SAFEGUARDING POLICY.
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS POLICY
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for
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Be Fearsome LTD
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1 Introduction
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1 Be Fearsome LTD is a for-profit organisation run by:
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Thomas Frearson.
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2 Be Fearsome LTD is registered at:
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Kemp House, 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
3 Be Fearsome LTD is managed by a management team (the Team). One of the management team has particular responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
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4 The Team has adopted this safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults policy and expects every adult working or helping at Be Fearsome LTD to support it and comply with it. Consequently, this policy shall apply to all staff, managers, trustees, directors, volunteers, students or anyone working on behalf of Be Fearsome LTD.
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5 Vulnerable adults include
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Someone who is diagnosed to be mentally and/or physically ill
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Someone who has mental health needs such as dementia or down syndrome
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Someone who is unable to report abuse and make a decision for him/herself
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Someone who is old and frail due to physical disability
2 Purpose of the Policy
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1 This policy is intended to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults who receive any service from us, including those who are the children of adults who may receive services from us.
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2 As an organisation we believe that no child, young person and vulnerable adults should experience abuse or harm and are committed to the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This policy is intended to provide guidance and overarching principles to those who represent us as volunteers or staff, to guide our approach to child and vulnerable adults protection and safeguarding.
3 The risks to children and vulnerable adults
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Nearly every child and vulnerable adult grows up and lives in a safe and happy environment and it is important not to exaggerate or overestimate the dangers. Nevertheless, there are situations where children and vulnerable adults need protection including:
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Sexual abuse
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Grooming
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Physical and emotional abuse and neglect
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Domestic violence
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Inappropriate supervision by staff or volunteers
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Bullying, cyber bullying, acts of violence and aggression within our schools and campuses
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Victimisation
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Self-harm
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Unsafe environments and activities
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Crime
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Exploitation
4 Universality of Protection
We recognise that:
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the welfare of the child and vulnerable adult is paramount
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all children regardless of race, gender, religious belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity have a right to equal protection from harm.
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some children are more vulnerable to harm as a result of their circumstances, prior experiences, communication needs or level of dependency.
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working with children, young people, their parents and/or guardians, carers or other agencies is essential to protecting their wellbeing.
5 Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults at events / activities
1 There are three kinds of events/activities:
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1.1 those open to adults, children and vulnerable adults of all ages,
1.2 those for children and/or vulnerable adults accompanied by a 'parent' or ‘carer’,
1.3 those for unaccompanied children and vulnerable adults, which are sometimes run alongside other events/activities.
2 At events and activities open to all ages and vulnerable adults, children under 16 must be accompanied throughout by an adult over the age of 18 who not only brings the child but also takes the child home again afterwards. Young people aged 16 or 17 may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their parents. Vulnerable adults should be accompanied by a ‘carer’ or have written permission to attend alone.
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3 At events and activities for children accompanied by a 'parent' and vulnerable adults accompanied by ‘carer’, children under 16 must be supervised throughout the event by an adult over the age of 18 who not only brings the child to the event but also takes the child home again afterwards. If a lone adult brings more than one child, then the children will have to stay together, so that the one adult can supervise them. Young people aged 16 or 17 may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their parents. Vulnerable adults must be accompanied by a ‘carer’ and be supervised throughout. If a lone carer brings more than one vulnerable adult, then the vulnerable adults will have to stay together, so that the one carer can supervise them. Some vulnerable adults may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their carers.
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4 At events and activities for unaccompanied children and vulnerable adults, children under the age of 16 and vulnerable adults must be enrolled by a responsible adult or carer before being left with the event leader. The enrolment must record the child's or vulnerable adults name, age and address and the names and addresses of the child's or vulnerable adults parents/carers, plus the parents'/carers mobile telephone numbers. Young people aged 16 or 17 may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their parents.
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5 Both event and activities are to be defined broadly to include any occasions where Be Fearsome LTD will be providing a service.
6 Disclosure and barring
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1 Be Fearsome LTD offers the following activities for children and vulnerable adults:
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Personal Training
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Group Exercise
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Triathlon Coaching
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Adventure and Outdoor Pursuits
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2 Some of our activities may therefore require adult participants or adult leaders to undergo DBS and/or police checks under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. The required level of checking (if any) will broadly reflect the degree and frequency of unsupervised access given to other people's children and vulnerable adults.
