A safe and supportive environment enables children, young people and adults at risk to enjoy physical activity and sport.
Every adult, club and agency involved in sport can make a big difference to participants’ enjoyment of an activity by ensuring safe practices are at the heart of everything they do.
The governance around Safeguarding can be complex. In January 2018 we launched the Energise Me Safeguarding Check and Challenge Toolkit to pull together key information, contacts and guidance notes to make it easier for clubs and activity providers to tackle safeguarding head on. This can be found in the resources section below.
We have also brought together information to help answer your questions and ensure your organisation or club is following best practice.
You should have a clear set of written guidelines in place. This helps to make sure that you’re equipped to deal with safeguarding concerns effectively.
If you are affiliated then your governing body will have guidance you need to follow to help shape you policy. They will also tell you what procedures you need to have in place.
If you are not affiliated, both Sport England via Club Matters and the Child Protection in Sport Unit have generated lots of easy to access resources, guidance and advice. If you engage only with Adults (those 18+) The Ann Craft Trust is a good place to start.
The following are areas that should be covered within your policy:
Since August 2019, Sport England are no longer providing general support for accreditation through club mark. However, the Sport England Club Matters portal has a ‘Welfare and Safeguarding’ section which addresses Creating and Implementing Policies, Managing Welfare and Safeguarding and Managing Health and Safety.
We have a few different courses on offer that can help you better understand your role in safeguarding. These are listed in the courses section of our website.
The Child Protection in Sport Unit, the Ann Craft Trust and UK Coaching hold frequent webinars, conferences and courses that can help.
There are a number of different places you can find tools to help you put safeguarding procedures into place. We created our Check and Challenge Toolkit to pull together key information, contacts and guidance notes to make it easier for you.
If you are affiliated, your governing body will have their own procedure in place that you will need to follow. These should be used to shape your own policy. They may have templates and guidance to help you on their website.
You can also find resources to help you on the Child Protection in Sport Unit, the Ann Craft Trust and Sport England Club Matters websites.
Follow the reporting process detailed in your Safeguarding Policy.
Support is available should you need it through your governing body, statutory social care service, the NSPCC, as well as directly from the Child Protection in Sport Unit.
If you think a vulnerable individual is in immediate danger, you should call the police on 999. The welfare of the at risk person is the number one priority. You do not have to decide what is and isn’t abuse, but it is your responsibility to report concerns appropriately.
Provided that there is no immediate danger to the at risk individual then there are a number of ways you can report the concern:
This page includes all the areas that should be included in a safeguarding policy to create a safe environment.
Visit siteThe processes to use when there are concerns about possible abuse of a child or young person.
Visit siteCheck out the Club Matters and Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults video.
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