UK child exploitation charity becomes first SME to receive British Safety Council funding to support staff wellbeing

Safe and Sound CEO Tracy Harrison (right) and and Business Support Officer Alex Dey (centre) receiving their Keep Thriving funding award from British Safety Council's Wellbeing Services Manager Jo Saines (left)

Derbyshire-based charity, Safe and Sound has become the first organisation to successfully win funding from British Safety Council to improve and support its staff’s wellbeing.

The funding of up to £10,000 was awarded to Safe and Sound through British Safety Council’s Keep Thriving campaign to improve workplace wellbeing.

Tracy Harrison, CEO of Safe and Sound, attended the first 3-hour workshop in November 2022 to help her and other small and medium organisations (SMEs) develop a wellbeing strategy, delivered by experts from British Safety Council’s Being Well Together programme.

Workshop attendees are invited to apply for funding six months after attending workshops with only the most effective and innovative proposals receiving approval.

Further awards will be made to other organisations taking part in workshops between November 2022 and March 2023. The money will help the SMEs to implement their wellbeing strategy and plans.

Commenting on why the money will make a difference and how Safe and Sound will make use of it to support its staff’s wellbeing, Tracy Harrison said: “I am delighted that our work to support our amazing team who in turn work so hard to support children, young people and their families in our local community has been recognised in this way.

“As a charity, we champion diversity, personal development and inclusivity and our team represents the local communities that we serve.

“This grant will enable us to implement our wide-reaching strategy to ensure the wellbeing of our staff who do an incredible job in sometimes the most challenging of circumstances and we are extremely grateful to British Safety Council’s Keep Thriving campaign for its support.

“Initiatives we are planning as part of our new wellbeing strategy include bespoke training, team building and wellbeing workshops.”

Safe and Sound supports and protects young people and families whose lives have been affected by child exploitation.

Commenting on the funding award, Mike Robinson, British Safety Council Chief Executive, said: “I am excited and proud that as a charity British Safety Council is supporting small organisations in this way, and delighted that Safe and Sound is the first recipient. I know the difference even a modest amount of funding can make to employers who lack the HR and financial resources that larger ones can use to support their staff.

“In its application Safe and Sound showed not just that it would use this money in creative and imaginative ways, but also that it would measure, evaluate and track the impact of its activities carefully, that it is listening to its staff to develop its plan and that it fits with the strategic needs of them and the charity.

“We look forward to working with Safe and Sound as it progresses on its wellbeing journey and hearing how it gets on with implementing its plan over the coming months.”

About Keep Thriving

Keep Thriving is British Safety Council’s campaign to help improve the wellbeing of workers, within and outside of the workplace, so that all of us can thrive.

As part of eight key calls to action, the Keep Thriving campaign is asking organisations and businesses to commit to:

• Appoint an executive director responsible for wellbeing, acting as a sponsor driving change
• Actively engage employees in determining workplace wellbeing interventions that work for them
• Adopt a holistic approach to health, safety and wellbeing, focused on training people to enable prevention and avoid poor wellbeing.

For more on the campaign: https://britsafe.org/campaigns-policy/keep-thriving/keep-thriving-campaign/

About Safe and Sound

Safe and Sound is a charity which transforms the lives of children and young people in Derbyshire affected by child exploitation.

It supports children and young people at risk from all forms of exploitation, largely sexual and criminal exploitation, but including arranged marriage, trafficking, gangs and country lines. Its aim is to support at the earliest opportunity with prevention and early intervention programmes. For more, visit: www.safeandsoundgroup.org.uk

About Being Well Together

The Being Well Together Programme is one or three-years, delivered by both British Safety Council and its award-winning mental wellbeing sister charity Mates in Mind, to help them improve the wellbeing of their workforce.

It includes access to an online portal with key resources as well as a support manager and options for audit, consultancy, and training services.

More information is available here: https://www.beingwelltogether.org/