Associated page: Vulnerable Adults Policy

Quadrant Leisure CIC has a duty of care to safeguard all children involved in our activities from harm. All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account. We ensure that all volunteers who come into contact with children comply with the DBS certification scheme.

A child is defined as under l8 years (Children Act 1989)

The aim of the Child Protection Policy is to promote good practice

Providing access to an associated network of support

Providing children and young people with appropriate safety and protection at all times

Allow all staff and / or volunteers to make an informed and confident response to specific child protection issues.

The Code of Conduct

Respect the dignity and spirit of all members, including children and young adults.
Treat all members fairly.
Encourage a supportive and positive environment to promote healthy competition, skill development, fun and achievement.
Avoid contact or conduct that may be interpreted or defined as inappropriate.
Do not take part in or tolerate behaviour that frightens, embarrasses or demoralises a child or that negatively affects their self esteem.
Do not tolerate acts of aggression.
Work towards eliminating harassment and abuse from sports environments.
Be prepared to intervene if a child or young person under 18 is being abused or neglected.
Adherence to The Club policies and procedures.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. We all have a responsibility to safeguard children, 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.

Defining Child Abuse

Child abuse is any form of physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment or lack of care that leads to injury or harm.

There are four main types of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. An individual may abuse or neglect a child directly, or may be responsible for abuse because they fail to prevent another person harming that child.

As an organisation, we promise that every effort will be made to ensure the welfare of the child is never compromised and Quadrant Leisure recognise their duty of care to the child. We also have a duty of care to all members, including volunteers. We provide an overview of our policy on certain areas as we accept no two situations are the same.

Bullying & Racism

Bullying, racism and other types of discrimination are forms of child abuse, even though those responsible are often young people. We recognise the impact and extent of bullying and discrimination in the lives of young people and we will not accept or tolerate any person who participates in this activity.

Physical Assault

Where an act, or accusation of an act, of physical assault in any form is brought to our attention the appropriate authorities will be informed without exception and all matters relating to alleged incident therein shall be dealt with by the outside authority and not by us. The member under investigation may face immediate suspension unless advised otherwise by the authorities.

Verbal Abuse

We do not accept the use of any foul, abusive or racist language from any person (s). Whilst we recognise there is no actual government legislation specifically targeting a situation whereby a child may overhear or be in the vicinity of, any person (s) using foul or unacceptable language, we as a club may only be in a position to deal with certain situations as a matter of discipline and not as a Child Protection issue.

Internal Enquiries and Suspensions

An internal enquiry will always take place if a suspected child protection issue occurs involving a member of staff.
An internal enquiry shall be presented to our nominated welfare officer or committee
No person (s) under investigation, or their relatives, may form part of the committee, or be involved in the investigation in any form other than for the provision of evidence.
The welfare Officer will make an immediate decision about whether any individual accused of abuse should be temporarily suspended pending further police and social services involvement or internal investigation.
Irrespective of the findings of the social services or police inquiries The committee will assess all individual cases to decide whether a member of staff or volunteer can be reinstated and how this can be sensitively handled. This may be a difficult decision; particularly where there is insufficient evidence to uphold any action by the appropriate authorities.
The committee must reach a decision based upon the available information which could suggest that on a balance of probability; it is more likely than not that the allegation is true. The welfare of the child should remain of paramount importance throughout.
The committee shall have the power to terminate the contract of a staff member when, in its opinion, it would not be in the interests of Quadrant Leisure CIC for them to remain a member.
An appeal against any decision by the committee may be made to the Business Director in writing, in accordance with the Complaints Procedure.

Reporting Child Abuse

In all cases any report submitted to Quadrant Leisure CIC will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.

You may contact us by email, post, text or phone call using the following details

John Willie Sams Centre, Market Street, Dudley, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE23 7HS.

admin @ quadrantleisure.org

If a child discloses abuse, this information requires immediate sharing with Quadrant Leisure’s Designated Safeguarding Lead

Basic guidelines for dealing with disclosures
Remember that the child’s welfare and interests must be always the paramount consideration.
Listen carefully and actively to the child. At this stage there is no necessity to ask questions. Let the child guide the pace.
Do not show shock at what you are hearing. This may discourage the child from continuing their disclosure as they will feel that the adult receiving the information is unable to cope with what they are hearing and may be thinking badly of the child.
Do not investigate. If you need to clarify what is being said and whether the child is at risk, ask open questions (TED, what, when, who, how, where, do you want to tell me anything else? etc.) but only to the point of clarification being achieved. Avoid the question ‘why?’ as this can imply guilt / responsibility on the child.
Stay calm and reassure the child that they have done the right thing in talking to you.
Never promise to keep a secret or confidentiality. You have a duty to ensure the information is passed on to DCPC and possibly other agencies in order to keep the child safe. If a child requests confidentiality, use a ‘prepared’ response, such as ‘I’m really concerned about what you have told me and I have a responsibility to help ensure that you are safe. To help make sure you are safe, I have to tell someone (name person) who will know how to help us to do this’. Make sure the child understands what will happen next with their information.
Record factually what the child has told you or what you have observed as soon as possible. Ensure records include the date, time, place of disclosure, behaviour and words used by the child. Failure to accurately record information or writing down your ‘interpretation’ of the child’s account may lead to inadmissible evidence.
If you have seen bruising or an injury, use a body map to record details. Again ensure that the map is dated and attached to information relating to the child’s comments about the injury.
Tell your DCPC as soon as possible but do not ask the child to repeat what they have told you to another staff member. This is stressful for the child. The more times a child is asked to tell their story the greater the chance of the facts becoming lost and any subsequent investigation being compromised.
Do not gossip to other staff about what you have heard. The information should remain confidential to those who ‘need to know’.
Maintain contact with the child. They have trusted you enough to ‘tell’, will need to know that they are not rejected as a result and may need continued support.
Ensure that you have support for yourself in managing the information you have received.

NOTE: Disclosures relating to allegations against colleagues and members of staff should be treated in the same way. This information must be passed immediately to the directors or DSL who will contact the LADO and ensure the appropriate procedures are followed.

If you think a child is in immediate danger

Don’t delay – call the police on 999.

Call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 or visit their website https://www.nspcc.org.uk

Contact the local authority

Newcastle City Council

North Tyneside Council

http://northtyneside.gov.uk

This document was last reviewed: 31/11/2022