Safeguarding Policy

Our commitment to safeguarding

Safeguarding is extremely important to us and sits at the heart of our programmes and events. We believe that no one should ever experience abuse, exploitation or neglect.

We believe it’s everyone’s responsibility to safeguard children and adults at risk from abuse and to take action when made aware of the risk of harm.

In line with UK legislation, we recognise it has particular responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of:

All children who engage in our lunchtime clubs and other activities, including the children of adults that use our services or attend our events
All young people and adults at risk who engage in our activities

And to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them.

Purpose of policy

We are committed to creating an environment which ensures all those accessing our services or working with us enjoy opportunities to thrive, develop to their full potential and can feel safe from risk of harm or abuse.

The purpose of our safeguarding policy is:

To protect children and young people who receive our services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services
To provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection
To make sure we effectively recognise, respond, record and report safeguarding concerns or disclosure so that those who engage with us access the safeguards they need if at risk of harm or abuse

We are aware that most of our programmes and services are centred around creating trusted spaces for children and providing a place where they can enjoy themselves, which could increase the likelihood of those who engage with our activities disclosing current or past experiences of safeguarding concerns. This makes our commitment to, and responsibility for, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and adults at risk central to our practice.

We recognise that

the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take
all children, 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 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.

The policy

The policy and all accompanying procedures apply to all those who work with us, both permanently or temporarily, contractors, volunteers, visitors and any other individual who may work with us from time to time.

It is the responsibility of all who work with us to act if there is a cause for concern about a child or an adult at risk, or the behaviour of an adult towards a child. It is not their responsibility to determine what action is required to protect them. Rather responsibility for deciding whether to escalate a concern to the appropriate authority lies with Tamas Gyenei and North London Hawks Ltd.

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

valuing, listening to and respecting them
appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people
adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for everyone we work with
developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures
providing effective management for our staff through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff 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 professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance and our Privacy Policy
making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff 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 measures in place
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
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.

This policy came into force on 14th September 2022.