CTO Sports acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working to provide a safe environment for all members. 

 

This policy sets out how the organisation will meet these responsibilities and give clear direction to staff, volunteers, visitors and parents about the expected behaviour and our legal responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and young people at our organisation.

 

All staff have an important role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect through their contact with children. It is important that all staff know what to do if they have any concerns. Staff will create and maintain an ethos where children are encouraged to talk and are listened to. They will have an awareness of the indicators of abuse and always take any concerns seriously. 

 

Policy statement 

 

CTO Sports has a statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and young people. This is defined as:

• protecting children from maltreatment 

• preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development 

• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care 

• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

 

All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse. Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

 

We recognise that safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone who works with children and that they are an important part of the wider safeguarding system. CTO Sports has an essential role to play to make children and young people feel safe and secure.

 

We will do this by: 

• Ensuring all staff hold an up-to-date safeguarding qualification.

• All staff have an enhanced DBS check.

• Reporting concerns to the authorities.

• Providing effective updates for all staff, ensuring training is renewed and refreshed as appropriate. 

• Appointing a nominated Designated Safeguarding Officer(s) to take lead responsibility for the successful implementation of this policy.

• Ensuring children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families know about our safeguarding policy and what to do if they have a concern.

• Building a safeguarding culture where staff, volunteers and children know how they are expected to behave and feel comfortable about sharing concerns. 

 

Our ethos 

 

CTO Sports will establish and maintain an ethos where our children feel secure, are encouraged to talk, are listened to and are safe. Children will be able to talk freely to any member of staff, volunteer or regular visitor to our organisation if they are worried or concerned about something. 

 

All staff, volunteers and regular visitors will, either through training or induction, know how to recognise a disclosure from a child and will know how to manage this. 

 

Every child will know what the adult will do with whatever they have been told. We will provide activities and opportunities that will equip our children with the skills they need to stay safe. 

 

At all times we will work in partnership and try to establish effective working relationships with parents, carers and colleagues from other agencies and organisations. 

 

CTO Sports will ensure an appropriate level of safeguarding training is available to its employees, volunteers and any relevant persons linked to the organisation who requires it (e.g. contractors). 

 

For all employees who are working or volunteering with children, this requires them as a minimum to have awareness training that enables them to: 

• Understand what safeguarding is and their role in safeguarding children. 

• Recognise a child potentially in need of safeguarding and take action. 

• Understand how to report a safeguarding alert. 

• Understand dignity and respect when working with children. 

• Have knowledge of the Safeguarding Policy. 

 

Some organisations in England, Scotland and Wales have a duty, as a specified authority under section 26 of the Counterterrorism and Security Act 2015, to identify vulnerable children and young people and prevent them from being drawn into terrorism. This is known as the Prevent duty. These organisations include: 

• Schools 

• Registered childcare providers 

• Local authorities 

• Police 

• Prisons and probation services 

• NHS trusts and foundations. 

• Other organisations may also have Prevent duties if they perform delegated local authority functions. 

 

Children can be exposed to different views and receive information from various sources. Some of these views may be considered radical or extreme.

 

Radicalisation is the process through which a person comes to support or be involved in extremist ideologies. It can result in a person becoming drawn into terrorism and is in itself a form of harm. 

 

Extremism is vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

 

There is free training provided by the Home Office https://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/edu/screen1.html 

 

Applicability 

 

This policy applies to all CTO Sports employees whether full- or part-time, on permanent or fixed-term contracts, and also to associated persons such as contractors, secondees, agency staff and volunteers. 

 

Subsidiary businesses that provide services requiring direct contact with children have their own safeguarding policies that should be read in conjunction with this one. 

 

Responsibilities

 

CTO Sports have the responsibility that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people is addressed at the very highest level and that our responsibility to meet good practice and legal obligations is addressed across all of our work. 

 

This legislation and guidance includes, but is not limited to that listed above. 

 

CTO Sports has an appointed Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) who is responsible for dealing with any concerns about the protection of children locally within their area of work. 

 

The Lead DSO is responsible for reviewing and evaluating current safeguarding practice across the organisation and ensuring that the ethos/culture of safeguarding is fully embedded across CTO Sports.

 

CTO Sports Safeguarding Officer

 

CTO Sports Designated Safeguarding Officer is Craig Osborne - craig@ctosports.com

 

The role of the designated safeguarding officer is to: 

 

• Know which outside child protection agency to contact in the event of a child protection concern coming to the notice of CTO Sports.

• Provide information and advice on child protection within CTO Sports.

• Ensure that appropriate information is available at the time of referral and that the referral is confirmed in writing under confidential cover.

• Liaise with local social services and other agencies as appropriate.

• Keep relevant people within CTO Sports informed about any action taken and any further action required; for example, disciplinary action against a member of staff.

• Ensure that a proper record is kept of any referral and action taken, and that this is kept safely and in confidence.

• Regularly review the operation of the Safeguarding Policy to ensure the procedures are working and that it complies with current best practice.

 

Reporting your concerns about the welfare of a child or young person.

 

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility if you are worried about a child it is important that you report your concerns – no action is not an option. 

 

i. If you are worried about a child then you need to report your concerns to the DSO. 

ii. If the issue is one of poor practice the DSO will either: 

• deal with the matter themselves or 

iii. If the concern is more serious – possible child abuse, where possible, immediately contact the Police or Children’s Social Care. 

iv. If the child needs immediate medical treatment take them to a hospital or call an ambulance and tell them this is a child protection concern. Let your DSO know what action you have taken.

v. If at any time you are not able to contact your DSO or the matter is clearly serious then you can either: 

• contact the Police or Children’s Social Care 

• call the NSPCC 24 hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or text 88858 or email help@nspcc.org.uk