Safeguarding Policy

Mission Statement

The Game Change Project is a not for profit organisation based near Newtown, Powys, Mid Wales. We support young people to raise their aspirations, build confidence and improve well-being by taking part in fun and engaging outdoor activities.

Our board of directors is committed to safeguarding young people, volunteers and other vulnerable people who use our services. We work alongside Powys County Council to ensure robust safeguarding practise as part of the Powys Children and Young People’s framework.

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is a term describing how we protect adults and children from abuse or neglect.

It is about protecting people who may be in vulnerable circumstances and maybe at risk of abuse and neglect due to another’s actions or lack of action.

Safeguarding is carried out as collaboration between organisations, public services and local authorities.

To whom does it apply?

In Wales, Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 is the latest legislation covering safeguarding, in force from April 2016 and applies to:

Children - a person aged under 18 years. (in certain circumstances children’s legal rights can apply to a person up to the age of 25; who has a learning disability or who has been looked after by a local authority at any time after reaching the age of 16)

Vulnerable Adults – someone who is over 18 and has the dependency on others for the performance of or the requirement for assistance in basic functioning, a severe impairment in communication ability or a reduced ability to protect themselves from abuse, assault or neglect.

The Game Change Project works with children and young people as part of its activities. These include providing training and work related activities to improve confidence and life skills. These activities include digger driving, basic mechanics and equine handling.

We also provide confidence building activities for ex service personnel and involve volunteers in the delivery of activities.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

To protect children and young people who receive The Game Change Project’s services. This includes the children of adults who use our services.
To provide parents, staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

Anyone working on behalf of The Game Change Project, including senior managers, directors and the board of trustees, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students have a duty with respect to safeguarding. Vulnerable individuals could include: children, young people, adults with learning difficulties or physical disability, frail, elderly people and their carers.

They should respond to any concerns raised regarding the physical, sexual, emotional or psychological safety of a vulnerable person or concerns relating to discrimination against, or violation or exploitation of, a vulnerable person. This policy is in place to protect all people regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, religion or faith.

Principles

We believe that:

Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

The welfare of the child or vulnerable adult is paramount and is the responsibility of everyone.
All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have the right to protection from abuse, whether physical, verbal, sexual, financial, bullying, exclusion or neglect. Bullying, shouting, physical violence, sexism and racism towards users not be permitted or tolerated.
Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

Valuing, listening to and respecting them
Developing child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures which reflect best practice
Using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately
Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment.
Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures.
Sharing information about child protection and safeguarding best practice with children, their families, staff and volunteers.
Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures.
Implementing a code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately.
Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place The Game Change Project CIC Safeguarding policy.
Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
Recording and storing information professionally and securely.

Policy Statement

No director, employee, contractor, committee member or other volunteer will have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults unless they have been through a safe recruitment procedure and Child Protection or Vulnerable Adults Protection introductory training.

All suspicions or allegations of abuse against a vulnerable adult or child will be taken seriously and dealt with speedily and appropriately.

All directors, employees, contractors, committee members or other volunteers need to be aware of this policy and should be offered introductory training where appropriate.

There will be a nominated Safeguarding officer to whom any suspicions or concerns should be reported.

The nominated Safeguarding Officers are Claire Miller and Andrew Coppin.

The nominated Safeguarding officer will have responsibility for reporting concerns that arise, as a matter of urgency, to the appropriate agency of the local authority or the police.

The representative may choose to have a confidential discussion with others in order to clear up any misunderstandings or to corroborate and support any suspicions before reporting a concern to an external agency.

The nominated person should:

Know who to contact in Social Services for advice and referrals
Know about helplines and other sources of help for children and young people and vulnerable adults
Ensure that there is an environment in which people have the opportunity to raise any concerns relating to the welfare of young or vulnerable users.
All Local Authorities in Wales have their own contact for safeguarding issues. In Powys it is ASSIST (formerly PPD) Tel: 01597 828649.

Dealing with disclosures

If a child or adult at risk tells you that they are being abused, or if an allegation is raised by a third party, the following steps should be followed:

Try not to appear shocked and show that you accept what they are saying and that you take their allegation seriously. Listen carefully and sympathetically and bear in mind communication in relation to age or any learning disabilities.
Do not prompt or ask leading questions.
Explain what action you must take i.e. immediate referral to a designated person.
Do not promise confidentiality, as information on abuse must be reported.
Make a note of the date, time, place, and people who were present and write down exactly what you have been told, using the exact words if possible.
Do not confront the alleged abuser.
Refer all information immediately to the relevant designated person.
All allegations of abuse of children or adults at risks must be reported to the designated person on the day that they are raised, who will then take all further necessary action. This is the case whether the alleged abuse took place within The Game Change Project or another organisation.

Individuals should never deal with abuse disclosures in isolation and should always refer to the nominated person.

Safer Recruitment

We will use a range of measures to screen out people who are unsuitable for roles working with children and adults at risk. Measures will include eligibility checks for applicants the use of DBS checks for staff, volunteers aged over 18 and directors. These must be updated every 2 years. We will support staff and volunteers to deliver their roles safely, for their own safety and that of others. Staff and volunteers will receive safeguarding and health and safety training as part of the induction process. We will review these procedures annually.

Volunteers

Our induction process will support people into and whilst delivering volunteer roles. DBS checks will be required for all volunteers. Volunteers will not be left unsupervised in positions volunteering with children and will be expected to adhere to the code of conduct for all staff including volunteers, which defines professional boundaries. We are committed to treating volunteers on an equal footing with paid staff, to include how their roles are recognised and training provided.

Other related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures, including:

Procedures for responding to concerns about a child or young person’s wellbeing
Dealing with allegations of abuse against a child or young person
Managing allegations against staff and volunteers
Safer recruitment procedures
Adult to child supervision ratios
Code of conduct for staff and volunteers
Anti-bullying online safety procedures
Photography and image sharing guidance
Data protection and privacy policy
Whistleblowing and complaints procedure

Contact details:-

Name: Claire Miller claire@thegamechangeproject.co.uk 07407094786
Name: Andrew Coppin andrewcoppin1980@gmail.com 07792 847524
To report a concern contact: people.direct@powys.gov.uk Tel:01597 827666
Powys ALL areas out of hours 0845 0544847
Powys County Council ASSIST 0345 6027075
To report concerns about welfare of children and young people CSFrontDoor@powys.gov.uk 01597 827666

Duty Social Worker Contacts:

Welshpool - 01938 551 899
Newtown - 01686 617 520
Llandrindod Wells - 01597 827 325

Other useful numbers:

Police - 999, 101 or 08453 302 000
NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000

Review

This policy will be reviewed from time to time and updated as required.

Name: Karen Sian Roberts

Policies:

The Game Change Project Whistleblowing Policy

The purpose of this policy is to prevent malpractice by the organisation, its employees, agents and partners by advising staff how to raise concerns with the organisation’s management or, if necessary, with its auditors or sponsoring department.