Privacy and Safeguarding Policies

PRIVACY POLICY 

Your privacy is important to me, and I want to communicate with you in a way which has your consent, and which is in line with the UK law on data protection and with the Information Commissioners Office. 

Who are we?

Repairing Trauma is the name under which Kelly Johnson BSC MA operates as an Independent Social Worker and under which services will be offered by Associates of Repairing Trauma, also Independent Social Workers. Repairing Trauma offers a highly specialist and compassionate space in which to have the knowledge and guidance to heal from childhood trauma and overcome a difficult start in life. It is a support service for family and friends of someone navigating the healing journey. We work online. The person responsible for the data protection is Kelly Johnson. Social Work England Registration SW9915 | Registered with the Independents Directory of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). 

Consent 

We will ask you to sign consent form before we start any work. You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting me directly at kelly@repairingtrauma.co.uk

Consent is valid until termination of the therapeutic relationship, and you have the right to revoke consent at any time. 

What you or your child share with Repairing Trauma is confidential. However, should we have any safeguarding concerns, we are required to discuss with our supervisors and, if threshold met, report to ensure your safety or the safety of another. 

Records are kept in a secure place and locked. Records include written reports, computerised reports,  and emails. 

Reports will be shared with you and the appropriate professional working with you with your expressed consent via email and/or post with password protection. Email correspondence utilises initials or first names to secure data privacy unless explicitly agreed otherwise.  

Social Workers are legally required to receive supervision to oversee their work which will be discussed anonymously.
 

We will do our upmost to keep to a regular time and date and will contact you with as much notice as we can of changes. Payment is required no less than 24 hours prior to an arranged session and we expect 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance when possible. Sessions cancelled within 24 hours of an appointment will be charged. Please make contact with us if you are going to be late. We understand sometimes last minute cancellation is unavoidable.

If you decide not to continue with Repairing Trauma and you want to withdraw consent on the data we hold you can contact me directly: kelly@repairingtrauma.co.uk 

Your personal data – what is it?

Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. 

Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession. The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (now the UK “GDPR”).

We have a legitimate interest to process general online enquiries and our responses with you. This decision is based on the following: we have identified a lawful business objective; processing is not likely to result in unwarranted harm or distress to you; the processing is in your interest; the processing would be expected by you. You can object to this processing at any time and we will no longer process the personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate or legal grounds to the contrary. 

Your rights as a data subject

At any point while we are in possession of or processing your personal data, you, the data subject, have the following rights:

• Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that      we hold about you.
• Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you      that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we      hold about you to be erased from our records.
• Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply to have a      right to restrict the processing.
• Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you      transferred to another organisation.
• Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing      such as direct marketing.
• Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the      right to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.
• Right to judicial review: in the event that Repairing Trauma refuses your      request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why. You have the right to complain. 

How do I get your data?

● Directly from you when you contact us

● When you make any form of payment

● Cookies to make your use of our webpage easy, useful and reliable. By declining cookies it should not impact your accessibility of the page and cookies do not contain personal information about you. Cookies track how many people are visiting the page and track if you have visited the page before. 

Types of personal data I collect?

We collect a variety of different types of personal information, including the following personal identifiers such as:

● Your title

● Name

● E-mail

● Telephone Number

How long do we hold your data?

Under UK GDPR, you should only retain personal data for as long as you need it, and no longer, justifying the retention period based on the purposes for which the data is processed, with exceptions for archiving, research, or statistical purposes. At Repairing Trauma we delete all your personal information at the end of the therapeutic relationship. We hold an anonymous summary of involvement upon closure to enable us to best support you should you return to our service in the future. You have the right to decline this. 

Key Principles & Considerations:

• No Fixed Time Limits: The UK GDPR doesn't prescribe specific retention periods; organisations must justify the length of time they retain data based on their processing purposes. 
• Justification is Key: You must be able to demonstrate that the retention period is necessary and proportionate to the purpose for which the data was collected. 
• Data Minimization: The principle of data minimisation requires that you only collect and retain the data that is necessary for the specific purpose. 
• Transparency: Individuals have the right to know how long their data will be retained, so you should inform them about the retention period in your privacy notice. 
• Exceptions: Personal data can be retained for longer periods if it is for archiving purposes in the public interest, or for scientific or historical research purposes, or for statistical purposes, provided that appropriate technical and organisational measures are in place to protect the data. 
• Statutory Obligations: Organisations must also consider any statutory obligations they may have regarding data retention, such as those related to tax records or employment records. 
• Anonymisation: If you anonymise data, you can retain it for longer periods, as it is no longer considered personal data. 
• Deletion: Once the data is no longer needed for the original purpose, it must be deleted or disposed of securely. 
• Right to Erasure:Individuals have the right to request the erasure of their personal data, and organizations must comply with this request unless there are legitimate grounds for retaining the data. 

