Safeguarding and Wellbeing Policy

Three Peaks Challenge Ltd takes the safety and wellbeing of every person on our events seriously. This policy sets out how we protect children, young people and vulnerable adults, and the standard of care we apply to all participants and staff.

1. Scope

This policy applies to everyone working with or on behalf of Three Peaks Challenge Ltd: directors, employees, freelance mountain leaders, drivers, medics, volunteers and contractors. It covers all activities we deliver across the UK, including guided challenges, training walks and promotional events.

2. Our commitments

We are committed to building a culture where safeguarding is treated as everyone's responsibility and where concerns are always taken seriously. In practice, that means we:

• Comply with relevant UK legislation, including the Children Act 2004, the Care Act 2014 and local authority safeguarding partnership guidance.
• Design events with wellbeing at the centre, managing group sizes, transport hours and rest periods to reduce fatigue and keep people safe.
• Put emergency procedures, communications equipment and welfare facilities in place for every itinerary we run.

3. Roles and responsibilities

The Managing Director is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and can be contacted at [email protected].

Every guide and driver has a duty to report concerns immediately to the DSL or to the on-call duty manager. Contractors must provide evidence of appropriate insurance, qualifications and, where relevant, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks before they begin working with us.

4. Identifying and reporting concerns

Staff receive regular training on recognising signs of abuse, neglect, exploitation and poor mental health. When a concern arises, it is recorded using our incident reporting form and escalated to the DSL without delay.

If there is an immediate risk of harm, staff will contact the emergency services first and notify the DSL as soon as it is safe to do so. We co-operate fully with statutory agencies and share information on a need-to-know basis.

5. Working with young people and vulnerable adults

Participants under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who remains responsible for their welfare throughout the event.

Accommodation is allocated with privacy and safeguarding in mind. Mixed-gender rooms are only used for family groups or where specifically requested.

We collect photography and media consent in advance. Identifiable images of anyone under 18 will not be published without documented permission from their parent or guardian.

6. Support and wellbeing

We want everyone involved in our events to feel supported. For staff, that means scheduled rest breaks, access to mental health resources and an environment where it is normal to talk openly about fatigue, stress or accessibility needs. Participants are encouraged to raise concerns early so we can adapt plans where it is reasonable to do so.

7. Review

This policy is reviewed annually, and after any safeguarding incident or relevant change in legislation.