BRECON TOWN CONCERT BAND
Safeguarding Policy
Version 5 - 27th October 2022
1. Introduction
Brecon Town Concert Band (BTCB) has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that, when given responsibility for children or vulnerable adults, all Band Members accept their responsibilities to safeguard children or vulnerable adults from harm and abuse.
This means ensuring that everyone follows procedures to protect children or vulnerable adults and report any concerns about their welfare to appropriate authorities.
BTCB affirms that:
• the welfare of the child/young person is paramount;
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, race or creed have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.
There are three elements to our policy:-
• Prevention through awareness of each individual’s needs.
• Understanding of definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect and potential indicators
• Procedures for identifying and reporting cases or suspected cases of abuse to our designated Welfare Officers
The aim of the policy is to promote good practice, providing children or vulnerable adults and young people with appropriate safety/protection whilst with the Brecon Town Concert Band and to allow staff and volunteers to make informed and confident responses to specific safeguarding issues.
2. Prevention
The Brecon Town Concert Band expects that all Band Members behave in an appropriate manner at all times.
Brecon Town Concert Band will adhere to the relevant legislation when working with children or vulnerable adults as outlined in the following:
• The Children’s (Performance) Regulations 1968 (and amendments) Children’s Act 1989
• Children’s Act 2004
• Safeguarding Children: Working Together under the Children Act 2004 (WAG, 2006)
• All Wales Child Protection Procedures (2008) New Paragraph
Brecon Town Concert Band will:
• Establish and maintain an ethos where children or vulnerable adults feel welcome and familiar with their environment and are informed of personal (toilets, dressing rooms etc) and emergency arrangements (fire exits, meeting points etc) and any Health and Safety Procedures (potentially dangerous equipment, First Aid etc)
• Inform all members and especially children and vulnerable adults who the Welfare Officers are and encourage anyone to speak to them if they have any questions, problems or concerns.
• Ensure that all children and vulnerable adults are treated with respect and dignity and are treated as individuals and offered equality of opportunities.
• Always work in an open environment and allow parents/carers wherever possible, to take responsibility for the persons they are responsible for. Parents must only have responsibility for their own child.
• Ensure that children or vulnerable adults are not taught in a private, unobserved situation or by only one adult unless expressly authorised by the parent or carer
• Ensure that children or vulnerable adults are not provided with transport by only one adult unless expressly authorised by the parent or carer
• Ensure that unnecessary physical contact shall be avoided
• Recognise the individual needs of the child e.g. recognising when a child may be tired and may need a break.
• Ensure that children or vulnerable adults are supervised appropriately.
• Ensure that at the end of an event or rehearsal that no child or vulnerable adult is left unsupervised or has not been safely collected
• Ensure that all Band Members are aware of the importance of appropriate conduct around children or vulnerable adults.
1. Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
A child is abused or neglected when somebody inflicts harm, or fails to act to prevent harm. A child or young person up to the age of 18 years can suffer abuse or neglect and require protection. Definitions and indicators of physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect are given in Appendix 1.
2. Welfare Officers and procedures for reporting of concerns
The Welfare Officers appointed by the Committee are:
Mrs Kathryn Powell, telephone number: 07377 413534 email: musicworld1@yahoo.co.uk
Mrs Emma Prosser, telephone number: 07967 861366 email: e.prosser1@icloud.com
The Welfare Officers have received appropriate safeguarding training and are DBS checked.
If any members see or suspect abuse of a child or vulnerable adult they should immediately make this known to one of the designated Welfare Officers.
Process to be followed
If a child or vulnerable adult tells you that they or another person is being abused:-
• Always stop and listen straight away, show that you take their allegations seriously.
• Encourage the child or vulnerable adult to talk, but do not ask leading questions, interrupt or ask the person to repeat itself.
• Never promise that you will keep what is said confidential or secret – explain that if you are told something of concern that you will need to let someone know but that you will only tell the people who need to know and can help.
• Record what you have been told accurately and as soon as possible. Use the person‘s own words. Make a note of the time, location, whether anyone else present and of the person’s demeanour.
