Welcome to the autumn edition of the Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Bulletin.
You can access a printable PDF version of this bulletin here.
Autumn is traditionally our busiest period as we focus our energy on Safeguarding Adults Week. This year is no exception, and you’ll see full details of our plans for the week, including our conference, below.
The conference is very close to selling out, so I’d urge anyone who hasn’t yet purchased a ticket to act now to avoid disappointment
It’s not just Safeguarding Adults Week that is keeping us busy at the Ann Craft Trust. Along with all our usual training, consultancy ,and resource development we’re currently recruiting for not one, not two, but three posts.
The first is for a new Safeguarding Adults in Sport Manager Post in Wales. This follows the departure of Jodi Evans, who has been instrumental in driving change across Wales. We’ll miss Jodi massively and wish her all the best!
In addition to this we are also recruiting to a new manager to support the wider team in delivering consultancy, training, research, and resource development. This is a really exciting opportunity for an experienced safeguarding professional to influence and support safeguarding practice across the country.
Finally, we’re looking to strengthen our board of trustees with a number of trustee opportunities. We’re particularly interested in recruiting a finance trustee, but we’re also looking for people with other governance expertise, or people who are passionate about making a difference and contributing to the development of our amazing charity.
Happy reading,
Stuart Sale
CEO, Ann Craft Trust
Safeguarding Adults Week 2026 – Free Resources To Help You Support The Week
Safeguarding Adults Week 2026 will take place 16 – 22 November.
Our focus this year is on how co-production is central to safeguarding adults.
Every Voice. Every Choice.
By prioritising choice, safeguarding can become more preventative, build trust, and empower individuals.
We’ll explore how a collaborative approach aligns closely with key principles of the Care Act 2014, such as empowerment and prevention.
A key theme is Making Safeguarding Personal, which prioritises the outcomes for the individuals. It’s all about giving people a voice, and making it their choice as to what happens, and what makes them feel safe.
Below, find some free resources to help you start some vital conversations online.
Access Your Free Resources
Safeguarding Adults Week 2026 Events
We’ll be running a full programme of free online seminars throughout the week, along with our annual Safeguarding Adults Conference in Nottingham.
Monday 16 November
- 10:00 am – 10:30 am – Official Safeguarding Adults Week Launch Event – Safeguarding Starts With Listening
- 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Collaboration Between Families, Carers and the People They Support, With Camphill Village Trust
- 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Protecting People From Financial Abuse and Cybercrime, With OXIL Research
- 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Neurodiversity, Inclusion and Experiences of the Criminal Justice System With KeyRing
Tuesday 17 November
- 10:30 am – 11:30 am – How Lasting Power of Attorney Empowers Safeguarding Professionals to Uphold Voice, Choice, and Autonomy, With The Office of the Public Guardian
- 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Moving Beyond Assumptions and Enabling Informed Decision-Making: The Where I Want to Live Toolkit
- 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Challenging Identity: How Does Intersectionality Impact Our Capacity to Make Safeguarding Personal?
Wednesday 18 November
Thursday 19 November
- 10:30 am – 11:30 am – Improving Support, Safeguarding, and Outcomes With Dementia Carers Count
- 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Professional Curiosity in Practice: Recognising and Raising Concerns About Attorneys and Deputies, With Office of the Public Guardian
- 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Working with DBS: Understanding the Duty to Refer
Friday 20 November
- 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Learning & Reflection – Listening to and Working With Victims of Abuse With The UK Sports Institute
You can also view the slides from the official online launch event that took place on 8 June. View the slides here.
Safeguarding Adults Conference 2026 – Over 90% of Tickets Now Sold!
Join us at the 2026 Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Conference, with a focus on co-production and Making Safeguarding Personal.
The conference will contribute to continued professional development for professionals and volunteers working with adults across a range of sectors.
The day will bring together inspiring keynote speakers, practical workshops, research insights, and opportunities to network with colleagues from across the sector, as well as hot lunch and refreshments.
What To Expect From The Day
- Sarah McClinton, Chief Social Worker for Adults in England at the Department of Health and Social Care, will join Stuart Sale, CEO of Ann Craft Trust, to open the conference. Sarah brings a wealth of experience from across social work, adult social care, commissioning, policy and leadership. Sarah will help set the tone for a day focused on learning, reflection and strengthening safeguarding practice.
- A keynote speaker sharing their personal experience of abuse and the lessons it offers to us all about the importance of both listening and hearing a person’s voice.
- Interactive sessions exploring co-production, including learning from Reach’s Voice and Participation Group, who work with organisations to improve services, influence change, and ensure that people’s voices are heard and valued.
- New research from Oxcil Research Group on financial abuse and its implications for practice, along with a selection of workshops that will include discussions on key safeguarding topics including hoarding and cuckooing.
- An exclusive training workshop by the Ann Craft Trust, exploring the topic of adult grooming. This will feature excerpts from the new Invisible Scars film, which offers a survivor’s experience of abuse in sport, and is normally only screened in private training courses.
- United Response showcasing their Our Life Stories exhibition. Through powerful personal stories, artwork, and film, this celebrates the voices of people with learning disabilities and autistic people, demonstrating the importance of ensuring people are at the heart of decisions that affect their lives.
As with previous conferences, the day will conclude with an inspiring interactive session which we hope will help you think creatively in your approach to learning.
