Safeguarding Redefined

After the devastating loss of his wife Laura, Steve Farmer found himself searching for a way to navigate grief while supporting his young son. What began with solitary bike rides through the Surrey countryside became something much bigger. In this episode of Safeguarding Redefined , Steve shares the deeply personal story behind The Bike Project and how cycling became a source of healing, connectio...

One parent tells you not to speak to the other. An estranged parent suddenly turns up for collection. Who do you listen to? What does the law actually say? And how do you stay child-focused without getting drawn into a family dispute? In this episode of Safeguarding Redefined, family law specialist Brian Fraser from Elite Law Solicitors answers some of the most common questions DSLs face around pa...

More policies. More restrictions. More fear of getting it wrong. But are we actually creating safer environments? In this episode Chris East and Benedict Sutton explore the uncomfortable reality that safeguarding can sometimes become so defensive, risk-averse, and compliance-driven that it unintentionally weakens the very relationships that keep people safe. Yet sometimes the safest-looking decisi...

⚠️ Content warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual violence, coercion, pornography, misogyny, and online abuse. Drawing from over 50,000 anonymous testimonies submitted to Everyone’s Invited, this episode explores what happens when sexual violence, misogyny, and online abuse become so common that young people begin to believe they are simply 'normal'. Chris speaks with Alex Som...

What if burnout isn’t just a wellbeing issue? What if it’s already affecting safeguarding decisions in schools? In this brutally honest episode, Chris chats down with organisational psychologist Karen Forshaw to unpack the safeguarding risks created by chronic stress and impossible workloads. Because stressed safeguarding professionals don’t just feel exhausted - they'll miss things, become to...

We’re closing our stalking series with a crucial perspective. Recorded last November, Chris speaks with Jane Harvey, CEO of the Hollie Gazzard Trust, exploring what often comes before stalking is recognised. Because it rarely begins where we think it does. What if the real risk isn’t the moment someone turns violent, but the months, even years, leading up to it? In this episode, we explore: How fi...

This episode is not easy listening - but it’s one you need to hear. Lorna Allen shares what it’s really like to live through coercive control, stalking, and abuse that doesn’t end when the relationship does. From the outside, it didn’t look obvious - there was no single moment, no defined line. Just a slow, confusing change in behaviour that only made sense in hindsight. “I didn’t even know I was...

This episode will stop you in your tracks. Bev Nickson shares the reality of living through three years of stalking by someone in a position of trust. There was CCTV, witnesses and 19 separate stalking behaviours identified by a barrister. And yet no arrest, no criminal charge and no safeguarding red flag. Instead, Bev was left to navigate the civil courts alone, at a significant personal cost. Bu...

Safer recruitment is not a formality, and it is not just an HR process. It is one of the most important safeguarding measures any organisation has. In this episode of Safeguarding Redefined, Chris is joined by Jon Pettit from Safeguard-Me and Klaudia Ratajczak from Patronus Safeguarding to unpack what safer recruitment really means in practice, and where organisations still get it wrong. Together,...

Burnout is everywhere in safeguarding. But what if the real cause isn’t workload? In this episode of Safeguarding Redefined, Chris East is joined by former police officer and burnout specialist Jonny Bevan to explore why the very traits that make someone great at safeguarding can also push them towards exhaustion. Perfectionism. Relentless responsibility. The need to fix everything. Together they...

What if the answer to rising violence wasn’t more enforcement, but more presence? As part of our charity spotlight, in this episode Paul Blakey MBE shares how Street Angels began in Halifax’s so-called “Wild West” and grew into a UK-wide movement supporting vulnerable people on nights out, at festivals and even in train stations. From partnership with police, to preventing fights with lollipops, t...

Rejection hurts. That’s just part of being human. But what happens when we don’t know how to handle it? In the final episode of our Let’s Talk About Sex (and Safeguarding) series, PJ Livett explores the emotional impact of romantic rejection, and why learning to accept “no” may be one of the most important safeguarding conversations we can have. We unpack: • Why rejection strikes at our deepest ne...

