UK Ultimate recognises that safeguarding is key to all relationships with children and young people so it’s important that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that best practice and procedures are followed.

1. Policy Statement

UK Ultimate, as a governing body, must ensure that:

The welfare of Children and Young People is paramount.
All children, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity have the right to protection from abuse.
That anyone in the Ultimate community feels safe and builds positive relationships when children and young people are involved.
All suspicions and allegations of abuse and poor practice will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
Everyone in contact with children and young people within the Ultimate community has a responsibility and the knowledge to report concerns to the appropriate people and authorities.

UK Ultimate Ltd is committed to practise that safeguards children from harm. Staff and volunteers who work for UK Ultimate Ltd will recognise and accept responsibilities for developing awareness, within the Ultimate community in the United Kingdom, of the issues that may cause children and young people harm.

A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 by the Children’s Act 1989

1.1 Definition of abuse

Child abuse is any action by another person – adult or child – that causes significant harm to a child. It can be physical, sexual or emotional, but can just as often be about a lack of love, care and attention. We know that neglect, whatever form it takes, can be just as damaging to a child as physical abuse. An abused child will often experience more than one type of abuse, as well as other difficulties in their lives. It often happens over a period of time, rather than being a one-off event. And it can increasingly happen online. (NSPCC)

2. Promoting Good Practice

Everyone involved in the Ultimate community should demonstrate exemplary behaviour to promote children’s welfare and reduce the likelihood of allegations being made. The following are common sense examples of how to create a positive culture of good practice.

2.1 Good practice means

Always working in an open environment, e.g. avoiding private or unobservable situations and encouraging open communication where all information is shared.
Treat all young people equally, and with respect and dignity.
Always putting the welfare of each child or young person first, before winning or achieving a goal.
Maintaining a safe and socially appropriate distance with a child. E.g. it is not appropriate for adults to have intimate relationships with a child.
Children should have their own separate sleeping space and it should only be entered by BDS adults unless in an emergency.
Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust which empowers children and young people to share in the decision-making process.
Making sport fun, enjoyable, promoting fair play and the ideals of spirit of the game.
Ensuring that if any form of manual / physical support is required, it should be provided openly. Young people and their parents should always be consulted and their written agreement gained.
Keeping up to date with technical skills and qualifications.
Stay informed about changes to policies or advice from UK Ultimate.
Involving parents / carers wherever possible. Where possible and suitable, encourage them to take responsibility for their children, e.g. in changing rooms.
When groups need to be supervised in environments such as changing rooms, ensure that adults work in pairs of the same gender.
Ensuring that if mixed gender teams are taken away, they should always be accompanied by a male and female responsible adult. However it is important to remember that same gender abuse does also occur.
Make sure there are clearly defined adult and child and young people private spaces such as ensuring that at tournaments or residential events, adults should not enter children and young people’s rooms or invite children and young people 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 in sport, thus 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.
Keep a written record of any injury that occurs, along with the details of any treatment given.
Requesting written parental consent if adults are required to transport children and young people in their cars. Avoiding children and young people in the front seats in accordance with the law.
Added risk due to the involvement of children and young people in sessions and activities are considered in risk assessments.

2.2 Practices to be avoided

The following should be avoided except in emergencies. If cases arise where these situations are unavoidable it should be with the full knowledge and consent of someone in charge of an activity, designated safeguarding officer, director of a company or the young person’s parents. For example, a young person sustains an injury and needs to go to hospital, or a parent fails to arrive to pick them up at the end of a session.

Avoid spending time alone with a child or young person away from others.
Avoid working with individuals in a closed environment.
Avoid taking or dropping off a child or young person to an event or activity.