Book Your Place At The 2026 Safeguarding Adults Conference
Book Your 2027 Safeguarding Adults Training Today!
We are running our Safeguarding Adults at Risk Level 3 Training for Managers and Designated Safeguarding Leads throughout 2027.
This online course will explore the roles and responsibilities of managers in terms of safeguarding adults at risk.
We’ll look at the key changes within safeguarding as part of the Care Act. You’ll be encouraged to identify where the challenges are, and to seek solutions towards implementation in practice.
We’ll cover best practice, the expectations of regulators, and the lessons we learned from our safeguarding adults reviews.
This course is for people with a safeguarding responsibility, or looking to develop for a safeguarding role. It’s also suitable for people looking for personal professional development.
We’ll be running this course twice a month. Some sessions will take place over the course of a single day. Others will be split across two days. All courses will cover the same topics, whether they take place across one day or two.
These courses tend to fill up fast, so book now to avoid disappointment!
- 7 January
- 20 – 21 January
- 4 February
- 15 – 16 February
- 15 March
- 30 – 31 March
- 13 April
- 26 – 27 April
- 18 – 19 May
- 31 May
- 9 June
- 21 – 22 June
- 6 – 7 July
- 19 July
- 5 August
- 16 – 17 August
- 14 – 15 September
- 29 September
- 13 October
- 25 – 26 October
- 10 November
- 23 – 24 November
- 9 December
- 16 – 17 December
Bring Your Expertise To The Ann Craft Trust
We’re looking for new trustees ahead of our next Annual General Meeting, including a new Finance Trustee.
You don’t need in-depth knowledge of safeguarding, training, or consultancy. But you must be able to lead compassionately and with humility. You should be a strategic thinker and be able to maintain high standards of governance through empowering those around you. You will, of course, have high levels of personal integrity.
We’re Hiring: Safeguarding Adults Development Manager (Fixed Term)
Are you passionate about safeguarding adults and making a real difference to the lives of people at risk of harm?
If so, the Ann Craft Trust would love to hear from you.
We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Safeguarding Adults Development Manager to join our team. This exciting role offers the opportunity to influence and improve safeguarding practice across a range of organisations and sectors.
Podcast: Updates to Deprivation of Liberty Laws
Lisa Curtis talks to Robert Keniwell, a social worker and Mental Capacity Act (MCA) specialist, about recent changes to the law regarding Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
In June 2026, the Supreme Court published a judgment changing the definition of deprivation of liberty. Lisa and Robert discuss the changes, and the implications they may have on health and social care staff, the people they support, and their families.
Podcast: Understanding and Combating Transnational Marriage Abandonment
In a two part series, Rachael Clawson, Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, talks to Nadia about her experiences of transnational marriage abandonment (TMA).
One of Nadia’s relatives was the victim of TMA. This is a form of domestic abuse in which a spouse is intentionally left stranded in a foreign country. Once stranded, the abandoned spouse will usually have no paperwork, no resources, and no means of getting home.
In part one, Nadia explains how TMA works, and how it usually follows a long pattern of domestic abuse and coercive control. In part two, Nadia discusses the numerous individuals and organisations who supported her relative throughout her TMA experience.
Podcast: New Laws Help Police Fight Cuckooing
Stuart Sale talks to P.C. Mandy Nutt, Police Constable Co-Ordinator, Metropolitan Police Service.
They discuss Operation Pantera, a campaign launched in 2020 to tackle cuckooing in Camden and Islington. They also talk about the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which introduces new laws to help police fight cuckooing.
Podcast: Partnering With Thames Valley Air Ambulance
Lisa Curtis explores partnership working with Gavin Casey, Safeguarding Manager at Thames Valley Air Ambulance.
Gavin provides a unique perspective on how safeguarding can work in emergency first response situations. He also discusses how we can apply safeguarding polices and practices to a number of everyday scenarios.
How A Lasting Power of Attorney Can Help People Make Informed Choices About Their Futures
For safeguarding professionals, conversations about future planning can be just as important as responding to immediate risks.
In a guest post, Madeleine Owen, Senior Strategic Engagement Manager at the Office of the Public Guardian, explores how a lasting power of attorney (LPA) can help people retain greater choice and control over their futures.
News and 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.
- A New Approach To Deprivation Of Liberty Cases: Key Implications For Residential Colleges.
- Why language matters. Talking about ‘non-recent’ instead of ‘historic’ abuse.
- Lead child protection practitioner standards. Practice standards for child and family social workers in lead child protection practitioner roles.
- Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH). Support for organisations in the humanitarian and development sectors to strengthen their safeguarding policy and practice against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH).
- Com group member sentenced for campaign of abuse against 117 victims worldwide. A man from Leeds who forced more than 100 victims into sexual activity and self-harm as part of a Com group, including them carving his online username into their bodies, has been sentenced to two years in prison after a National Crime Agency investigation.
- Church of England safeguarding progress being resisted at high level. INEQE said in its 2025 audit that the Church of England was experiencing a “dangerous” period of institutional “drift” regarding future safeguarding structures.
- Gloriously Ordinary Language. Campaign to make the language of social care “ordinary”, using “everyday words about everyday life”.
- AGNI ruling: ADASS updates DoLS priority tool in wake of Supreme Court judgment. Revised version distinguishes between cases that do and do not appear to meet the multifactorial test for a deprivation of liberty set out by the Supreme Court.