Policy Statement
ANYORG, by its very nature, hosts and cares for hundreds of children each year. We want to make sure that children are protected and kept safe from harm while they are with staff and volunteers in ANYORG. Staff and volunteers of ANYORG accept and recognise our responsibilities to develop awareness of the issues that cause children harm.

We will endeavour to safeguard children by:
  Adopting child protection guidelines through a code of behaviour for staff and volunteers
  Sharing information with parents, children and workers about good practice and child protection.
  Letting parents and children know how to voice their concerns or complain if there is anything they are not happy about.
  Making sure that our staff and volunteers are carefully selected, trained and supervised ensuring that they show respect and understanding at all times for the rights, safety and welfare of the children and conduct themselves in a way that reflects the principles of ANYORG.

We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice at regular intervals.

Clarification of Terms

  For the purpose of this policy, a ?worker? is anyone who is engaged in work or voluntary activity with children, whether as a paid employee of the ANYORG or with a group or organisation as a paid worker or volunteer.
  Also, for the purpose of this policy, it is important to note that the definition of a ?child? under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a person under 18 years. To promote best practice, it is this definition which is adopted in these guidelines.

Some General Comments

Why do we need procedures and policies?
There is first and foremost a moral obligation on anyone who is involved with children to provide them with the highest possible standard of care. Secondly, there is a legal basis. Those who accept responsibility for children may be legally responsible for their failure to provide adequate care. Therefore, there is a two-fold benefit in the proper implementation of these policies: firstly the protection of the child and secondly, the protection of ANYORG itself.

PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES

1 Adopting child protection guidelines through a code of behaviour for staff and volunteers

1.1 Time alone
Staff and volunteers should not spend excessive amounts of time alone with children, away from others

1.2 Meetings
Meetings with individual children or young people should take place as openly as possible

1.3 Privacy
If privacy is needed, the door should be left open and other staff or volunteers informed of the meeting.

1.4 Bunkhouses
Workers should not go alone into occupied bunkhouses but should at all times be accompanied by another worker. If possible, a 2 to 1 policy should be adopted i.e. one worker with two children or two workers with one child.

1.5 Some absolutes
Staff and volunteers should never:
Engage in rough physical games including horseplay ? apart from structured sports activities.
Engage in sexually provocative games
Allow or engage in inappropriate touching of any form.
Allow children to use inappropriate language unchallenged,
Make sexually suggestive comments about or to a child even in fun.
Let allegations a child makes go unchallenged or unrecorded.
Do things of a personal nature for children that they can do themselves.

1.6 Car Journeys
It is not good practice to take children alone in a car on journeys, however short. Where this is unavoidable, it should be with the full knowledge and consent of the course co-ordinator or the director of the ANYORG.

1.7 Meeting outside organised activities.
Staff and volunteers should not meet with children outside organised activities unless it is with the knowledge and consent of the course co-ordinator of the director of the ANYORG.

1.8 Relationships
Leaders, who are involved with other leaders, should ensure that their personal relationships do not affect their leadership role at the ANYORG.

1.9 Unavoidable Physical Contact
Staff and volunteers may need help in being clear about what is appropriate physical contact with children. Making workers frightened of any physical contact with children is not an effective way of reducing abuse. Physical contact of a comforting and reassuring nature is a valid way of expressing your concern and care for children and children should feel comfortable with this. In practical terms a certain amount of physical contact may be essential depending on the nature of your work with children and the activities of ANYORG.

There may be occasions when physical contact is unavoidable, such as providing comfort and reassurance for a distressed child, or physical support, for example in contact sports such as gymnastics. In all cases, physical contact should only take place with the consent of the child.

2 Sharing information with parents, children and workers about good practice and child protection.

(Good communication is vital in any organisation. Should individuals have concerns, they need to be assured that they will be listened to and taken seriously. It is the responsibility of the management group of ANYORG to ensure that information is available to, and exchanged between all those involved in ANYORGand its activities. However, it is also recognised that some information is confidential and should only be shared on a need-to-know basis.)

2.1 Children
Children have the right to information, especially any information that could make life better and safer for them. All children attending the ANYORG should be given information about how, and with whom, they can share their concerns, complaints and anxieties. This person/s can be the course co-ordinator or the director of the ANYORG or another person/s designated for this task.

This information should be given verbally at the beginning of a course on the ANYORG and the person/s identified to the children.

2.2 Parents
Parents are responsible for their children?s welfare at all times, and they should be assured that their children are involved with a credible organisation. To support this, ANYORG should:-
  Publicise information about its activities, child protection policy and the name of the person to contact in the event of concerns or complaints.
  Send a copy of this information to parents along with any guidelines.

2.3 Staff and Volunteers
All workers should be given good information so that they will know how to deal with emergencies and child protection issues. It will also encourage them to pass concerns along to the appropriate person at ANYORG.

2.4 Sharing information
When sharing information, it is important to be sensitive to the level of understanding and maturity, as well as the level of responsibility of the people with whom you are sharing. For example, the sharing of policy and procedures with children will be done in a manner appropriate to the children?s age. This will be different from the way the same information is shared with parents, or with workers

3 Letting parents and children know how to voice their concerns or complain if there is anything they are not happy about and sharing concerns with agencies that need to know.

(Those who work in ANYORG, especially those who are in leadership roles, have a responsibility to know about child protection, to have a child protection policy and to follow good practice, including the development of procedures to follow when concerns arise. Protecting children from harm requires maximum co-operation between children, their families, communities and professionals. While the identification and confirmation of alleged and actual abuse should be left to the appropriate professionals, the concerns of staff and volunteers should be dealt with through ANYORG?s procedures.)

