Children and young people

Who are we?

We are the Local Safeguarding Children Partnership, or ‘LSCP’ for short. It is our job to make sure that organisations in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster work together to keep children and young people safe.

All children and young people have the right to be safe in all of the environments they spend time in. Environments such as home, school, clubs, places you practice your faith, and out in your local communities. As adults, it is our responsibility to keep you safe from harm wherever you are.

It is up to parents, carers, social workers, teachers, nurses and doctors, police officers, and people like your sports coaches and mentors to ensure you are safe from harm and support you to build the great future you deserve.

What does ‘safeguarding’ mean?

Safeguarding means keeping children and young people safe from harm. Safeguarding also means supporting children and young people to feel happy, be healthy, have a safe place to live, be cared for by adults who they can trust, and get the education they deserve.


What do we mean by ‘harm’?

There are different forms of harm that children and young people can experience. There are some examples below, but there are lots of other examples that may not be listed.

Physical abuse: This means an adult deliberately hurting a child or young person. This includes hitting, kicking, throwing, pushing, or using an object. A child or young person may have a physical injury as a result, like a bruise, a cut or a red mark. If a child or young person doesn’t have an injury, physical abuse is still wrong. 

Emotional abuse: This means a child or young person being made to feel scared, guilty, put down or humiliated by an adult. This also includes a child or young person not being comforted and reassured when they need it. Sometimes adults are busy and can’t provide comfort and reassurance in the moment, but do later on. When adults always ignore a child or young person’s emotions or do it at a particularly difficult time in their life, that’s when a child or young person may need some extra support.

Sexual abuse: This means a child or young person being forced to engage in sex or sexual touching, or forced to watch sexual activity in person, in photos, or in videos. This can happen to anyone. It can happen between children and young people, or it can be done by an adult.

Neglect: This means a child or young person not being provided with the physical and/or emotional care and supervision they need. This includes not having enough food and water, not having a safe place to live, or being left alone at home and in the community before they are ready to be. Sometimes adults are unable to afford to give children and young people everything they need, or can’t always be there because they have to work. Though sometimes adults don’t mean to be neglectful, it is still important that children and young people don’t expect this.

Getting help

If you have a problem or you are worried about someone else having a problem, you are not alone and there are people who want to help you.

You can call a social worker. They are there to listen to what you have to say and can work with you, your family and other professionals in your life to try and change things for the better.

In an emergency call the police on 999.

How you can get involved

The LSCP always wants to hear from children and young people that live or go to school in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. If you want to find out how you can get involved in the work we do, please contact:

Emma Biskupski
[email protected]
07779 348 094

Victoria Harris
[email protected]
07739315388