| Owner | Who it applies to | Approved by | Version | Date | Next review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive Officer | Everyone who works or volunteers for NSEMM, trustees and contractors | Adrian Angol-Henry (CEO) and Socks Ansell (COO and CEdO), trustees, 23/10/2026; to be confirmed by all trustees at the next trustee meeting | 1.0 | 23/10/2026 | October 2027 by the trustees (C2, trustees only), and whenever a policy it points to changes |
Part C, for the trustees and whoever handles a concern, is on a separate restricted page: Whistleblowing Policy: trustees' procedures.
If you work or volunteer for The National Society for Education, Mentoring and Media (NSEMM), or are a trustee or contractor, and you think something wrong is happening at NSEMM, tell us.
Whistleblowing is about wrongdoing that affects others or the public.
Report it if you reasonably believe any of these is happening, has happened or is likely to happen:
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 first.
Raise a concern by email or through Protect. We don't take whistleblowing concerns by post.
| Way | Where | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Protect form | The Protect form (Safeguarding Policy, section A2): choose Whistleblowing | Anything in A2. You can give your name or stay anonymous. The form checks whether your concern is covered by the law and shows the outside bodies you can also go to |
| Email the board | [email protected], the board's shared inbox. Every trustee sees it | Anything in A2, including a concern about the CEO. A trustee with no staff role leads on a concern about the CEO |
| If Protect isn't available | [email protected], or [email protected] if the concern is about the DSL | Anything in A2, while Protect is down |
If your concern is about the safeguarding of a child and involves the Designated Safeguarding Lead or the Deputy, follow the Safeguarding Policy, section A6.
You can go to a prescribed person if you don't feel able to raise it with us, or we haven't dealt with it properly.
| Body | Concern |
|---|---|
| Charity Commission (the main one for a charity) | charity governance, misuse of charity money |
| Health and Safety Executive | health and safety |
| Ofsted | education and the safeguarding of children |
| Information Commissioner's Office | data protection |
| Serious Fraud Office | serious fraud |
| HM Revenue and Customs | tax fraud |
| Environment Agency | the environment |
| Criminal Cases Review Commission | miscarriages of justice |
You can report a crime to the police at any time. The police are not a prescribed person.
You are protected when:
The law protects workers who report like this from dismissal and from being treated badly because of it. It does not cover volunteers or trustees, so NSEMM gives them the same protection. If you report a qualifying matter honestly, you will not be treated badly for it.
No contract, settlement, volunteer agreement or non-disclosure agreement can stop you making a protected disclosure. Any term that tries to is void. We don't use such terms and will not enforce one.
If you stay anonymous
If you give your name
Nobody may dismiss, discipline, demote, harass, bully, exclude or otherwise treat you worse because you raised a concern. Anyone who does is dealt with under the People Policy, section B7, and it can lead to dismissal. If it happens to you, report it in Protect or email [email protected].
Deliberately false or malicious reports may lead to disciplinary action. A concern raised honestly that turns out to be unfounded is never treated as malicious.
| Step | When |
|---|---|
| We confirm we have it, who is handling it and what happens next | Within 3 working days |
| We decide whether it falls under this policy | Within 5 working days |
| We investigate | Normally within 4 to 8 weeks |
| We tell you the outcome, as far as confidentiality allows | Within 2 weeks of the investigation ending |
| You can ask the trustees to look again | Within 10 working days of the outcome |
The outcome may be disciplinary action, a change to how we work, a referral to the police, a regulator or the Charity Commission, or no further action, with reasons.