SAFEGUARDING
We are committed to ensuring that children, young people, and adults at risk can take part in physical activity and sport across Northumberland and Tyne & Wear in a safe environment.
Sport and physical activity can play a significant role in the social, emotional and physical development of young people and adults, and everyone has the right to take part free from harm.
In this section, we provide some links to useful information, advice and resources, as well as providing contact details about where you can get support if you are concerned about the safety or welfare of a child, young person or adult at risk.
We work very closely with the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and the Ann Craft Trust to continuously review and improve our safeguarding policies and practices, and we encourage and support local organisations to improve theirs too.
We also have our own safeguarding statement of commitment, endorsed by our Board of Trustees.
The importance of respecting children and young people
It is critical that all providers, coaches, leaders and parents respect children and young people when they are taking part in physical activity or sport.
It is imperative we give them an opportunity to have their say, and that we listen and act upon their views and opinions.
Above all we should all remember that children take part to enjoy it and have fun, as highlighted in the Magic Sports Kit video.
Safeguarding Policies, Procedures and Advice for Organisations and Deliverers
It is vital that all organisations involved in the delivery of physical activity and/or sport have a safeguarding policy in place that they adhere to.
Meet our Sport Welfare Officers
Our Sport Welfare Officers are developing a new local approach to assisting and supporting club welfare officers, to create safer club environments and improved experiences for young people and adults.
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A sample safeguarding children and young people policy that organisations can amend and adopt can be downloaded by clicking here.
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The CPSU have produced a ‘Check and Challenge’ resource, which is a useful document to help providers of physical activity and/or sport to ensure that children and young people are as safe as possible whilst taking part in activities. More information about the toolkit can be found here.
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The CPSU’s resource library, which can be found here, may also prove very useful. It includes information about topics such as duty of care, DBS checks, organising safe events (including virtual ones) and managing challenging behaviour.
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Many organisations locally and nationally provide training to help people and organisations to identify what constitutes poor practice and abuse, and to support organisations to improve their safeguarding policies and practices to make it a safer environment for children and young people.
The following provides some useful links to safeguarding training portals or local CVS organisations who may be able to help you to identify some of the safeguarding training available:
In addition the local authority Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Adults Boards often provide training, or links to appropriate training, too.
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Further useful advice and guidance for sport/physical activity organisations and deliverers in relation to safeguarding children, including safer recruitment, photography, online safety and information sharing, can be found on the CPSU help section here.
It should be recognised that some children and young people have additional vulnerability and are at greater risk of abuse, such as children with disabilities and LGBTQ+ young people etc, and it is important that providers create environments and cultures that are supportive and reduce the risk of harm. Further information and advice is available via the link above.
Similarly, the NSPCC Learning Portal also provides advice and guidance for voluntary and community groups, which can be accessed by clicking here.
In relation to safeguarding adults at risk, support and advice from the Ann Craft Crust for sport and physical activity organisations can be found here.
A useful video about safeguarding adults, the associated responsibilities of sport and physical activity organisations, and how safeguarding adults differs to safeguarding children can be found by clicking here.
Guidance for Parents, Children and Young People
The following pages provide useful safeguarding guidance and information for parents, children and young people:
Read guidance for children and young people
Further advice is available for parents and carers from Sport England
Useful Contacts
Find out who to contact across Northumberland and Tyne & Wear if you have any concerns about the safety or welfare of a child, young person or adult at risk.
