Safeguarding Policy

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Our Safeguarding Policy

This policy applies to all staff, including managers, trustees and directors, teachers and coaches, paid staff and volunteers, agency workers and/or anyone working on behalf of Brixham Admiral Swimming Centre Ltd., which company is in this document referred to as “Admiral Swimming Centre” and which people are in this document referred to as “relevant persons”.
Safeguarding is about:

  • Building and not compromising relationships of trust between children  and vulnerable adults
  • building and not compromising relationships of trust  between children and vulnerable adults
  • ensuring appropriately safe systems are in place for the well-being of  children and vulnerable adults
  • having clear procedures in place if things do go wrong.

Admiral swimming centre carries out activities which bring our employees and people working on behalf of our organisation into regular unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults. Admiral swimming centre acknowledges its duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children or young adults and is committed to ensuring our safeguarding practices reflect statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice.
This policy recognises that the welfare and interests of children and vulnerable adults are paramount in all circumstances. It aims to ensure that regardless of age, gender, religion or beliefs, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or socio-economic background, all children have a positive and enjoyable experience at the Admiral swimming centre in a safe environment appropriate to their needs.

As part of our safeguarding policy Admiral swimming centre will:

  • promote and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults
  • ensure that all relevant persons are aware of their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and are provided with the resources and appropriate learning opportunities to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns relating to children and vulnerable adults and to report the  same or any suspicions of the same to the Designated Safety Officer
  • ensure appropriate action is taken in the event of incidents/concerns of abuse and/or any other safety issue and that support is provided to the individual/s who raise or disclose the concern
  • ensure that confidential, detailed and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns are maintained and securely stored
  • prevent the employment/placement of unsuitable individuals and to that end to ensure that no relevant persons are on the DBS barred list
  • ensure robust safeguarding arrangements and procedures are in operation
  • provide a copy of this policy to all relevant persons by hard copy or by e-mail attachment and provide a hard copy of the same to any interested party who requests the same

Safeguarding Officers
Phil Thomas - All relevant persons will be notified if the Designated Safety Officer is changed
Paul Pickett - All relevant persons will be notified if the Designated Safety Officer is changed

Record Keeping
Record to be made by an adult receiving a disclosure of abuse or other safety issue
This record should be made as soon as possible after the disclosure has been reported to the Designated Safeguarding Officer. The facts as reported by the complainant, not opinions, should be accurately recorded in a non-judgemental way and should include:

  • the name of the child or vulnerable adult,  the gender and, in the case of a child, the date of birth
  • the date and time of the conversation
  • the context and who was present during the disclosure
  • what did the complainant say? – verbatim- if possible
  • what questions were asked of the complainant? – verbatim
  • the responses to questions –verbatim
  • any observations concerning the complainant’s demeanour and any injuries
  • the name of the person to whom the disclosure was first reported
  • the adult receiving the disclosure to sign and date
  • the adult receiving the disclosure to pass the record to the Designated Safety Officer. Even if later typed or the information is incorporated into a report the original record must be retained in its original form.
  • All reports will be kept in a folder locked away at Admiral Swimming Centre.

Legal Framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of the law and guidance that 
seeks to protect children, namely:

Children Act 1989
Data Protection Act 1998
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Children act 2004
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
Relevant government guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

We recognise that:

The welfare of a child or vulnerable adult is paramount.

We are committed to reviewing our safeguarding policy and good practice on a regular basis, being not less than bi-annual. 

This policy was last reviewed on 7th November 2024

P Thomas