Hello, and welcome to the spring edition of the Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Bulletin.
You can download a PDF copy of this bulletin here.
As I write this, the Sun is shining and I’m looking out at my garden where colour is starting to return. I sometimes struggle in the winter, so spring is my favourite season. It’s great to finally leave behind those long and cold evenings.
Spring is also the time that the Ann Craft Trust launches the themes for Safeguarding Adults Week, and I’m pleased to be able to do that in our spring bulletin once again.
Our theme this year is Prevention. This is a core principle of safeguarding adults, but one that is often taken for granted or forgotten about as we react to incidents or concerns. The Ann Craft Trust wants to change the conversation. We want to talk about the things we can do to stop harm occurring in the first place.
To quote Desmond Tutu:
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
This quote sums up what we need to do when it comes to making a real difference in safeguarding adults from harm and abuse. You can read more about the week and book onto our annual conference below. And by booking early you can save on the normal ticket price too!
Happy reading,
Stuart Sale
CEO, The Ann Craft Trust
Safeguarding Adults Week 2025 is all about prevention.
Usually, when people talk about “safeguarding”, they are talking about the policies and procedures we might put into place to respond to concerns of abuse, or to minimise the risk of a person being harmed or abused again. They are also talking about the lessons we might learn from past cases of abuse.
It’s time to change the conversation.
It’s important to learn the right lessons when things go wrong. But it is much better to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place than it is to respond to instances of harm, neglect, and isolation.
Join us online on Wednesday 11 June to learn more about this year’s key themes, and find out how you can support Safeguarding Adults Week 2025. Sign up for this free support session here.
Learn More About The Themes For Safeguarding Adults Week 2025
The Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Conference 2025
Join us at the 2025 Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Conference to help us change the conversation about safeguarding & preventing abuse.
The conference will take place at Trent Conference Centre, Nottingham, on Wednesday 19 November.
We will reveal the programme of keynote speakers, workshops, and breakout sessions in the coming months.
Save £15 on your order if you book your place before 1 July!
Use the code SAW25 at checkout.
Book Your Place at the 2025 Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Conference
Nicola Dean – 20 May 1971 – 5 February 2025
Many of you will now be aware of the sad news about the death of our colleague Nicola Dean, who sadly passed away on 5 February following a long illness.
Read our short tribute to Nicola >>
Safeguarding in Higher Education
In September 2024, the Ann Craft Trust supported the launch of the Safeguarding in Higher Education Network.
This is a new initiative co-chaired with the Universities of Nottingham and Westminster, and with membership from across the sector.
Learn more about the Safeguarding in Higher Education Network, and how you can get involved >>
Coming Soon: New eLearning Course Providing an Introduction to the Mental Capacity Act
We have designed a new eLearning course that provides an essential introduction to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)
We have created this course for anyone who works in any industry that directly or indirectly supports people. It will also be useful for anyone who just wants to learn more about the MCA, and how it relates to all of our lives.
Learn more about our forthcoming new MCA eLearning course >>
“We all thrive when we look out for each other.”
Kyle Kivaria, a second-year law student at the University of Nottingham, worked a placement at The Ann Craft Trust. At the end of her placement, we asked her to reflect on what she’d learned about safeguarding adults.
“Safeguarding is not just about protecting others. It is about shaping yourself into someone who chooses to care, even when no one is watching.”
Kyle also shared her views on University Mental Health Day, and how “the weight of the world feels lighter when carried together”.
What is cuckooing?
Cuckooing might also be referred to as “home takeover”, or “home invasion”. It involves criminals taking control of another person’s home in order to use it for criminal activity.
This criminal activity could involve offences relating to drugs, sexual abuse, and weapons. Criminals might also use the property to store money or stolen goods, or simply as a place to sleep.
Read our full guide to cuckooing >>>
Supporting the development of a safeguarding culture in your organisation
Book a safeguarding audit for your organisation!
The purpose of a safeguarding audit is to help you understand how well your organisation is upholding its safeguarding adults commitment.
Lisa Curtis, Ann Craft Trust Deputy CEO and Head of Safeguarding Adults and Young People, has outlined who needs a safeguarding audit, when and why they might need it, and the key benefits that a safeguarding audit can bring to your organisation.
Learn more about Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Audits >>
News & Resources Roundup
Would you like something featured in a future Roundup? Whether it’s a new resource, a job vacancy, some research findings, or something else entirely, get in touch to tell us more.
- Quality and Safety of Maternity Care (England) – Government report on maternity care policies, safety, and disparities.
- Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty – Article from Kennedy’s Law on the final report for the procedure for determining mental capacity.
- Autistic Woman Wrongly Locked Up in Mental Health Hospital for 45 years – Kasibba is non-verbal and had no family to speak up for her.
- The Role of Language in Care and Support – Suite of resources from Think Local, Act Personal.
- Deprivation of liberty: how to identify when it may be taking place – Good practice guidance now that the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) will be delayed indefinitely.
- Final report on the procedure for determining mental capacity published – Final report following a Civil Justice Council’s (CJC) working group’s consultation on mental capacity.
- How the Mental Health Bill Has Been Amended by the House of Lords – See also this report from Learning Disability Today on how the number of autistic people in inappropriate health settings has increased.
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