2.3 Practices never to be sanctioned

The following should never be sanctioned. You should never:

Engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games.
Share a room individually with a child or young person.
Allow or engage in any form or inappropriate touching.
Allow children or young people to use inappropriate language unchallenged.
Make sexually suggestive comments to a child, even in fun.
Reduce a child to tears as a form of control.
Fail to act upon and record any allegations made by a child.
Do things of a personal nature for children or young people that they can do for themselves.
Invite or allow children or young people to stay with you at your home unsupervised.
Never be responsible for children and young people when you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

It may sometimes be necessary for an appropriate adult to do things of a personal nature for children or young people, particularly if they are young or are disabled. These tasks should only be carried out with the full understanding and written consent of parents, the people involved and if the appropriate has undertaken needed training. There is a need to be responsive to a person’s reactions. If a person is fully dependent on you, talk with them about what you are doing and give choices where possible. This is particularly so if you are involved in any dressing or undressing of outer clothing, or where there is physical contact, lifting or assisting a child or young person to carry out a particular activity.

3. Taking Action if there are Concerns

Report your concerns to your club committee designated safeguarding officer, or
The UK Ultimate designated safeguarding officer.
If the designated person is not available, the person being told of or discovering the abuse should contact social services or the police immediately.
Social Services will support people and decide how to involve the parents / carers.
Maintain confidentiality on a need to know basis only.

3.1 Taking action independently

UK Ultimate recognises that sometimes individuals will feel it is appropriate, or necessary for the welfare of the child or young person or even themselves, to take action from outside any of the supplied frameworks for clubs or coaching.

If there are suspicions of poor practice then it is recommended that those suspicions should be taken up with the appropriate designated safeguarding officer.

If the concern is within a club or the young person is a member of an Ultimate club, it is recommended to contact the club’s designated safeguarding officer as the first point of contact.
Failing that, contacting the designated safeguarding officer of UK Ultimate.
If it is thought that the welfare of the children or young people is in immediate danger contact the authorities.
If the concerns are about a designated safeguarding officer of a club or another organization, contact UK Ultimate.

3.2 Incidents that must be reported and recorded

If any of the following occur you should report this immediately to the appropriate designated person i.e. designated safeguarding officer and record the incident. You should also ensure the parents of the child are informed.

If you accidentally hurt a player.
If they seem distressed in any manner.
If a young person seems to be sexually aroused by your actions.
If a young person misunderstands or misinterprets something you have done.

How to report incidents or concerns are covered in the appendices that would be relevant to you as a coach, or committee of a club, etc.

Once the information is recorded then it should be stored based on good data protection practice.

3.3 Allegations of previous abuse

Allegations of abuse may be made some time after the event. For example by an adult who was abused as a child or young person by a member of staff who is still currently working with children and young people.

Where such an allegation is made, an Ultimate Club should follow the procedures as detailed above and report the matter to social services and the police. This is because other children and young people, either within or outside of the sport, may be at risk from this person. Anyone who has a previous criminal conviction of offences related to abuse is automatically excluded from working with children and young people.

This is as stated by the details of the Protection of Children act 1999.

3.4 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. This may include the following people:

The designated safeguarding officer
The parent of the person who is alleged to have been abused
The person making the allegation
Social services
The police
The Board of Directors of UK Ultimate

Information should be stored in a secure place with access limited to the designated people, in line with data protection laws.

3.5 Storage of Information

It is important that all records are stored securely and appropriately for three years. All documents should be kept for a minimum of 6 months and then reviewed after to set an appropriate store time up to 6 years. Physical documents should be:

Locked in storage with access by only those that need it.
Clutter should be reduced and documents sorted for ease of access.

To secure electronic documents you should:

Use password protection on computers, emails and documents containing a mix of numbers and symbols, which is regularly changed.
Protect computers and browsers with an anti-virus
Don’t open attachment to emails from unknown address

Always log out or lock computers when not using them.

