Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) is Ireland’s largest charitable organisation. Over 11,500 volunteers and 600 staff members across the country work towards creating a more just and caring nation. Among their services, they offer practical support to those experiencing poverty and social exclusion.
Our relationship with SVP dates back to 2020, when they commissioned Keeping Children Safe (KCS) to carry out a child safeguarding audit of their 27 children’s services. These included homework clubs, youth clubs and breakfast centres, among others. Each of these services catered to between 5 and 120 children, and had anywhere from 0 to 26 staff members and 1 to 160 volunteers.
Back in 2020, the goal of the audit was for SVP to achieve KCS’s Level 1 Certification, which they successfully obtained.
After a couple of years, SVP set their sights on Level 2 Certification, which requires a more thorough review. Level 2 Certification ensures that an organisation not only has a safeguarding policy and procedures in place, but that the organisation is implementing the policy and procedures. It involves a review of relevant documents, interviews with key staff, management and trustees, as well as on-site visits.
Over a period of three weeks, KCS auditors conducted multiple visits to SVP’s centres in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, and in early 2024, the organisation was awarded Level 2 Certification.
After visiting the national office, prison visitor centres, youth clubs, resource centres and childcare centres, and conducting interviews with 65 individuals—including board members, senior managers, staff, volunteers, parents and children—and reviewing over 200 documents, the KCS auditors greatly admired the commitment of the staff and volunteers to child safeguarding.
During interviews with parents and children, it was evident that each centre had a designated safeguarding focal point. It was reassuring to see bulletin boards displaying child-friendly safeguarding posters prominently throughout the buildings, ensuring that children of all ages and facing different challenges, could understand information that was valuable to them.
Our auditors were also particularly impressed by the staff at Castleisland Family Resource Centre and their dedication to protecting LGBTQI+ adolescents from harm. The centre even flew a rainbow flag outside its building to reinforce its support.
A key lesson SVP Ireland learned during the Level 2 Certification process was the importance of extending child safeguarding measures to other services that interact with children, such as SVP stores and all key business functions within the national office. They also reflected on the importance of ensuring that board members and trustees are knowledgeable about safeguarding, so that they can effectively hold focal points accountable.
As SVP continues its mission to support children and teenagers across Ireland, its commitment to child safeguarding deserves recognition. They are setting a strong example for others in the sector and ensuring that children’s safety and wellbeing remain at the heart of their work.