Safeguarding Policy:

West Byfleet Community Choir is an informal community choir which believes that everyone has the right to protection from abuse, and should be able to live free from the fear of abuse. This policy focuses mainly on the safeguarding of children and young adults but includes vulnerable adults and adults.          

WBCC is committed to ensuring that disclosures of abuse and safeguarding concerns are taken seriously and acted upon appropriately.       

For more information and guidance on Safeguarding children and young adults please see https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2019/safeguarding-child-protection-standards

Purpose

 The purpose of this policy is to outline the duty and responsibility of WBCC in respect to Safeguarding. The key objectives of this policy are to:

·         Explain the responsibilities of all in respect of the safeguarding of children and young adults at risk.

·         Enable any choir member who receive disclosures of, witness, or suspect abuse to make informed and confident responses.

·         Ensure that prompt action is taken to minimise the risk of harm occurring from any further abuse.

·         Ensure that information relating to safeguarding is kept securely and only shared on a need- to-know basis.

 Scope

Safeguarding is about protecting the safety, independence and wellbeing of people at risk of abuse, and is everybody’s responsibility. This policy relates to all children, young people and adults who become known to the choir through the course of our activities and who may be at risk of abuse.

 Assessing whether children or adults are experiencing abuse is the responsibility of professionals within the local authority. WBCC’s role is therefore not to assess whether abuse has taken place, but to safeguard by informing the local authority if information becomes known to us that could indicate that abuse may have taken place, or that a child or adult may be at risk of abuse.

For the purpose of this policy, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18 and an adult is defined as a person aged 18 years or over. A young person is a child aged 13 years and over.

 For the purpose of this policy an adult at risk of abuse is defined as “someone who has care and support needs and is therefore unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of, abuse or neglect”.

 Legislation

Legislation provides the framework for safeguarding and child protection in England. It makes clear the expectations and requirements around duties of care to children and creates accountability for these. The main legislation in England is the Children Act 1989, the Children Act 2004 and the Children and Social Work Act 2017.

 How WBCC Operates

 The Choir is an informal community choir, composed of choir members and committee officers and other committee members who are subject to annual re-election. Others may be co-opted onto the committee from time to time. Rehearsals are organised by the choir and run by our Director of Music accompanied by a pianist. All members and officials are volunteers. Most Choir members are independent adults. It happens only rarely that a young person or a vulnerable adult joins, rehearses and performs with us. There are no volunteers directly charged with the care of others, although some of the members have first aid and/or medical experience. Choir rehearsals and performances are group activities, and there is no need for a member of the choir to be alone with another member of any age. The Choir is therefore unlikely to be targeted by a person seeking opportunities to abuse children or vulnerable adults. Nonetheless the officers of the Choir recognise the need to safeguard the welfare of its members and in particular, any young and vulnerable people with whom we may work or come into contact. This policy applies to our members and all others invited to perform or work with us.

 

Contact with young people typically falls into the following categories

·         Young people taking part in a concert, typically as part of a choir, as a soloist, or musician.  

·         Young people forming part of the audience at performances given by the choir.

 General principles and guidelines

 ·         To protect its members, young people and vulnerable adults with whom the choir has any involvement, from abuse or exploitation.

·         To provide an outline of the principles that guide our approach to safeguarding.

·         Young people will be welcome to participate in the choir’s concerts as part of a joint promotion with a youth organisation or educational establishment, provided a representative of that organisation is present, at all times, to look after the health and welfare of their members.

·         As an inclusive choir, vulnerable adults taking part in the choir’s activities, should be accompanied by an appropriately qualified carer to facilitate effective communication.

 Privacy arrangements

In the rare event of it not being possible to arrive at a venue in concert dress, the Choir will endeavour to ensure an individual’s privacy is respected if required to change at a venue.

 In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, members or officers of the Choir, will not disclose the personal details for any member without first obtaining their permission. In the case of a young or vulnerable person, permission must be obtained from both the person concerned and the appropriate adult responsible for their care. The purpose of any request for contact details, and the identity of any person making such a request must be provided before disclosure is authorised. Please refer to the Choir’s Data Protection Policy for more information.

Parents and guardians should be aware that photography, audio and video recording may be undertaken from time to time at concerts. The images and recordings may be stored digitally and used both on-and offline including on the Internet. These provide valuable tools to promote the work of the choir to a wider audience and form part of the historical record of our work.  Filming and photography that includes children will only be uploaded onto the website with prior consent from the children’s parents.

 Joint concerts with young people

 The Choir will make appropriate joint working arrangements to ensure that school/youth groups will always be in the care of their teachers and helpers and/or parents who will bear responsibility for their welfare at all times. This does not detract from the choir’s general responsibility to provide a safe environment for joint activities and the principles of this safeguarding policy still apply.

Young people in audiences

 It is the responsibility of the parent, guardian or carer to ensure that their child/vulnerable adult is supervised at all times. If a parent/guardian/carer is not personally attending an event with their young person/vulnerable adult, this policy requires them to ensure that their young person/vulnerable adult will be accompanied and adequately supervised by a responsible adult acting on their behalf at all times.

 Photography and Filming at Concerts

 To protect and safeguard all children, photos and videos are to be used for personal use only.  Photos and videos which include any children must not be shared on any social media platforms without prior consent from the parents of those children. Thank you for keeping everyone safe!

 Measures for implementation of this policy

  A copy of this policy is available on the Choir’s website and we draw it to the attention of new members. Any amendments will also be notified to our members. Copies will be supplied to partner organisations on request.

 Prevention of Terrorism

 WBCC are conscious of their responsibilities under the Government’s radicalisation policy and undertake to report any matters of concern to the appropriate authorities.

 Safeguarding Officer .

 A Safeguarding Officer will be nominated by the committee.   Choir members or anyone with concerns or a complaint should contact the Safeguarding Officer who will:

·         Obtain and record information from the person expressing the concern;

·          Assess the information and seek clarification as required.

·          Inform the relevant agency or the police, without delay, depending on the circumstances.

·          If in any doubt as to what to do, seek professional advice.

·          Maintain confidentiality as far as possible. In the case of a child or vulnerable person, the person responsible for their care will need to be informed, unless they are the subject of the complaint.

 

 Our Current Safeguarding Officer is: Debbie Jones - please contact her via westbyfleetcc@gmail.com - if you wish to speak confidentially please leave your telephone number and she will contact you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Approach to be taken in event of a complaint

 

The Choir notes the importance of being alert to signals of abuse and to the difficulty individuals may have in reporting it. To assist in responding appropriately to a complaint, we suggest the completion of an Expression of Concern form (see appendix 1) and offer the following strategy for anyone who is made aware of an issue:

·         It is not your responsibility to decide if abuse has taken place only to report it

·         Listen carefully.

·         Reassure the person involved that this matter will be disclosed only to those who need to know about it and that they are doing the right thing in telling you

·         Avoid leading questions or closed questions.

·         Write down what has been said (in the individual’s own words), with date and time and any names mentioned

·         Tell the child/person what you are going to do next (in the first instance, report the matter to the Safeguarding Officer or a member of the Committee)

 

Safeguarding Officer

The Safeguarding Officer is responsible for dealing with all instances relating to safeguarding children or adults at risk that arise within the WBCC. They will respond to all safeguarding concerns and make appropriate referrals to the local authority

·        police on 101 or 999 if emergency,  

·        the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000

·         or the children social care: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/childrens-social-care/contact-childrens-services  Telephone: 0300 470 9100  01483 517898 (out of hours)

·         Please keep any disclosure confidential and do not discuss with others in the Choir – report to the Safeguarding Officer or a Committee member.