Safeguarding Policies

Safeguarding and Protecting Children

Mission Statement/Introduction

Our mission at Addicts to Athletes is to provide free fitness sessions, advice, counselling and mental health support to those who suffer or have previously suffered with addiction and/or mental health issues. We aim to remove the stigma surrounding addiction and make it a safe thing to talk about, while providing a safe, friendly, and welcoming atmosphere for its clients, staff, partners and the public.

Policy Statement

Addicts to Athletes, its trustees, volunteers, and partners believe that everyone has the right to live free from abuse or neglect regardless of age, ability or disability, sex, race, religions, ethnic ordinal, sexual orientation, marital or gender status, or substance use history. We strive to create a positive and motivating atmosphere for anybody who engages with us. Any breaches of this will be handled appropriately by the safeguarding lead. Measures and practices will be put in place to reduce the risk of such a concern arising. Protecting and safeguarding children is something all of us must do to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those who engage with us.

Scope

This policy applies to all children who have been referred to Addicts to Athletes, any children who may be engaging with us whether that’s online or through fitness sessions or counselling, as well as their parents, guardians, carers or appropriate adults.

Purpose

The aim of this document is to make clear our roles and responsibilities to safeguard and protect children and those at risk, and outlines what to do if a safeguarding issue arises. It also outlines how we will respond to concerns and reports. This document will cover:

The legislation, our commitment and procedures for safeguarding children.

Our role and responsibility for safeguarding children.

What to do or who to speak to if someone has a concern relating to the welfare of wellbeing of a child within the organisation.

Implementation

Addicts to Athletes is committed to developing and maintaining its capability to implement this policy and procedures. We will do this by:

For any volunteers or trustees that may be recruited, checks will be made to ensure they are fit for the role of working with children, adults, adults at risk, and any children who may be at risk.

We will designate a safeguarding lead, which is Jane Shannon.

This policy will be made available online via our website or given in printed form upon request of any person.

Every participating trustee and volunteer will follow the Code of Conduct

Every volunteer or trustee who works with children and/or adults at risk must also have an up-to-date safeguarding certificate, which is to be renewed every three years.

They must also hold an up-to-date enhanced DBS certificate, which is also to be renewed every three years.

Any trustee or volunteer must undertake suitable risk assessments to ensure child protection and adult safety.

If a concern is raised, the safeguarding lead must respond swiftly and take suitable action.

Roles and Responsibilities of Addicts to Athletes:

A safeguarding lead must be appointed, and they will ensure any concerns or complaints will be handled quickly and appropriately. They must liaise with the relevant bodies such as the police, agencies and/or LADO if it is needed. As a safeguarding lead, they must also ensure every volunteer and trustee is aware of the safeguarding policy and has the relevant training for their role.

Any trustees or volunteers in contact with children must have appropriate checks and certificates to ensure they are suitable for the role. Checks will be carried out by Addicts to Athletes, DBS and/or relevant bodies as instructed by the safeguarding lead.

Upon a concern of an Adult harming a child, or report that an adult may be harming a child, the LADO must be contacted immediately, as well as any other appropriate bodies such as the police.

The Swim Bike Run Leader must provide a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. All guided sessions will take place in a public place, with risk assessments and safety briefings taking place before the session. Group sessions will be organised in a way to ensure safety of participants. Substance use, bullying, racial, sexual or religious discrimination will not be tolerated, and if this happens during a session, appropriate measure will be taken.

Appropriate monitoring of online channels, chats and webpages must be made to ensure the safety and wellbeing of members, partners and anyone else who may find our content online or engage in our chats.

To protect the Data of its staff, clients and partners as per GDPR.

All trustees, staff and volunteers who are representing Addicts to Athletes must do so to the highest standard in line with the safeguarding policy.

Concerns about staff or volunteers will be raised with the Disclosure and Barring Service and relevant agencies.

Ensuring safeguarding policies and procedures are kept up to date.

The Role and Expectations of Member/Affiliate Organisations

We expect other organisations to have their own safeguarding policies, and also work to prevent any abuse or neglect that may occur to members, our staff, partners and/or the public. Details of referrals should be treated confidentially, and the data handled in a correct way as per the GDPR.

The Role and Expectations of Individual Members

Members should strive to create and maintain a positive atmosphere where everyone is free from abuse and neglect regardless of their identity. They should feel comfortable and safe to raise any concerns about Addicts to Athletes staff, and any members who they may be engaging with.

Legislation – What is Child Protection and Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

Safeguarding means:

Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment

Preventing harm to children’s health or development

Ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care

Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.

Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.

A child – is defined as a person who is aged under 18.

A child at risk – is a child who:

Is experiencing or is at risk of abuse, neglect or other kinds of harm.

Has needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs).

Is misusing substances and/or alcohol.

The conditions necessary to demonstrate a child is at risk of abuse or neglect ensures that protection is provided to those with care and support needs who also require actions to secure their safety in the future. Risk of abuse or neglect may be the consequence of one concern or a result of cumulative factors.