4. Who to DBS check?

The guidance states that anyone who will be in doing one of the below activities with children or young people once a week or more or 4 days in a 30 day period or overnight between 2am and 6am, must be DBS checked:

Leading training or coaching
Driving a vehicle for only children or young people
Treating of individual or individuals
Moderating an online space with opportunity to contact the users
Responsible of welfare and wellbeing of an individual or individuals

If any of these roles are unsupervised then the individual must be checked against the barred list as well as having an enhanced DBS check.

Based on this guidance UK Ultimate advises that clubs assess DBS checking of individuals in these roles:

Head coach
Safeguarding / youth role on committee
Specific junior / youth coach
Web moderator
Transport driver
Responsible adults on trips away

The preferred method of doing this check is to go through UK Ultimate, as we have an arrangement with an “Umbrella Body” to support us in doing these checks. You should note that technically, if an individual did sign up to the DBS update service when completing a past DBS, then their DBS is transferable and they will just need to share their number.

Each individual requiring a DBS disclosure will need to complete the Self-Disclosure and DBS Application form and send it to UK Ultimate (admin@ukultimate.com).

UK Ultimate requests that all BDS checks by the organisation have been renewed 3 years after the last one was completed. We strongly advise all volunteers and staff to join the update service, the details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service. Please note that this must be done within 14 days of receiving your DBS.

5. Responsibility

These are the best practice guidelines for ratios of adults responsible for welfare and wellbeing of children:

Ratio	Age Group
1 to 6	4 to 8
1 to 8	9 to 12
1 to 10	13 to 18

At all sessions, you should have at least two responsible adults whatever the number of children. If there is a mixture of genders then there should be at least one adult of each gender. Extra responsible adults may be needed depending on the children or young people’s needs, based on things such as medical needs, disability or behaviour.

5.1 Behaviour Management

Where possible behaviour should be the responsibility of the parent, carer, teacher or group leader. UK Ultimate staff and volunteers will work with attendees to set ground rules to encourage positive behaviour and support the group to keep to them.

UK Ultimate staff and volunteers will provide a positive role model for children with regard to friendliness, respect, care and courtesy.
UK Ultimate staff and volunteers will not behave in a way that makes a child feel threatened or in danger.
UK Ultimate staff and volunteers will where possible respect an individual’s preference.
UK Ultimate staff and volunteers will create an environment that supports positive behaviour.

What to do if a ground rule is broken?

Discuss as a group and don’t be afraid to stop especially if a serious safety or respect barrier has been broken. (This can be discussed as a group at the beginning of a session.)

6. Action if bullying is suspected

If bullying is suspected, the same procedure should apply as if concerns about poor practice or abuse are suspected. Reporting of incidents and concerns should be made to the appropriate designated safeguarding officer.

6.1 Action to help victims and prevent bullying in sport:

Take all signs of bullying very seriously.
Encourage all children to speak and share their concerns. Help the person in question to speak out and tell the appropriate people in authority.
Create an open environment.
Follow up all allegations and take action to ensure the victim is safe. Speak with the person and the bully separately.
As a designated safeguarding officer, reassure the person that you can be trusted and will help them, although you cannot promise to tell no one else.
Keep records of what is said (what happened, by whom, when etc). Use the language used by the young person when recording descriptions.
Report any concerns to the appropriate designated safeguarding of welfare person/officer this may vary if the environment is within a school or club.

6.2 Action towards the bully:

Where appropriate take the following steps.

Talk with the bully, explain the situation, and try to get them to understand the consequences of their behaviour. Seek an apology to the person.
Inform the bully’s parents, if a child or young person.
Insist apologies and any items returned.
Provide support for the person’s coach.
Impose sanctions as necessary.
Encourage and support the bully to change behaviour.
Hold meetings with the families to report on progress, if a child or young person.
Inform all organisation members of action taken.
Keep a written record of action taken.
Most ‘low level’ incidents will be dealt with at the time by coaches and volunteers. However, if the bullying is severe (e.g. a serious assault), or if it persists despite efforts to deal with it, incidents should be referred to appropriate safeguarding and welfare officers.

