Community for First Steps

Safeguarding

How we protect young people on Community — and where our role ends and the placement business's begins.

Last updated: [DATE]

1. OUR STARTING POINT

Community connects 16-24 year olds — including under-18s — with local businesses offering work experience. That makes safeguarding a design requirement, not an afterthought. This page explains the protections built into the platform, and is honest about what we do not control.

2. PROTECTIONS BUILT INTO THE PLATFORM

  • Every business is verified by a human before any student can see it. We check company details against official records; unverified businesses are invisible to applicants.

  • A business cannot browse or contact students. It only sees an applicant when that applicant chooses to apply to it.

  • Direct contact opens only after a formal offer is made through the platform — and those conversations happen on-platform, where our admin team can review and act on reports.

  • Every application receives status updates, so no young person is left chasing strangers for answers.

  • Anyone — student, parent, adviser or business — can report a concern at any time, and every report is reviewed by our admin team.

3. WHERE OUR ROLE ENDS — BE CLEAR-EYED

Community is an introduction platform, not a school or an agency. We do not attend, supervise or inspect placements, and we do not carry out DBS checks on businesses or their staff — verification confirms a business is real, not that a workplace has been vetted for regulated activity. The business providing a placement is responsible for the young person's supervision and welfare while they are there, and for meeting its own legal obligations. We encourage applicants to involve a parent, guardian or adviser before starting any placement, and schools arranging placements should apply their own checks and procedures as they would for any employer.

4. IF SOMETHING FEELS WRONG

If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise: use Report a concern and our team will review it promptly; you can also contact us at [SAFEGUARDING EMAIL]. Young people can talk to Childline free on 0800 1111 at any time. Depending on what we find, we may remove listings, suspend accounts, and pass information to the police or local safeguarding services where the law allows or requires.

5. THE COMMITMENT

No feature ships on Community if it weakens these protections. If you are a school, parent or adviser and want to ask anything about this page, contact us — we would rather answer a hard question early.