When a nude image is shared without consent, why is the first question still, “Why did they take it in the first place?” In this latest instalment of Let’s Talk About Sex (and Safeguarding) , Ruth Heneke Eliot, trainer, workshop facilitator and co-founder of Training Works, joins us to challenge the narrative that young people “should have known better” and to expose the culture that allows image-...

How do you respond when someone discloses chemsex, all without panic, judgment, or stripping away their dignity? In this episode, Matthew Fuller joins us to explore the complex realities of chemsex and why traditional safeguarding approaches often miss the mark. We unpack sexualised drug use, stigma, and why chemsex is so often misunderstood as “too risky” rather than deeply contextual. Matthew ch...

Sex education doesn’t fail because young people are immature. It fails because adults are carrying unprocessed sexual shame. Sexologist, sex therapist and consent trainer Sian Johnson joins us to unpack why sex education, consent conversations and sexual disclosures are so difficult for adults, not because they’re ‘awkward’, but because they activate shame carried in our bodies, beliefs and nervou...

Consent is often taught as simple. Real life rarely is. In the first of our series ' Let's Talk About Sex (and Safeguarding)', Chris East is joined by Rupert James Allison, consent workshop facilitator for university students, to unpick what consent actually looks like in the real world. They touch on why myths from the 1970s still linger, how heteronormative teaching has limited our u...

What happens when a teacher breaks and no one notices? In this powerful episode, experienced educator Anna Fannon shares the moment she went beyond burnout, and why it changed everything. From masking in the classroom to hiding in plain sight, Anna describes what it feels like to be physically present at work, but mentally gone. Together, Anna and Chris confront one of education’s biggest blind sp...

Australia has become the first country in the world to ban social media for under-16s. Some are calling it bold. Others are calling it overdue. Young people are calling it life-ruining. In this episode of Safeguarding Redefined, Chris is joined by online safety specialist Andy Briercliffe to ask the uncomfortable question many aren’t ready to answer yet: Does banning social media actually make chi...

⚠️ Content warning: This episode discusses suicide and bereavement. What do you say to someone who has lost a loved one to suicide? How can we actually support them, not just in the moment but in the months and years that follow? In 2018, Caroline’s husband of 18 years took his own life without warning, leaving behind their two young children. Caroline’s journey following this tragedy led her to c...

Feeling the Weight of Safeguarding? You’re Not Alone. DSLs carry enormous responsibility - but who supports them? Victoria Morris, with 20 years in education and 10 as a DSL, joins us to talk about the power of supervision. We explore why supervision is essential for those holding safeguarding responsibility - offering not just support, but space to reflect, be challenged, and process the emotiona...

Trustees and governors hold ultimate responsibility for safeguarding. So why do so many feel under-equipped and uncertain when it comes to asking the right questions? In this episode, the Safeguarding Collective strip back the myths around governance, DSL capacity, and DBS checks. They explore what boards actually need to know, where organisations unintentionally set people up to fail, and why &#3...

Think safeguarding records are just admin? Think again. In this episode we reveal why your documentation is more than a tick-box exercise - it’s the lifeline for effective casework. From protecting you legally to shaping the best outcomes for those at risk, good records matter. Are your records clear, useful, and actually fit for purpose? Tune in and take our simple but powerful challenge too. —--...

What if the way we manage behaviour is quietly working against the thing we care about most - a child's safety? In this episode, Chris chats with SEMH specialist Heather Lucas to explore one of the most awkward questions in education: can you manage behaviour and still be someone children feel safe to disclose to? They unpack the hidden tensions built into many behaviour systems, why punitive...

Uncertainty is baked into safeguarding, but it doesn’t have to paralyse us.  In this episode, we dive into how we can reclaim control by focusing on what we can influence.  We provide practical strategies and real-life examples, this episode shows you how to stay grounded, confident, and effective, even when the unknown looms large. We’ve also got a simple yet impactful challenge for you - listen...

Some teens don’t fit the mould, and the school system wasn’t built for them. Enter Oarsome Chance , where kayaks, skiffs, and carpentry workshops are more than activities: they’re lifelines. This episode is part of our Charity Spotlight week, shining a light on organisations making a real difference for young people. CEO Paul Napthine shares how his team builds trust, safety, and belonging for you...