• Ensure that the concerns are reported immediately to the designated Welfare Officer
• Do not confront the alleged abuser.
Handling Allegations
If a child or vulnerable adult makes an allegation against a member of the Band it must be reported as a matter of urgency to the designated Welfare Officer who will refer the matter to Social Services department for Children’s Services. If the allegation is against the Welfare Officer then the information should be reported to the Chairman or directly to the Social Services department for Children’s Services. (This would generally be referred to the authority in which the alleged incident took place). The alleged perpetrator should not be made aware of the allegation at this point.
Recording
In all situations the details of allegation or reported incident must be recorded. Make accurate notes of time, dates, incident or disclosure, people involved, what was said and done and by whom, action taken to investigate, further action taken e.g. suspension of individual and if relevant: reasons why the matter was not referred to a statutory agency, name of person reporting and to whom it was reported. The record must be stored securely and shared only with those who need to know. Do not worry that you might be mistaken; you have a responsibility to pass on your concerns following a disclosure. Never think abuse is impossible, or that an accusation about a person you know well and trust is bound to be wrong.
It is the duty of all members to report concerns to the appropriate people not to carry out investigations which must be done by the appropriate authorities.
1. Review of policy and procedures
This policy and procedure is published on October 27th 2022 and will be regularly reviewed at least annually.
APPENDIX 1 – Definitions and Indicators of Abuse and Neglect
Physical Abuse
May involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning or suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates or induces illness in a child whom they are looking after.
Indicators of Physical Abuse:
• unexplained bruising, marks or injuries on any part of the body
• multiple bruises - in clusters, often on the upper arm, outside of the thigh
• cigarette burns
• human bite marks
• broken bones
• scalds, with upward splash marks
• multiple burns with a clearly demarcated edge Changes in behaviour that can also indicate physical abuse:
• fear of parents being approached for an explanation
• aggressive behaviour or severe temper outbursts
• flinching when approached or touched
• reluctance to get changed, for example in hot weather
• depression
• withdrawn behaviour
• running away from home.
Sexual Abuse
Forcing or enticing a child/young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not they are aware of what is happening, may involve: physical contact, including penetrative or non-penetrative acts; non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of pornographic material or watching sexual activities; or encouraging children or vulnerable adults to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
Indicators of Sexual Abuse:
• pain or itching in the genital area
• bruising or bleeding near genital area
• sexually transmitted disease
• vaginal discharge or infection
• stomach pains
• discomfort when walking or sitting down
• pregnancy
Changes in behaviour which can also indicate sexual abuse include:
• sudden or unexplained changes in behaviour e.g. becoming aggressive or withdrawn
• fear of being left with a specific person or group of people
• having nightmares
• running away from home
• sexual knowledge which is beyond their age, or developmental level
• sexual drawings or language
• bedwetting
• eating problems such as overeating or anorexia
• self-harm or mutilation, sometimes leading to suicide attempts
• saying they have secrets they cannot tell anyone about
• substance or drug abuse
• suddenly having unexplained sources of money
• not allowed to have friends (particularly in adolescence)
• acting in a sexually explicit way towards adults
Emotional Abuse
The persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional and behavioural development. It may involve conveying to the child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age and developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children or vulnerable adults. It may involve causing children or vulnerable adults to feel frightened or in danger, for example witnessing domestic abuse within the home or being bullied, or the exploitation or corruption of children or vulnerable adults. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill treatment of a child, though it may occur alone. Indicators of Emotional Abuse:
• neurotic behaviour e.g. sulking, hair twisting, rocking
• being unable to play
• fear of making mistakes
• sudden speech disorders
• self-harm
• fear of parent being approached regarding their behaviour
• developmental delay in terms of emotional progress
Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, failing to protect a child from physical harm or danger, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.
Indicators of Neglect:
• constant hunger, sometimes stealing food from other children
• constantly dirty or ‘smelly’
• loss of weight, or being constantly underweight
• inappropriate clothing for the conditions.
Changes in behaviour which can also indicate neglect may include:
• complaining of being tired all the time
• not requesting medical assistance and/or failing to attend appointments
• having few friends
• mentioning being left alone or unsupervised.