.

Upcoming “Safeguarding Speaks…” Webinar Series

Carrie Bower from Age UK’s Safeguarding Team will be hosting a lunchtime webinar series “Safeguarding Speaks…” across Safeguarding Adults Week 2022. Find out more below.

Age UK will be marking Safeguarding Adults Week 2022 with a webinar series called ‘Safeguarding Speaks…’. Hosted by Carrie Bower from Age UK’s Safeguarding Team, each day we’ll discuss different safeguarding topics with external professionals. These webinars will take place from 12:30 to 1pm across the week of Monday 21 November. We will provide booking details nearer the time, please read on for further details.

Each day across Safeguarding Adults Week we’ll be focusing on a different safeguarding topic in our lunchtime webinars. The topics planned are:

  • Safeguarding themes at Age UK
  • Predatory marriage
  • Adult-child to parent abuse
  • Mental Health
  • Domestic abuse in later life

We have a range of external professionals who will speak with Carrie to explore how we can all recognise and respond to contemporary safeguarding challenges, and you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions.

These webinars are available to all colleagues across the network. It will be an opportunity for us all to come together to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues, start conversations and raise awareness.

The webinars will take place from 12:30 to 1pm across the week of Monday 21 November. We will provide booking details nearer the time.

Safeguarding Training Course

While you’re here… earlier this month, we announced that a new safeguarding course is now available on the Age UK e-learning site.

This course has been designed for all staff and volunteers to complete as part of an induction process. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and it is essential that everyone, in whatever role they undertake, knows how to recognise, respond to, and report abuse and neglect.

Accessing the Age UK e-learning site

Access to the Age UK e-learning site is free and anyone can register for an account using the link below:

If you’ve already got an e-learning account, you can access the e-learning site using the link below:

Any questions on e-learning please contact chloe.longmore@ageuk.org.uk.

New training content on the Age UK e-learning site

There are some new training courses available for Partners on the Age UK e-learning site. Find out all about the new courses, including how to register and access the e-learning site.

We are pleased to announce that new training courses are now available for Partners on the Age UK e-learning site. There’s a Safeguarding Course designed to be completed as part of an induction process, as well as some Triage and Assessment Courses for those involved in call handling and Information and Advice activities. Find out full details below, including how to access the e-learning site.

Safeguarding Course

This course has been designed for all staff and volunteers to complete as part of an induction process. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and it is essential that everyone, in whatever role they undertake, knows how to recognise, respond to, and report abuse and neglect. 

This course does not cover elements of the legislation regarding people in a position of trust such as care workers.

Triage and Assessment Courses

New content is available to support those who are having to make triage and assessment decisions for clients. These courses will be predominantly useful for those involved in call handling and Information and Advice activities. This course has been assigned to receptionists, I&A staff and volunteers and service managers, but anyone can request access to his course form the advice unit if they do not already have it.

How to access Age UK’s e-learning site

Access to the Age UK e-learning site is free and anyone can register for an account using the link below:

If you’ve already got an e-learning account, you can access the e-learning site using the link below:

Any questions please contact chloe.longmore@ageuk.org.uk.

Age UK announces membership of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse

Age UK is pleased to have joined the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA). Find out more, including how your organisation can join EIDA for free.

We are pleased to announce Age UK’s membership of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA), a leading business network that supports employers to take action on domestic abuse. Find out full details below, including how your organisation can join EIDA for free.

EIDA works with employers to enable implementation of effective internal policies on domestic abuse, as well as providing awareness and signposting to updated resources.

Age UK is committed to supporting our employees and spreading awareness of the scourge that is domestic abuse.

“Age UK is proud to join EIDA, particularly at a time when pandemic-related restrictions have seen a rise in domestic abuse globally. Imagine if every employer made their employees aware of the signs of domestic abuse and how to seek relevant, effective help? That sort of wide-scale, societal impact requires proactive dedication from leaders, and EIDA makes this process both straightforward and polished with their guidance and resources.”

Carrie Bower, Safeguarding Manager & Domestic Abuse Lead, Age UK

“We are proud that Age UK is making a positive social impact by joining EIDA’s network.”

Donna Marshall, Acting HR Director, Age UK

Lucy Horitz, CEO of The Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse, added:

“We are delighted to welcome Age UK to our network. The role of employers in tackling domestic abuse has become even more apparent during the pandemic and ongoing commitment from employers provides not only support for their own workforce, but adds value to the wider sector aim of stopping domestic abuse in all its forms, once and for all.”

Following the landmark Domestic Abuse Act in 2021, it is more important than ever that employers follow the latest government guidance relating to domestic abuse to safeguard their employees.

It is free to join, and EIDA provides a wide range of resources. Any Age UKs who are interested in joining, we would encourage you to visit the EIDA website here.

“The Role of the Local Authority” Safeguarding Knowledge Share – Recording now Available

Thank you to everyone who attended last week’s Safeguarding Knowledge Share “The Role of the Local Authority”! You can find the event recording below.

Last week the Safeguarding Team delivered the 3rd of our Knowledge Share series “The role of the Local Authority”. If you missed it or would like to watch it again, please click here. Please note we will now be taking a break from delivering these events until later in the year. If you have any ideas for future content you would like us to deliver or have any feedback, please contact us: safeguardingteam@ageuk.org.uk.

In the meantime, you can view any of the series by clicking below:

If you have any feedback for the team or wish to discuss anything related to the session you can contact the team on safeguardingteam@ageuk.org.uk or 020 3033 1755.

Reminder – “The Role of the Local Authority” Safeguarding Knowledge Share 1pm Today

A reminder that the third of our lunchtime drop-in sessions on safeguarding will take place this afternoon (Wednesday 6th April) from 1-2pm. Find out how to join later today.

This is a quick reminder that the third of our Safeguarding Knowledge Share Events “The role of the Local Authority” will take place today (Wednesday 6th April) from 13:00-14:00. You can find out full details below, or click here to join the event later today. This event will be recorded and we will share the link afterwards for those who can’t make it on the day. If you missed the first session on “Safeguarding Language”, you can view the recording here and you can view a recording of the second session “Domestic Abuse Myths and Stereotypes” here.

13:00-14:00 | Wednesday 6th April | The role of the Local Authority

Are you confident in contacting a local authority and be able to speak with the team you need to?

Accessing social care teams can be tricky. If you’ve tried before, you’ll probably have already experienced being put through from a contact centre to a duty worker and then on to a case worker.

In this session we’ll help you to understand who does what and who to speak with to help you get the advice and action you need.

Click below to join the event on the day

13:00-14:00 | Wednesday 8th June | Understanding Mental Health

1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem each year in the UK.

It’s important that we understand what this means for those with mental ill health and what we can do to support them.

This session will provide some information to increase your knowledge, so that we are better equipped to understand and support our colleagues and beneficiaries who may be impacted. We will also discuss treatments and the support services available.

Click here to join the event on the day.

If you have any questions about any of these sessions, please contact: Carrie.bower@ageuk.org.uk.