3.1 Designated Person
Again, there is a need to identify someone within ANYORG or a leader from the individual Courses being run who has responsibility for dealing with concerns.

3.2 Reporting procedures
Reporting procedures should be made familiar to all those who work on the ANYORG. These should be developed with confidentiality in mind.

3.3 Confidentiality
The difficult issue of confidentiality is one that arises particularly when abuse is disclosed. ANYORGshould have a clear statement about confidentiality and how this is to be respected. This should encompass much broader issues than child protection.

The legal principal that ?the welfare of the child is paramount? means that considerations of confidentiality should not be allowed override the right of children to be protected from harm. Everyone working at ANYORG, including children attending the ANYORG must be aware that they can never promise to keep secrets. However, information of a confidential nature will only be communicated on a ?need to know? basis.


In any situation where there is an allegation or suspicion of abuse, it is important that the rights of both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are protected by ensuring that only those who need to know are given the relevant information.

This will mean, at the very least informing:
The ANYORG Director and Course Director. If the designated person for complaints is not one of these people, they should also be informed.
Where relevant, a statutory child protection agency
The parents of the child
The alleged perpetrator


3.4 Records
Clear records must be kept of concerns or incident, including a note of what was said, or what happened, when and where it occurred, who was present and any action that was taken. These records should be kept confidentially, in a secure place, with an identified person responsible for safekeeping and access.

3.5 Formal Complaints procedure
There is a need for a formal complaints form to be in place. This can be as simple as a statement in the written information given to parents and children which encourages them to contact a designated person from ANYORG if they have any concerns at all about the way ANYORGis run of if they are unhappy about any aspect of their children?s safety or wellbeing.

3.6 Staff and Volunteers
Dealing with, and reporting abuse, can be a distressing experience for staff and volunteers. ANYORG should give some thought as to how workers are supported through this process. There is no simple set of rules to follow in responding to these situations. However the following are some key points which may be of assistance for workers Stay calm
Do not panic
Listen and hear rather than question directly
Do not overreact
Give time to the child to say what they want
Do not stop a child who is freely recalling significant events
Reassure them that they have done the right thing in telling
Do not promise to keep secrets
Record in writing what was said as soon as possible
Do not inquire into details of the abuse
Report to someone else (designated person) at ANYORG
Do not under any circumstances attempt to deal with the problem alone
Record your report
Do not make the child repeat the story unnecessarily

4 Making sure that our staff and volunteers are carefully selected, trained and supervised ensuring that they show respect and understanding at all times for the rights, safety and welfare of the children and conduct themselves in a way that reflects the principles of ANYORG.

(This section sets out a general description of the approach which should be taken to ensure good practice. The actual procedures and their degree of sophistication will vary from one course to another but should include the following elements:)

4.1 Defining the role
The role of the employee or volunteer should be considered carefully, identifying what skills will be required of them to perform the tasks asked of them (this forms the job/role description). This will help clarify what kind of person you require to fill individual posts

. 4.2 Recruitment/publicity
Accurate and detailed recruitment material should be drawn up outlining the role of ANYORG and the particular responsibilities and requirements expected of staff and volunteers. This should be circulated as widely as possible

4.2.1 Application form
An application form should be supplied with a clear job description and information about ANYORG including a copy of the ANYORG?s child protection policy statement.

4.2.2 Declaration
All applicants should be asked to sign a declaration stating that there is not reason why they would be unsuitable to work with children. In particular, all applicants should be required to declare any past criminal convictions and cases pending against them. It should be made clear that such information will be dealt with in a confidential manner

4.2.3 Interview
At least 2 representatives of ANYORG or the particular courses should conduct an interview at which information contained in the application form should be explored against the kinds of qualities and skills needed in the post.

4.2.4 Identification
If the applicant is unknown to you, you should consider asking for some form of identification.

4.2.5 References
References should be taken up with at least 2 people who are not family members and, ideally, one of whom should have first-hand knowledge of the applicant?s previous work or contact with children. References should be taken up in writing and should be followed up orally. Referees should be asked to confirm that they have no concerns about the applicant working with children.

4.3 Management
No matter how good the recruitment and selection procedures may be, they are not foolproof. Good practice in management and supervision of staff and volunteers after appointment is equally important. Once recruited, all staff and volunteers should be well informed, trained, supervised and supported, so that they are less likely to become involved in actions which can lead to harm, or can be misunderstood. Training and resources should be made available to encourage the development of staff and volunteers. The process should include:

4.3.1 Induction
Staff and volunteers need clear instruction on tasks and limits that apply to them as newcomers. They also need to be familiar with ANYORG?s child protection policy and code of behaviour.

All newcomers should be informed that they are on a probationary period (at the discretion of the ANYORG and/or individual courses)

4.3.2 Supervision and support
This focuses on the work that needs to be done and how it is carried out.
Supervision provides an opportunity for staff/volunteers to share concerns, anxieties or worries about their work or environment
It may be individual, or in a group setting.
It may be a regular formal meeting, or informal as the need arises
It should provide an opportunity for both parties to communicate issues of importance and identify training needs.
It is good practice to keep an agreed note of any action plans

4.3.3 Training
It is the responsibility of the management of ANYORGand Co-ordinators of courses to identify both individual and common training needs of staff and volunteers. Training is a continual process, which begins at the stage of induction, and should include:
Awareness raising of child protection
Health and safety
Particular skills training
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