Protection of Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy
Policy Statement
Causeway Coast Adventure Racing Club (CCAR) has a duty of care to
safeguard all children and vulnerable adults involved in club
activities from harm.
All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled
children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be
taken into account.
CCAR will ensure the safety and protection of all children involved
in our activities through adherence to the Child Protection
guidelines adopted by Cycling Ireland / Cycling Ulster.
A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 (The Children
Act 1989).
Policy aims
The aim of Causeway Coast Adventure Racing Club’s, Protection of
Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy is to promote good
practice by:
• Providing young people and vulnerable adults, with appropriate
safety and protection, whilst in the care of the club.
• Allowing all members to make informed and confident responses to
specific young people and vulnerable adults protection
issues.
• Providing assurance to Parents and Guardians that their child or
vulnerable adult is safe.
Promoting good practice
Child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, can arouse strong emotions
in those facing such a situation. It is important to understand
these feelings and not allow them to interfere with your judgement
about the appropriate action to take.
Abuse can occur within many situations including the home, school
and the sporting environment. Some individuals will actively seek
employment or voluntary work with young people in order to harm
them. A coach, instructor, teacher, official or volunteer will have
regular contact with young people and be an important link in
identifying cases where they need protection. All suspicious cases
of poor practice should be reported following the guidelines in
this document.
When a child enters the club having been subjected to child abuse
outside the sporting environment, sport can play a crucial role in
improving the child’s self-esteem. In such instances the club must
work with the appropriate agencies to ensure the child receives the
required support.
Good practice guidelines
All Members should be encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour
in order to protect themselves from false allegations. The
following are common sense examples of how to create a positive
culture and climate.
Good practice means:
• Always working in an open environment avoiding private or
unobserved situations and encouraging open communication.
• Treating all young people/disabled adults equally with respect
and dignity.
• Always putting the welfare of each young person first.
• Maintaining a safe and appropriate distance with members (e.g. it
is not appropriate for staff or volunteers to have an intimate
relationship with a child or to share a room with them).
• Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust and
empowering children to share in decision making.
• Making sport fun, enjoyable and promoting fair play.
• Ensuring that if any form of manual/physical support is required,
it should be provided openly and according to guidelines provided
by the Coach Education Programme. If it is difficult to maintain
hand positions when the child is constantly moving, young people
should always be consulted and their agreement gained. Some parents
are becoming increasingly sensitive about manual support and their
views should always be carefully considered.
• Keeping up to date with technical skills, qualifications and
insurance.
• Involving parents/carers wherever possible. For example,
encouraging them to take responsibility for their children in the
changing rooms. If groups have to be supervised in the changing
rooms, always ensure parents, teachers, coaches or officials work
in pairs.
• Ensuring that if mixed teams are taken away for the day or night,
they should always be accompanied by a male and female member of
staff. However, remember that same gender abuse can also
occur.
• Ensuring that at tournaments or residential events, adults should
not enter children’s rooms or invite children into their
rooms.
• Being an excellent role model – this includes not smoking or
drinking alcohol in the company of young people.
• Giving enthusiastic and constructive feedback rather than
negative criticism.
• Recognising the developmental needs and capacity of young people
and disabled adults – avoiding excessive training or competition
and not pushing them against their will.
• Securing parental consent in writing to act in loco parentis, if
the need arises to administer emergency first aid and/or other
medical treatment.
• Keeping a written record of any injury that occurs, along with
the details of any treatment given.
• Requesting written parental consent if club officials are
required to transport young people in their cars.
Incidents that must be reported/recorded
If any of the following occur you should report this immediately to
the Safeguarding Officer who will record the incident and take the
necessary steps as outlined in the Cycling Ulster Code of Ethics.
You should also ensure the parents of the child are informed:
• Any injury and details of treatment given
• If he/she seems distressed in any manner
• If a player appears to be sexually aroused by your actions
• If a player misunderstands or misinterprets something you have
done
Confidentiality
Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is
maintained for all concerned. Information should be handled and
disseminated on a need to know basis only.
In all instances the Club will be guided by information and
guidelines put in place by Sport NI, Cycling Ireland & Cycling
Ulster.
CCAR wishes to provide the best possible environment for all young
people involved in the sport. Young people deserve to be given
enjoyable, safe sporting opportunities, free from abuse of any
kind. These participants have rights, which must be
respected.
Responding to allegations or suspicions
It is not the responsibility of anyone involved in Causeway Coast
Adventure Racing Club, to decide whether or not child abuse has
taken place. However, there is a responsibility to act on any
concerns through contact with the appropriate authorities.
CCAR will assure all staff/volunteers that it will fully support
and protect anyone who in good faith reports his/her concern that a
colleague is, or may be, abusing a child.
Action
1. Concerns about poor practice:
• If, following consideration, the allegation is clearly about poor
practice, the Club Committee will deal with it as a misconduct
issue.
2. Reporting suspected or disclosed child abuse:
• Any suspicion that a child has been abused by either a member of
staff or a volunteer should be reported to the Club’s Safeguarding
Officer, who will take such steps as considered necessary to ensure
the safety of the child in question and any other child who may be
at risk. These steps are detailed in the Cycling Ulster
website.
• The Safeguarding Officer will refer the allegation to the social
services department which may involve the police, or go directly to
the police if out-of-hours.
• If the Safeguarding officer is unsure whether reasonable grounds
for concern exist s/he can informally consult with the local health
board/social services.
• The Safeguarding Officer reporting suspected or actual child
abuse to the Statutory Authorities will first inform the family of
their intention to make such a report, unless doing so would
endanger the child or undermine an investigation.
Rights & Responsibilities
Young cyclists are entitled to:
• Be happy, have fun and enjoy cycling
• Be safe and to feel safe
• Be treated with dignity, sensitivity and respect
• Participate on an equal basis
• Experience competition at a level at which they feel
comfortable
• Make complaints and have them dealt with
• Get help against bullies
• Say No
They also have responsibilities that they must accept.
Young cyclists should always:
• Listen to and follow instructions from bike leaders, coaches,
officials and managers and treat them with respect
• Play fairly and be trustworthy and accept decisions
• Respect other youth members and leaders
• Respect opponents
• Behave in a manner that avoids bringing the sport of cycling into
disrepute
• Talk to CCAR Children’s Officer if they have any problems or
alternatively the designated Cycling Ulster Lead Safeguarding
Officer
Young cyclists should never:
• Cheat
• Shout at or argue with officials, team mates or other
competitors
• Use violence or physical contact that is not allowed in the
rules
• Bully or use bullying tactics
• Take banned substances
• Keep secrets about any persons who may have caused them
harm
• Tell lies or spread rumours