In this blog, Delphine Peace looks back on the networking hopes the Contextual Safeguarding team had in its infancy, and the how the work of the GCCS's incredible Local Area Interest Network continues to share and implement Contextual Safeguarding across the UK.
When we first launched the Contextual Safeguarding website - back then called the Contextual Safeguarding Network - we hoped to get 100 individuals to sign up to receive news from us. Fast forward 10 years, and we’re now working with 100 local authorities across England, Wales and Scotland - over a quarter of all local authorities across the three nations! Our Local Area Interest Network (LAIN) brings together 132 strategic leads and 366 practice champions from these authorities who are all implementing Contextual Safeguarding. Suffice to say, it’s grown way beyond anything we would have imagined.
Strategic leads and practice champions meet regularly in regional groups online to share progress, ideas and challenges, explore opportunities to work together and stay connected with our research. If you have come across our work before, or heard us speak, you may remember we often say: ‘Contextual Safeguarding is a journey. No one has it all figured out.’ While many leaders and practitioners describe Contextual Safeguarding as exciting and ‘common sense’, embedding it into practice, systems, structures and organisational cultures is no small feat. Our research shows a clear need for peer support and safe spaces where professionals can learn from each other and stay motivated - especially while responding to rapidly changing extra-familial harm, shrinking resources, and ongoing sector reform.
That’s where the LAIN really comes into its own. Members often tell us how reassuring it is to connect with others and realise they’re not alone. It’s a space to pause, reflect, share tools and ideas - and celebrate the small wins (which are never that small).
So, what do people get from the LAIN? Who better to ask than some of the members themselves?
“Our South West LAIN group has a fantastic chair committed to holding the space for us to come together and share experiences, learning, ideas and the inevitable challenges and frustrations. We have supported each other with practical queries, shared policy documents and contacts, and most importantly reflected together on system approaches that actually help keep children, young people and communities safer. While we come with different locality contexts - from urban cities to rural and coastal local authorities - the opportunity to connect regionally and problem-solve around our shared aims is incredibly valuable and provides much needed peer support.” Lisa Colombi, Dorset Council
“Our LAIN group brings together a network of motivated practitioners across Scotland who can share resources and thematic learning to improve communication and upstream our activities to safeguard young people. Having recently undertaken an in-depth questionnaire, we have brought together key themes to raise collectively at government level to help join the dots across policy areas; which should support better needs-led and targeted resources in the longer term. Contributors are keen to learn from one another and the environment is supportive to this.” Nicole Savage, North Lanarkshire Council
“Our London Contextual Safeguarding champions group is a space where colleagues share what young people are telling us - in words and through their behaviour - and where we then explore emerging themes across boroughs. People often say the biggest value is the reassurance of knowing they’re not alone in the challenges they’re facing. Delphine from the GCCS joins us too, and her updates are a brilliant reminder of the wider resources available. For me, the cross‑borough connections have been invaluable. Young people travel, and having trusted contacts in neighbouring areas makes a real difference to how joined-up our responses can be. We alternate meeting days to keep the group accessible. I think that diversity really strengthens the conversations.” Cat White, London Borough of Ealing
“In the West Midlands, the champions group helps us to share and learn from progress and pitfalls, and provides us all with help and encouragement. We made links with the neighbouring network members in the East Midlands, which has helped us consider different ways of partnership working, and has been helpful to look at how things have been developed outside of the West Midlands Police Force area. We have all recently been sharing progress and resources we’ve developed around the Risk Outside The Home (ROTH) pathway. This sharing is supported by input from the GCCS team too, so helps us learn from other sites and prevent duplication; practically, it also helps us understand how and who is leading the work in neighbouring authorities, which, as young people travel freely across local authority areas, is essential to understand.” Denise Lewis, Solihull Safeguarding Children Partnership
“The LAIN in Wales is in its infancy; however, it helps those who are developing their Contextual Safeguarding approach at different stages to learn from each other. It offers a great opportunity to check in with the GCCS to learn about new developments, as well as to share resources and build partnerships across the country.” Kelly Shannon, Swansea Council
For us, the GCCS team, it’s incredibly inspiring and rewarding to see Contextual Safeguarding come to life through the passion, persistence and creativity of the people doing this work every day. We are deeply grateful to our members and excited about the next chapters of this journey together.
You can find out more about our Local Area Interest Network, including how to join here. And if you have any further queries, contact the GCCS here.