Safeguarding Children and Young People

POLICY STATEMENT

Valley Leisure Ltd is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 800760.

Valley Leisure Ltd provides and operates two facilities in Andover, Hampshire; Riverside Bowl and I Can Therapy Centre.

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE POLICY STATEMENT

Valley Leisure is committed to practices that protect children and young people from harm regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, has a right to equal protection from harm.

Trustees, employees, workers and volunteers accept and recognise their responsibilities to develop awareness of the issues that cause children and young people harm.

Valley Leisure and its Trustees, staff, workers and volunteers have a duty of care to safeguard all children and young people involved in their work and activities and protect them from harm.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England.

A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from, https://www.nspcc.org.uk/childprotection.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related documents:

  • Safeguarding children and young people policy
  • Code of conduct policy
  • Behaviour codes for children and young people
  • Photographic consent
  • Recruitment policy
  • Disclosure and barring service policy
  • Grievance policy
  • Bullying and harassment policy
  • Whistleblowing policy
  • Health and safety policy

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 children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take.
  • Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents and carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
  • All children and young people, 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 additional vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependancy, communication needs or other issues.
  • Extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.

WE WILL SEEK TO KEEP CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE BY:

  • Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
  • Appointing a designated safeguarding people and a lead trustee/board member for safeguarding.
  • Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for Trustees, staff, workers and volunteers.
  • Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures.
  • Providing effective management for staff, workers, and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
  • Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
  • Recording, storing and using information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions.
  • Making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.
  • Using our safeguarding children and young people policy and reporting methods to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately.
  • Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff, workers and volunteers appropriately.
  • Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise.
  • Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measure in place.
  • Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for children, young people, staff, workers and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
  • Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.


Contact Details
Nominated Safeguarding Lead:
Name: Liz Murray
Phone Number/Email: 01264 568240

Trustee/Board Member Safeguarding Lead(s):
Name: Ranga Mugabe
Phone Number/Email: [email protected]

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. This policy was last reviewed: August 2022.

Signed:
Date: 15th May 2023

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01264 568240

[email protected]

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