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3 The Team will take very seriously any allegation of impropriety on the part of any member of Be Fearsome LTD. A member of Be Fearsome LTD who discovers anything amiss should get in touch immediately with the following:
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Thomas A Frearson
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4 The Team will review the allegation and the likely risk to children and vulnerable adults and, if appropriate, will consider banning the member from future events or revoking his or her membership or both, but only in full accordance with the rules and procedures of Be Fearsome LTD.
7 Health and safety aspects of safeguarding children
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1 Before starting any event for unaccompanied children and vulnerable adults, the Team will carry out a risk assessment and then take steps to minimise all risks to health and safety. Parents, carers and children will be made aware of any particular risks and of the steps to be taken to minimise those risks. The Team will keep a record of all risk assessments.
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2 Sufficient adults or carers must be present at any event for unaccompanied children or vulnerable adult to enable one adult or carer to deal with any emergency while another adult supervises the children not directly affected by the emergency.
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3 In all relevant circumstances, the rules attached in Appendix A will be applied.
8 Adventure activities licensing
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Be Fearsome LTD runs occasional adventure activities, for members, but not for non-members. Restricting participation to members means that no licence is required under the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations.
9 Policy on the prevention of bullying
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We will not tolerate the bullying of children or vulnerable adults either by adults or by other children. If any incident of child-on-child or vulnerable adult on vulnerable adult bullying should arise at a Be Fearsome LTD event, those involved will be separated immediately and the parents or carers of the children or vulnerable adults involved will be asked to deal with the matter. The Team will review all incidents of child-on-child or vulnerable adult on vulnerable adult bullying and assess the likely future risk to children or vulnerable adult. If appropriate, the Team will consider banning a child or vulnerable adult from future events, but only in full accordance with the rules and procedures of Be Fearsome LTD. Allegations of adults bullying children or vulnerable adults will be dealt with under paragraph 6.3 above.
10 Photographing children and vulnerable adults
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No photos will be taken or published of any child or vulnerable adult attending an event or activity unless prior written permission is sought from a person with parental responsibility. If any person has any concerns regarding any person taking photos at an event or activity, that person should contact Be Fearsome LTD immediately.
11 Managing behaviour, discipline and acceptable restraint
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1 Adults supervising children or carers supervising vulnerable adults at Be Fearsome LTD events must never use any form of corporal punishment. If physical restraint is absolutely necessary to prevent injury to any person or to prevent serious damage to property, then the minimum necessary restraint may be used — but for that purpose only.
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2 Unacceptable behaviour at Be Fearsome LTD events for unaccompanied children and vulnerable adults will generally be stopped by separating the children and vulnerable adults from each other and from the group. The miscreants will be suitably supervised and will be returned as soon as possible to the care of their parents or carers.
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3 Be Fearsome LTD may apply a further disciplinary sanction; namely the banning of the child or vulnerable adult from one or more future events over the following 18 months. Any such sanction would be determined and applied by the following officer:
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Thomas A Frearson
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4 A parent or carer who is aggrieved by this ban may appeal to Be Fearsome LTD who will hear the views of all relevant persons. The decision of Be Fearsome LTD is then final. Any such appeals should be made to, and will be determined by the following officer:
Thomas A Frearson
12 Other Policies
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This safeguarding policy should be read together with the following policies and resources:
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Privacy Policy
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General Terms and Conditions
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Event Terms and Conditions
13 Legal Framework
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This policy has been drawn up in accordance with the following:
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Children Act 1989
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United Convention of the Rights of the Child 1991
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General Data Protection Regulation
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Human Rights Act 1998
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Sexual Offences Act 2003
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Children Act 2004
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Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
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Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
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Children and Families Act 2014
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Special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice - Guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0 to 25, from 1 September 2014
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Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services
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Working together to safeguard children (2017)
NOTE: This Policy was approved by the following officer on 01/01/2020 and is due for review every 1 years:
Thomas A Frearson
Appendix A
Further rules and guidelines to be applied for the safeguarding of children
If there is an allegation against Thomas A Frearson, or, it is deemed inappropriate to report the incident to Thomas A Frearson. The parent or carer is to discuss confidentially with another member of the Be Fearsome team.
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If it is not possible to discuss with the Be Fearsome Team, the parent or carer is to seek help from the relevant authorities listed below:
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NSPCC Child Protection Helpline on 0808-8005000 or
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ChildLine on 0800-1111
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Social Services via your local social services department
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In the case of an emergency the Police on 999