Harm is defined as ill treatment; this includes sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and psychological abuse.

It also includes the impairment of physical or mental health (including that suffered from seeing or hearing another person suffer ill treatment) and the impairment of physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development (including that suffered from seeing or hearing another person suffer ill treatment).

Types of harm include but are not limited to:

Physical Abuse – Hitting, slapping, over or misuse of medication, undue restraint, or inappropriate sanctions.

Emotional/psychological abuse – Threats of harm or abandonment, coercive control, humiliation, verbal or racial abuse, isolation or withdrawal from services or supportive networks, witnessing abuse of others.

Sexual Abuse - Forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening, including: physical contact, including penetrative or non-penetrative acts; non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Financial abuse – This category will be less prevalent for a child, but indicators could be, for example, not meeting their needs for care and support which are provided through direct payments, or complaints that personal property is missing.

Neglect – Failure to meet basic physical, emotional or psychological needs which is likely to result in impairment of health or development.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2014 places duties on us as a charitable association that’s run by volunteers, to ensure the safeguarding, protection and wellbeing of children.

The Care Act 2014 describes our duties as a charity, and has more information about safeguarding and protecting children. The legislation can be found here:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted

Additional Policies

We have some other policies regarding safeguarding, code of conduct and data protection. There are as such:

Safeguarding Adults

Code of Conduct

Data Protection/Privacy Policy

Whistleblowing

Recruitment and Selection

Complaints

The Safeguarding Adults policy can be found on our website. You can also find the Data protection/Privacy Policy on the website. Any other policies are available upon request. Trustees, staff and volunteers should have a copy of these policies emailed to them, and in printed form, so they are aware of the policies and manner of conduct regarding safeguarding, complaints, and data protection.

Receiving and Managing Concerns (Overview)

Every safeguarding issue is to be taken seriously, and appropriate action must be taken. Any concerns should be made to the safeguarding lead, Jane Shannon, on this contact address:

safeguarding@addictstoathletes.org

Once a concern is raised, the safeguarding lead will assess and investigate the situation, so the right outcome is reached. In addition to this, they must report any suspicion of harm to a child that was caused by and adult to LADO immediately. If necessary, or if the child is at risk of immediate harm or danger, it is the safeguarding leads duty to call the police. They also have the right to contact the Disclosure and Barring Service to raise any concerns and report any wrongdoings about the adult in question.

Data regarding concerns will be kept for adequate records, to protect children and adults at risk and prevent any future safeguarding issues. This data is to be protected as per GDPR.

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can use a variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations.

Addicts to Athletes is committed to ensuring safe and legal management of its organisation and staff. Therefore, any whistleblowing is to be considered serious and welcome, to uphold the standard of our work. Whistleblowers should feel confident and safe to raise any concerns of illegal activity, abuse or health and safety issues within the organisation, and they are to be protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

If a whistleblower feels their concerns were not taking seriously, or that the reported activity is still occurring, they should contact the relevant bodies in the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blowing-the-whistle-list-of-prescribed-people-and-bodies--2/whistleblowing-list-of-prescribed-people-and-bodies

Any whistleblower is entitled to remain anonymous in reporting their concerns and can disclose evidence to help with the investigation.

Contacts:

Safeguarding Concerns:

safeguarding@addictstoathletes.org

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)

01392 384964 - childsc.localauthoritydesignatedofficersecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

NSPCC:

0808 800 5000 - help@NSPCC.org.uk

This document was created on the 1st of January 2024, and is to be reviewed on the 1st of June 2024

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Safeguarding Adults

Mission Statement/Introduction

Our mission at Addicts to Athletes is to provide free fitness sessions, advice, counselling and mental health support to those who suffer or have previously suffered with addiction and/or mental health issues. We aim to remove the stigma surrounding addiction and make it a safe thing to talk about, while providing a safe, friendly and welcoming atmosphere for its clients, staff, partners and the public.

Policy Statement

Addicts to Athletes, its trustees, volunteers, and partners believe that everyone has the right to live free from abuse or neglect regardless of age, ability or disability, sex, race, religions, ethnic ordinal, sexual orientation, marital or gender status, or substance use history. We strive to create a positive and motivating atmosphere for anybody who engages with us. Any breaches of this will be handled appropriately by the safeguarding lead. Measures and practices will be put in place to reduce the risk of such a concern arising.

Scope

This policy applies to all members who have been referred to Addicts to Athletes, as well as any trustees, volunteers or partners. It covers anybody who has any involvement or contact with our volunteers, staff, or members of the group, and it also includes the general public due to guided sessions and wellbeing events taking place in public.

Purpose

The aim of this document is to make clear our roles and responsibilities to safeguard and protect adults and those at risk, and outlines what to do if a safeguarding issue arises. It also outlines how we will respond to concerns and reports. This document will cover:

The legislation, our commitment and procedures for safeguarding adults

Our role and responsibility for safeguarding adults

What to do or who to speak to if someone has a concern relating to the welfare of wellbeing of an adult within the business.