Voluntary Sector & Faith Groups

Strategy for dealing with safeguarding issues in charities
The Charity Commission for England and Wales believes safeguarding should be a priority for all charities, not just those working with groups traditionally considered at risk.

The Charity Commission has produced report which sets out:

• the responsibilities of trustees of charities with regard to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children who may come into contact with the charity
• deals with trustees’ responsibilities and duties and the Charity Commission’s regulatory role and risk based approach
• outlines the Charity Commission’s four strand approach: awareness and prevention; oversight and supervision; co-operation; and intervention.

Find the report on the government website www.gov.uk/strategy-for-dealing-with-safeguarding-issues-in-charities

Faith-based groups and places of worship play a major role in the lives of many children and young people in the city. This means safeguarding must be a key consideration in all faith settings.

Faith Associates have produced a Handbook for Madrassah Management and Safeguarding which accompanies and compliments its ‘Management Guide for Mosques and Islamic Centres’.

The handbook is intended to be a clear guide to help Mosque and Madrassah management and staff successfully run their institution and contains practical advice including the legal requirements that must be observed when dealing with young people.

The resource provides advice and guidance on how to instigate good management styles, improve record keeping, build on good teaching and promote good practice.

Download the guide from their website at www.faithassociates.co.uk/publications/madrassah-management-and-safeguarding/

The NSPCC multi-faith safeguarding hub includes video statements, stories and texts, case scenarios and examples of good practice – find these on their website at www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/safeguarding/

The NSPCC have produced a series of films on how to protect children within religious or faith settings; the films are aimed at people working in faith settings and places of worship across the UK to help them keep children safe and can be found on their website at www.nspcc.org.uk

The Inter Faith Network has produced guidance and briefings to help build good relations and promote mutual respect and understanding between people of different faiths and beliefs – find out more on their website at www.interfaith.org.uk

Living Faiths has developed a series of digital resources aims to show how faiths are practised and lived in people’s daily lives; these can be used to inform students and to encourage discussion and debate. Find these resources on their website at global.oup.com/living-faiths

The Happy Cultural planner lists religious festivals throughout the year; view it at https://www.happy.co.uk/festivals

RE:Online also provide a religious festivals calendar available at www.reonline.org.uk/festivals-calendar/

Organisations must ensure their Child Protection policies and procedures are up to date and in line with current legislation. It is important to have clear, up-to-date guidelines to make sure your organisation deals with child protection concerns effectively.

The NSPCC had provided templates to either develop or update procedures – visit their website at www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/safeguarding  and www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/safeguarding/writing-a-safeguarding-policy/

The NSPCC also hosts an excellent online safeguarding tool at safeguardingtool.nspcc.org.uk  where organisations can carry out a self assessment of their policies and procedures and access resources.

Voluntary works (a consortium of organisations working to promote and support the voluntary and community sector in Bedfordshire) has a useful website at www.voluntaryworks.org

The DCFS Guidance for safer working practice for adults who work with children and young people (January 2009) can be found at webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk

This is a generic guidance document which complements existing procedures, protocols and guidance relating to specific roles, responsibilities or professional practices. The guidance provides clear advice on appropriate and safe behaviours for all adults working with children in paid or unpaid capacities, in all settings and in all contexts. It aims to:

• keep children safe by clarifying which behaviours constitute safe practice and which should be avoided
• assist adults working with children to do so safely and responsibly, and to monitor their own standards and practice
• support managers and employers in setting clear expectations of behaviour and codes of practice
• support employers in giving a clear message that unlawful or unsafe behaviour is unacceptable and that, where appropriate, disciplinary or legal action will be taken
• support safer recruitment practice
• minimise the risk of misplaced or malicious allegations made against adults who work with children
• reduce the incidence of positions of trust being abused or misused.

DBS and Barred List Checks
For the most up to date advice visit the government website at www.gov.uk

Safeguarding for trustees
Resources for anyone who is a trustee, director, board member, governor or committee member of a charity, trust or association that works with children are avail on the NSPCC website at www.nspcc.org.uk/are-they-safe/

Children England is the leading membership organisation for the children, young people and families’ voluntary sector. Their mission is: “To create a fairer world for children, young people and families by championing the voluntary organisations which work on their behalf.”  Visit their website at www.childrenengland.org.uk/ to find out more.

