A team of local safeguarding specialists has been recognised for being national best practice in helping support vulnerable victims.
A team of local safeguarding specialists has been recognised for being national best practice in helping support vulnerable victims.
The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs have been recognised by the new national lead for MASHs, Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Drake of South Wales Police, who wrote to team manager Paul Goundry following a National Police Chief Council workshop.
Six MASHs have been rolled out across the Northumbria Police force area, one of the first forces in the country to have a MASH for each of its local authority areas.
They each house a team of specialists from the police's safeguarding department together with representatives from local authority child and adult safeguarding boards, social services, housing, education and health who all work together in one environment to provide the best possible wrap-around care for vulnerable children and adults.
ACC Drake wrote in the letter: "I’m writing to express my sincere thanks for your support at the recent NPCC MASH workshop.
"Your contribution and honest assessment were invaluable to the discussion and will help shape the guidance document moving forward. I hope the final product will be of benefit to colleagues up and down the country by providing clear guidance to improve multi-agency working arrangements and ultimately, making the most vulnerable members of society safer.
"So once again, thank you for your valuable contribution. We are strongest when we work together and I look forward to working together within the MASH portfolio in future."
Paul Goundry, who is the MASH Manager covering Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland was delighted with the recognition for the team and is looking forward to giving a further input at the first MASH national conference in October.
Paul said: "It is fantastic to see we now have a national lead for the MASHs and to hear such encouraging feedback makes us all realise just how important our roles are here.
"The MASHs were rolled out across the Force in April 2018 and we have learnt so much from delivering such an ambitious project from start to finish. We still continue to develop all we do in the MASHs and there is never a moment of complacency - we are always looking for ways to improve.
"By coming together on a national scale, we can really open up our information sharing platform for us all to learn and create better practices when safeguarding children and vulnerable adults."
Anyone with any safeguarding concerns for a child or vulnerable adult should contact police on 101 or visit the "Tell us Something" page on our website. Always call 999 in an emergency.
