Safeguarding

Our safeguarding principles
· Children, young people and Adults at
Risk have the right to protection from incidents
of harm, exploitation, poor practice, abuse, mistreatment and exploitation in any form. This is
regardless of age, ability or disability, gender reassignment, race, religion
or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or socio-economic background.
· We will always adopt a person-centred
approach and put anyone at risk at the heart of our decision-making processes.
· Safeguarding is the collective
responsibility of everyone connected with the Club and we continually strive to
create an environment where everyone is empowered to protect themselves and
others.
· The safety and welfare of everyone
must always be our priority in making any decision. We must always take into
account the best interests and ongoing needs of any child, young person or
Adult at Risk. It is important that we recognise an individual’s rights to
participate in the decisions about themselves wherever possible, in line with
their maturity and needs.
· The Club is committed to address any
additional vulnerability or extra barriers that children, young people or
Adults at Risk may face (for example those in care, those with specific mental
health issues or other disabilities). We also recognise that talented and elite
football players may be additionally vulnerable.
· We continue to work collaboratively
and in partnership with parents, carers and all relevant statutory agencies or
other external stakeholders.
· We strive to communicate openly and
transparently and create best practice approaches; we encourage challenge if it
helps us to improve the development of our safeguarding framework.
· We recruit staff (including, for the
purposes of this policy, casual workers, agency staff, consultants, volunteers
and researchers) in line with our robust safer recruitment practices and
individuals are only employed after the completion of all necessary checks and
referencing.
· When appropriate we will report to
the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) anybody delivering a Regulated
Activity for the Club who is believed by us to present a risk of harm to a
child, young person or Adult at Risk. Where the Club ‘withdraws permission’ for
a person to deliver a Regulated Activity they will also be reported to the DBS
without exception.
· All suspicions or allegations of
abuse will be taken seriously and responded to efficiently, fairly and
appropriately. Any necessary referral or sharing of information will always be
completed promptly and without undue delay.
· We ensure that our staff are role
models of good behaviour and have appropriate supervision and training in place
to support them.