Shelter has published a report examining the impact of the private rental market on children’s well-being. In England, 1 in 5 families rent privately with tenancy contracts lasting no longer than 6 or 12 months. The survey of 4000 private renters reveals that 44% of parents believe their children would have a better childhood if they had more stable accommodation; 13% believe their children are distressed by frequent moves with 1 in 8 families reporting that they have to ‘sofa surf’ with friends and family when they are between rental contracts. The report can be found on the Shelter website at england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources

The majority of children who take part in sport do so in a safe and helpful atmosphere, with genuine support from the adults involved. But for the small minority of children who are abused during sporting activities, the picture is very different. We need to ensure that preventative steps are taken and that clear processes for reporting concerns are established.

The Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) is a partnership between the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Sport England, Sport Scotland, Sports Council for Northern Ireland and The Sports Council for Wales. The CPSU’s mission is to safeguard the welfare of children and young people under 18 in sport and to promote their well-being – find out more on their website at thecpsu.org.uk

CPSU case management model – covers: safeguarding awareness, referring concerns and risk assessment – for more information visit thecpsu.org.uk/case-management

CPSU safe sport events management tool – covers: creating a safe environment, roles and responsibilities and responding to concerns – for more information visit thecpsu.org.uk/event-management

CPSU self-assessment tool – organisations can use this to check that they are doing everything they can to keep children and young people safe in sport – visit their website at thecpsu.org.uk/self-assessment-tool for the self assessment toolkit.

CPSU Online safety and social media policy template is an ‘exemplar’ of an online safety and social media policy for use by sports clubs and organisations that work whose members include children and young people.  This useful document outlines expectations in relation to communication between members, staff, parents, boundaries relating to privacy and management of the organisations on-line presence.  The template can be used to get an idea of the types of things that need to be included and can form the basis of your own policy.  Everyone in your organisation, including staff, children and parents should read the policy and agree to its terms.

Find out more and view the template on the CPSU website at thecpsu.org.uk/sample-online-safety-policy

CPSU parents resource brings together information about getting parents involved in sport and how they can encourage children’s safe participation in sport – find out more at thecpsu.org.uk/parents

NSPCC
For information on safe sport events, activities and competitions visit their website at ww.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding

The NSPCC has published guidance for parents on how to spot the signs of child sexual abuse. It sets out the signs that might indicate a child is being sexually abused, and where to go for information, support and advice. For this guidance visit their website at  www.nspcc.org.uk/what-protecting-child-sexual-abuse.pdf

Safeguarding Children in Golf
Safeguarding Children in Golf (SCiG) is a network of industry groups in the UK and Ireland.  Their mission is to ensure instructors, volunteers and anyone else working with children are using best safeguarding practice. Its work is facilitated by the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit – for more information visit their website at www.childreningolf.org

Swimming
Visit the Swim England website at www.swimming.org for more information for swimming clubs.

Football
A club or league which involves anyone under the age of 18  needs to ensure it has the appropriate safeguards in place.

The Football Association has a Safeguarding Children programme, which provides information and support to help put this in place. Locally there is a network of Welfare Officers based at County Football Associations and a comprehensive education programme – find out more on the FA website at www.thefa.com

Safeguarding covers everything from sideline abuse – swearing and bullying – to serious sexual abuse. The site includes useful downloads which provide more detailed information on the Welfare Officer role, policies and procedures.

Health and Safety
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has a dedicated section on their website to help event organisers run events safely. This is a world class resource with step-by-step guides, downloadable documents like the purple and green guides and links through to relevant external bodies and organisations – visit the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/event-safety

The Purple Guide is an event safety guide has been written by The Events Industry Forum in consultation with the events industry. Its aim is to help those event organisers who manage health and safety, particularly at large-scale music and similar events – find this guide on the website at www.thepurpleguide.co.uk

The Green Guide is specific to safety at sporting events and managing crowds safely. It also provides information on ground management, technical specialists and all relevant authorities – find the guide on their website at www.safetyatsportsgrounds.org.uk

To find out about police services and charges at events visit the government website at www.gov.uk/the-can-do-guide-to-organising-and-running-voluntary-and-community-events

In Manchester visit the City Council website at www.manchester.gov.uk/organising_events

More information is available in our events & festivals resource.

Our resource hub will provide the most recent policy and procedure documents; or links to the on-line system for procedures relating to children’s safeguarding.

Changes to DBS and Barred List Checks
For the most up to date advice visit the government website www.gov.uk