Introduction
 

Team Bath Rhythmic Gymnastics is committed to supporting all gymnasts to enjoy and excel and fully recognises that children need a safe, protective and nurturing environment if they are to fulfil their potential.
 

The Club accepts its duty of care towards children and sets standards and best practice for working with the gymnasts and strives to ensure that child-centred safeguarding principles are fully embraced by the Club as an integral part of all club activities.
 

Safeguarding Children is described in HM Government statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015’ as:

• protecting children from maltreatment;

• preventing impairment of children’s health or development;

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

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

Everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe, irrespective of their role and whether they are paid or volunteers.
 

Children may be harmed in any environment, and although they are more likely to be abused in their home, cases of abuse have occurred in gymnastics as in other sports. British Gymnastics acknowledges that gymnastics provides significant access to young people and can provide opportunities for an individual who wants to harm children. However, it is also recognised that those having regular contact with young people have a key role in promoting their welfare and are ideally placed to notice signs that a child may be being abused. It is therefore essential that anyone in contact with young people through their involvement in gymnastics is fully aware of the early signs of abuse and/or neglect and understands the appropriate steps to report these concerns.

 

Club Statement 

Team Bath Rhythmic Gymnastics aims to achieve a high standard in the safeguarding of members to ensure safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is a fundamental consideration in all the activities of the Club.  The Club has a duty of care towards young people and needs to ensure that it offers a protective and child-friendly environment that gives parents reassurance that their children will be happy and safe.   

The Club is committed to following the British Gymnastics Safeguarding and Protecting Children Policy.

Key Principles
 

The policy is based upon the following fundamental principles:

 

• The welfare of children (anyone under the age of 18 years) is paramount;

• All children, regardless of ability, age, disability, sexual orientation, parental status, race, religion or belief or socio/economic background have a right to be protected from abuse;

• A child-centred approach of gymnastics provision will better meet the needs of children if it is informed by a clear understanding of the needs and views of children;

• Ensuring that all participants are aware of Club rules and codes of conduct;

• To ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding;

• To ensure everyone who comes into contact with children is able to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns relating to children and young people;

• To promote positive practice and challenge poor practice;

• To ensure robust systems are in place to manage any concerns or allegations;

• To develop a skilled and competent safeguarding workforce;

• To ensure everyone who is involved in a role with children completes training at a level appropriate to their role in the sport, which covers the above areas;

• To ensure everyone who is involved in a role with children has been through appropriate pre-recruitment checks, including the appropriate level criminal record checks;

• To ensure young people and their parents/carers are consulted and, where appropriate, fully involved in decisions that affect them.

 

Responsibilities 
 

The Club will ensure that: 

 

• The overall responsibility for safeguarding for the Club sits with the Welfare Team, Ursula Cook and Jo Wilson (bath.rhythmic.welfare@gmail.com), who also report to BG Welfare Officers (ethics@british-gymnastics.org) and liaise with the Safeguarding Lead at Bath University, Greg Sharp (g.a.sharp@bath.ac.uk). 

• There is at least one suitably trained and competent Welfare Officer designated within the Club to take the lead role in dealing with safeguarding issues. The responsibilities of the individual should include:

• • promoting the welfare of children and importance of safeguarding;

  • ensuring that young people are listened to and are involved in decision making;

  • ensuring that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding;

  • responding to child protection and poor practice concerns;

  • liaising with BG and local Statutory Agencies;

  • working with other organisations as required;

  • acting as the designated person for criminal records checks;

• The Club Welfare Officer has attended BG approved Safeguarding and Child Protection awareness training and the BG Time to Listen course;

• The Club Welfare Officer holds a minimum of BG Bronze membership, and has undertaken a criminal record check in line with BG Criminal Records Checks Policy and Guidelines;

• All staff and volunteers who are working with children receive appropriate training, updated every three years, and have access to advice on child protection, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children through the Club Welfare Officer;

• All children and young people and their parents are aware of behaviour that is not acceptable and know how they can help to keep themselves safe;

• They support Whistle Blowing and take steps to ensure members, their parents/carers and others feel able to raise concerns without fear of negative repercussions;

• Confidentiality is maintained in relation to concerns and referrals, and information is only shared on a genuine ‘need to know’ basis in line with BG Confidentiality and Information Sharing Guidance;

• They comply with the BG guidance on safe recruitment to prevent unsuitable people from obtaining, or remaining in, positions of trust or responsibility;

• They comply with all the applicable supplementary policy and guidance, and accept responsibility for identifying and responding to any deficiencies or weaknesses in its arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children;

• They work in partnership with BG to ensure poor practice is addressed and any required remedial action is taken;

• It is not the role of Club Welfare to investigate possible abuse or neglect. However, they have a key role to play by referring concerns about those issues to Children's Social Care Services and/or BG and providing information for police investigations.

 

If any parent or gymnast does not feel comfortable raising a concern with the Club Welfare Team they should contact the Bath University Department of Sports Development Recreation (DSDR) Safeguarding Officer, Greg Sharp, at g.a.sharp@bath.ac.uk or 01225 386907. Alternatively they could contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) on 01225 396312, BG Welfare at ethics@british-gymnastics.org or 0345 1297129, or the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

 

Welfare Team  

Revised February 2019