Designated Safeguarding Lead

What will you be doing?

Pitchstone Music is a growing music charity based in Leytonstone, East London, delivering inclusive chamber music concerts, schools projects, relaxed family events, SEND-specific workshops, community participatory projects and programmes. 

As our organisations grows we are looking for an experienced volunteer Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) to oversee safeguarding across the whole organisation, supporting the safeguarding leads within individual projects and helping us to embed excellent safeguarding practices throughout all areas of our work. 

This is a strategic and advisory role rather than a front-line delivery role. The volunteer will work closely with the Artistic Director and trustees to help to build a strong safeguarding culture across the organisation, and also be the person that safeguarding leads within projects report to. This would be a perfect role for someone with experience in this field that is retired and has a love of music and a passion for creating joy and togetherness in groups. 

Key responsibilities may include:

• acting as the organisation’s overarching Designated Safeguarding Lead
• Advising project safeguarding leads and supporting escalation procedures where necessary
• Reviewing and strengthening safeguarding policies and procedures
• Helping ensure safeguarding compliance across projects involving children, young people, vulnerable adults, SEND participating volunteers, artists, and community partners.
• Advising on safe recruitment practices and safeguarding training needs
• Supporting the organisation in developing appropriate reporting structures and record-keeping processes
• Offering guidance around safeguarding awareness into organisational culture as Pitchstone Music grows
• Advising trustees and leadership on safeguarding responsibilities and best practice
• Potentially supporting the development of future safeguarding training or induction materials for volunteers and musicians

Pitchstone Music believes that access to high-quality artistic experiences should be safe, inclusive, welcoming and accessible to everyone. We are still in our early days but we have plans to work with diverse communities including families, young children, SEND audiences, older adults at risk of isolation, and refugee-asylum-seeking communities.

We are looking for someone who can help us build safeguarding systems that are compassionate, thoughtful, proportionate, and robust, while remaining sensitive to the creative and community-centred nature of our work.

The role can largely be carried out remotely, with occasional online meetings and optional attendance at selected events if desired.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for a volunteer with significant safeguarding experience who can help Pitchstone Music build strong, thoughtfully, and proportionate safeguarding practice as our organisation grows.

We are ideally looking for a person that has experience in one or more of the following areas:

• safeguarding leadership within charities, schools, arts organisations, community organisations, healthcare, social care, youth services, or similar settings
• Acting as a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or deputy DSL
• Safeguarding children, young people, and/ore vulnerable adults
• Advising organisations on safeguarding policy, governance, and safer working practices
• Supporting safeguarding culture across teams and volunteers

We would particularly welcome applicants whouncderstand the importance of balancing robust safeguardgin with warmth, inclusion, accessibility, and sensitivity in creative and communtiy settings.

Important qualities include:

• Strong safeguarding knowledge and judgement
• Discretion, integrity and professionalism
• Good listening and communication skills
• The ability to advise and support others with empathy and clarity
• Confidence working at both strategic and practical levels
• An understanding of confidentiality and appropriate escalation
• A collaborative working style and willingness to support a growing charity constructively

Experience of working with any of the following would be really valuable:

• SEND and neurodivergent communities
• Arts and cultural organisations
• Schools or music education
• Community outreach projects
• Volunteer-led organisations
• Refugee or asylum-seeking organisations
• Trauma-informed practice
• Child protection
• Adult safeguarding
• Compliance

The role would suit someone who enjoys helping organisations develop strong foundations and who believes in the importance of safe, inclusive access to arts and culture

As Pitchstone Music is still growing organisationally we are looking for someone who is comfortable helping to shape systems and processes collaboratively, rather than stepping into a fully established structure from day one.

What difference will you make?

Pitchstone Music exists to break down barriers to accessing world-class classical music and to create meaningful shared experiences within the community. Our projects increasingly involve work with children, families, SEND audiences, vulnerable adults, refugees and asylum seekers, schools, and community partners. As our reach expands, safeguarding oversight at organisational level is becoming essential.

The volunteer Designated Safeguarding Lead will help us to move from project-by-project safeguarding towards a joined-up organisational safeguarding culture. Their guidance will help to ensure that safeguarding is embedded consistently, thoughtfully, and professionally across all areas of our work.

This role will directly support:

• safer and more inclusive experiences for participants, audiences, musicians, volunteers and partners
• Stronger governance and organisational resilience
• Increased confidence among schools, parents, community organisations, and funders
• Improved safeguarding structures for volunteers and project safeguarding leads
• The long-term sustainability and credibility of the organisation

The person in this role will have the opportunity to shape safe-guarding practice within an ambitious and fast-growing music charity that is committed to accessibility, inclusion, community wellbeing and artistic excellence.

By helping us strengthen safeguarding systems now, the person in this role will contribute to the future development of a community organisation working to make high-quality music accessible to people who may have traditionally been excluded from it.

Before you apply

Please send us a short message outlining your safeguarding experience and why this interested you, together with your CV and/or your LinkedIn profile.

Applicants will be invited for informal online conversation with members of the Pitchstone Music leadership team.

If you have experience of safeguarding leadership, policy development, or DSL responsibilities within charities, education arts, community, healthcare, or social care settings, we would love to hear from you.

As this is a safeguarding leadership role, references and an enhanced DBS check may be required before making an appointment. We’ll review applications as the come in and early applications are very welcome and encouraged.