Reviewed on 22 March 2025 by Kelly Johnson BSc (HONS) MA

SAFEGUARDING POLICY 

The purpose and scope of this policy statement 

Repairing Trauma support children, adults, families, and organisations to repair, transform and develop relationships with themselves and with others, to repair childhood trauma. 

We use a Social Work approach layered with additional expertise from further training. We support individuals, partnerships, and families, who may have experienced trauma, abuse, or neglect and as a result may feel like they are struggling.  Repairing Trauma specialise in supporting children/young people and their caregivers who are in care, fostered or adopted or who have been care experienced. We specialise in supporting adults impacted by childhood trauma to recover. We specialise in sharing information and advice to champion hope that you can recover from childhood trauma. We specialise in social work supervision offering a trauma recovery lens.

The purpose of this policy statement is: 

• to protect from harm the children, young people and vulnerable adults who receive Repairing Trauma services and those we learn need to be safeguarded through the course of our support work.

• to provide paid and unpaid Associates, volunteers and students, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection. We will be transparent and honest. 

• this policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Repairing Trauma including paid and unpaid associates, volunteers, and students. 

Legal framework 

This policy has been drawn up based on legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children and adults in England. Legislation provides the framework for safeguarding in England. It makes clear the expectations and requirements around duties of care to children and adults and creates accountability for these. The main legislation in England is, the Children Act 1989 (2004) and the Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015, the Care Act 2014, The Care Act statutory guidance on Safeguarding in Chapter 14, Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, The Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Links and Guidance to legalisation 

• Children Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)

• Working Together to Safeguard Children (workingtogetheronline.co.uk)

• Working together to safeguard children - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Care and support statutory guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• ISL036 14 Mental Health Act Review Consultation (publishing.service.gov.uk)

• Mental Capacity Act: making decisions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We believe that: 

• children, young people, and adults should never experience abuse of any kind 

• we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, and adults to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them. 

We recognise that: 

• the welfare of children, young people and adults is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take 

• working in partnership with professionals, children, young people, adults, caregivers/ parents, and other agencies is essential in promoting an individual’s safety and welfare

• all individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse 

• some people are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues 

• extra safeguards may be needed to keep children, young people or adults who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by: 

• valuing, listening to and respecting children, young people, and adults who we support.

• adopting best practice through our policies, procedures and value base for associates, volunteers, or students  

• recruiting and selecting associates, volunteers, or students ensuring all necessary checks are made

• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance. Please refer to our privacy policy above.

• making sure that children, young people, adults, and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern

• Follow procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, adults, parents, families, and carers appropriately. 

• building a safeguarding culture where individuals, associates, volunteers’ students, parents, professionals’ children, young people, and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

• Ensure that clients understand and sign and agree to the repairing Trauma Therapeutic Consent process below.

Therapeutic engagement Consent  

Consent is valid until termination of the therapeutic relationship, and you have the right to revoke consent at any time. 

1. What you and your child tell us is confidential. However, should we have           any concerns about what is said in the sessions or  should we have any safeguarding concerns we will be required to share these with you and discuss these concerns with our supervisor to establish if we need to share with Social Care. If we need to make a referral to Social Care we will seek your expressed consent unless doing so would cause harm to someone.     
2. Records are kept in a secure place and locked. Records can include written reports, computerised reports, and emails. 
3. Reports will be shared via email and/or post with password protection. If commissioned by an organisation, reports will be shared with the family in the first instance for due diligence, and consent to share. Please note we will be expected to share reports with the commissioned service. 
4. Social Workers are legally required to receive supervision to oversee the service offer. You will be discussed anonymously. 
5. Each session with last 50 minutes. We will do our utmost to keep to a regular time           and date.  Payment is required no less that 24 hours prior to an agreed session/plan. Please give 24 hours’ notice for non-attendance when possible, cancellations with less warning will be charged. Please contact us if you are going to be late. 
6. We can provide upon request our CV, professional indemnity insurance, reference and Social Work England and BASW registration. 

Lead for safeguarding and child protection 

Name: Kelly Johnson M.A BSc (HONS) 

Social Work England Registration SW9915 | Registered with the Independents Directory of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). 

Email: kelly@repairingtrauma.co.uk

Useful links:

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Authority 

Name: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership Board

Link to make a referral: Professionals – Making a Referral | Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership Board (safeguardingcambspeterborough.org.uk)

Phone/email: 0345 045 5203 Open 24/7 

Adult Services Cambridgeshire County Council: 0345 045 5202 or complete a referral online: via link above. Report concerns about an Adult at Risk – Cambridgeshire County Council Peterborough City Council: 01733 747474 Emergency Duty Team (Out of Hours) 01733 234724.

Reviewed on 22/03/25 by: 

Kelly Johnson M.A BSc (Hons)