A narrow first service
The first pilot will be adult-only peer support and education. It will not provide services to children, legal advice, professional casework, court representation or emergency response.
Development and launch roadmap
A careful route from good idea to safe practice
Branches of Safety will not open simply because the website looks finished. This roadmap records what has been agreed, what still needs independent input and the checks that must be passed before a small pilot can begin.
Recommended legal direction
A foundation CIO, subject to specialist advice
A foundation charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) is the current preferred direction. It would give Branches of Safety a separate legal identity and limited liability, while keeping governance with a trustee board rather than creating a wider voting membership.
That fits the project’s charitable purpose, public-benefit focus and likely reliance on grants and partnerships. It is a recommendation, not a registration claim: the charitable objects, trustee mix, founder roles and any future paid work must be reviewed with Cumbria CVS or another suitably qualified adviser before an application is made.
Decisions already made
Firm foundations for the first pilot
These points are settled working decisions. They can be strengthened as advice arrives, but they should not quietly disappear when the project moves forward.
Named safeguarding responsibility
A founding safeguarding lead and deputy have been identified. Their roles will not become operational until the required training, procedures and governing approval are complete.
Independent escalation
Neither founder may decide a complaint or safeguarding matter involving themselves, the other founder, their household, family or private proceedings. Urgent concerns go straight to statutory services; other founder-related concerns require independent external review or advice.
A controlled pilot
The proposed pilot will be private, hidden from public search, manually approved and invite-only: approximately 15–25 adults over 8–12 weeks, with no entry until every go/no-go check is passed.
Governance still to build
Independent challenge cannot be optional.
The recommended board is three to five trustees, with a majority independent of the founders, their household and the family’s private proceedings. Recruitment should be based on gaps in competence rather than who is nicest in the group chat.
- Safeguarding leadership and statutory referral knowledge
- Charity governance, finance and risk
- Family support, kinship or relevant lived experience
- Data protection, digital safety or online-community management
- Ability to challenge constructively and manage conflicts of interest
Founder roles: the eventual structure must clearly separate strategic oversight, operational work, safeguarding decisions and any paid role. Trustee benefit and conflicts cannot be sorted out with a wink and a vague minute.
Training plan
Competence before confidence.
Existing Level 2 safeguarding children and child-exploitation learning are useful foundations. They do not, by themselves, make the pilot ready.
- Role-appropriate designated safeguarding lead and deputy training
- Adult safeguarding and responding to adults at risk
- Domestic-abuse-informed and trauma-aware practice within peer-support boundaries
- Confidentiality, safeguarding information sharing and UK data protection
- Recognising disclosures, recording concerns and making statutory referrals
- Suicide, self-harm and mental-health crisis signposting—not crisis intervention
- Online moderation, professional boundaries, safer working and de-escalation
- Digital security, incident response and secure record handling
Training providers, course levels and eligibility will be confirmed after advice from the safeguarding partnership, Ann Craft Trust and other appropriate organisations. Refresher dates and evidence of competence will be recorded centrally.
Before the pilot
The go/no-go checklist
A red item means no launch. An amber item needs a named action, owner and deadline. Only a fully recorded green decision opens the pilot.
- 01
Legal structure chosen and governing document approved
- 02
A suitably skilled, independent governing body recruited
- 03
Safeguarding lead and deputy training completed and refreshed as required
- 04
Permanent independent safeguarding and complaints escalation route agreed
- 05
Insurance confirmed for the exact pilot activities
- 06
Supervision, role descriptions and volunteer or moderator agreements in place
- 07
Secure accounts, access controls, incident records and retention rules tested
- 08
Safeguarding, complaints, consent, confidentiality and emergency routes rehearsed
- 09
Pilot invitation, eligibility, conduct, exit and feedback arrangements approved
- 10
A recorded go/no-go meeting confirms that every mandatory control is ready