Making Safeguarding Personal in Tenders: It’s About People, Not Paperwork
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Too often, safeguarding tender answers sound the same. They quote legislation. They reference the Care Act. They list training and policy documents. But none of that tells commissioners one simple thing:
Do you make safeguarding personal?
For people reading your bid, it’s not enough to say you have a policy. They want to know what that policy looks like in practice. How staff make decisions. What you say in conversations with people. How concerns are escalated. What language is used. How people feel safe — not just that they're labelled "safe" on paper.
Here’s how to show it:
- Describe real actions staff take to check in with people’s emotional safety — not just physical harm
- Explain how you involve people in decisions about risk, support, and what “safe” means to them
- Reference staff culture and communication — how safe it feels to speak up
- Show that safeguarding isn't top-down — it's embedded, day-to-day, and person-led
In one tender I worked on, we included a story about a support worker who spotted subtle changes in a person’s behaviour that led to early intervention. That story got picked up in feedback as the best part of the answer.
Why? Because it made safeguarding real.
If your tender answers are full of "what" but light on "how," bring in those human details. Think about tone. Think about voice. Think about safety not as a checklist, but as a lived experience.
And above all, make it personal — because that’s what safeguarding is really about.
Written by Mike Harrison, Founder of Impact Guru Ltd — specialists in bid writing and strategy for social care providers