Advanced Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Training for Charities & NGOs
Protect your beneficiaries, your volunteers, and your funding. Ensure full Charity Commission compliance with expert-led, practical safeguarding training.
Safeguarding in a charity or NGO presents unique, high-stakes challenges. As a DSL, you aren’t just managing staff, you are responsible for the safety of vulnerable beneficiaries, navigating the boundaries of unpaid volunteers and ensuring your Board of Trustees meets their strict legal duties.
A single safeguarding failure doesn’t just harm a vulnerable person—it can trigger a Charity Commission investigation and instantly strip your organization of its grant funding. You need practical, jargon-free training tailored to the third sector.
Led by Michael Hawkins, a safeguarding expert with over 30 years of frontline multi-agency experience, this 1-day accredited masterclass provides exactly what your charity needs to operate safely and legally.
Fully Aligned with Charity Commission Statutory Guidance
Our advanced DSL training guarantees your charity, sports club, or NGO is fully compliant with the latest legal frameworks, including:
- Charity Commission Safeguarding Regulations (Including Serious Incident Reporting)
- The Care Act 2014 (Safeguarding Adults with Care and Support Needs)
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 (For charities working with under-18s)
- The Domestic Abuse Act 2021
How this masterclass makes you a more confident NGO DSL:
This highly interactive, 6-hour live Zoom (or on-site) training goes far beyond basic corporate theory. You will leave with actionable skills to protect your service users and your organization. You will learn how to:
- Manage Volunteer Boundaries: Learn how to enforce safer working practices and codes of conduct across a diverse, unpaid volunteer base.
- Report Serious Incidents: Understand exactly when and how to report a safeguarding breach directly to the Charity Commission.
- Empower Your Trustees: Gain the knowledge required to report safeguarding risks to your Board of Trustees so they can fulfill their governance duties.
- Navigate Complex Disclosures: Handle multi-agency referrals for both children (Section 47) and adults (Section 42 Enquiries) with confidence.
The Core Syllabus
- The statutory roles and responsibilities of the DSL in the third sector.
- Good governance and legal liability for Charity Trustees.
- Information sharing, GDPR, and multi-agency working.
- Managing allegations against staff, volunteers, or trustees.
- “Making Safeguarding Personal” when working with vulnerable adults.
- Action planning and creating robust safeguarding policies.
Real Reviews from the Third Sector
- “Amazing opportunity to share best practice – Michael was happy for us to share experiences and gave us the space and time to do so. Fabulous!” — Centre Manager, NGO
- “An excellent and useful course. A lot of information given with a really excellent range of resources.” — Staff Development Lead, NGO
You can also see the latest reviews on yell.com by clicking here Yell Reviews
Prefer bespoke training for your Trustees or Volunteers?
We deliver cost-effective, face-to-face training directly on your premises. We can train your entire DSL team or run bespoke governance sessions specifically for your Board of Trustees.
Contact Mark today to discuss your charity’s needs:
📧 safeguarding@alltrainingmatters.co.uk | 📞 020 8355 6834
Frequently Asked Questions
(Update your current FAQs with these adjusted answers to fix the previous copy-paste errors):
- Does the course cover child or adult safeguarding?
We tailor the course to the charities attending. Because NGOs often work with mixed demographics, we cover both child protection and adult safeguarding (Care Act 2014) in depth. - Does the training cover changes to guidance?
The courses are updated monthly to ensure absolute compliance with the latest Charity Commission guidance, as well as national child and adult legislation. - How interactive is the course?
Very interactive. Activities are designed to help you apply the DSL role to your specific charity setting, including managing volunteers and reporting to trustees.
About the trainer
Michael Hawkins is currently the school improvement lead for a large London local authority with responsibility for 100 schools and settings from Early Years to Post-16. He leads on education safeguarding for the local authority and works alongside professionals in education, health, child and adult social care and other agencies. This current and practical experience is reflected in the materials, activities and discussions in his safeguarding training. He has worked in education for over 30 years, in a range of London schools, for Local Authorities and in national roles. He has also worked internationally with schools and governments on safeguarding and school improvement.