7. Use of photographic / filming equipment

There is evidence that some people have used sporting events as an opportunity to take inappropriate photographs or film footage of young sportspeople in vulnerable positions. All members of staff should be vigilant and any concerns will be reported to the designated safeguarding officer.

Coaches should remain sensitive to any young people who appear uncomfortable when photographed or filmed, and should recognise the potential for this kind of activity to raise concerns or lead to misunderstandings.

7.1 Videoing as a coaching aid

There is no intention to prevent coaches and teachers using video equipment as a legitimate coaching aid. However, performers and their parents / careers should be made aware that this is part of the coaching programme and their written consent obtained, and such films should be stored correctly.

7.2 Photographic / filming equipment at tournaments

When attending sporting events it is possible that a third party may take video and photographic footage without the consent of parents/carers, nor the consent of UK Ultimate. Warning will be given to parents / careers and young people prior to the event, with due time given for those parents that wish their child not to attend.

8. Social Media and e-communication guidance

UK Ultimate recognises that social media is integrated into the lives of people of all ages, and that it can be a powerful tool to support communication and develop Ultimate in the UK.

However these tools, although beneficial, can increase risks to children and young people. These risks must be appropriately managed. The guidance below is designed to support all UK Ultimate members in the safe use of social media technologies.

UKU Staff / volunteers and clubs that create websites or e-groups have a responsibility to ensure safeguards are in place. UK Ultimate requires that:

Clubs and staff / volunteers discuss the use of social media, and make it clear to all members and their parents / carer when and why we use these technologies.
Any concerns or issues should be reporting to the Safeguarding person as with any offline safeguarding issues. The child and young people should be made aware of this process as much as club members and staff/volunteers.
Personal linking of accounts such as friending or following should be avoided unless an existing relationship was in place before the individual joined the club or took a staff / volunteer role.
All communication (texting, email, instant messaging etc.) should be restricted to ‘group topics’ or subjects linked to the club’s activities such as changes to training.
Clubs and staff / volunteers are responsible for ensuring all content hosted on their websites, social network areas and any associated message boards or blogs are appropriate for all members.
Staff / volunteers and clubs should appoint two members to monitor the content of their websites and act as administrators for social media activities.
At no time should there be any personal communications, ‘banter’ or comments between adults and children / young people.
If you use texting or email as the method of communication between adults and children / young people you should also copy in their parents / carers.
If you use social networking sites then the club should set up an account / group / page in the name of the club and use it explicitly for named members, parents / carers and solely about club matters.
Ensure all the privacy settings are locked so that the page(s) are used explicitly for club matters and are not used as a place to meet, share personal details or have private conversations. Don’t give out personal details including mobile numbers, email addresses or social networking account access to people you don’t know well offline.
Individuals think carefully about how any digital communication might appear to a third party. Compared with a conversation in the real world, technology increases the potential for messages to be seen or read out of context, misinterpreted or forwarded to others.
Don’t use language that is directly (or could be misinterpreted as being) racist, sexist, derogatory, threatening, abusive or sexualised in tone.

You can report concerns directly to the police by using www.clickCEOP.net.

If you want to know more about how to keep safe online follow the links below:

www.saferinterent.org.uk – www.kidsmart.org.uk – www.thinkuknow.co.uk – www.saferinterent.org.uk

9. Radicalisation

Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation should be seen as part of UK Ultimate’s wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other forms of harm and abuse. During the process of radicalisation it is possible to intervene to prevent vulnerable people being radicalised.

Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism. There is no single way of identifying an individual who is likely to be susceptible to an extremist ideology. It can happen in many different ways and settings. Specific background factors may contribute to vulnerability which are often combined with specific influences such as family, friends or online, and with specific needs for which an extremist or terrorist group may appear to provide an answer. The internet and the use of social media in particular has become a major factor in the radicalisation of young people.

As with managing other safeguarding risks, staff should be alert to changes in children’s behaviour which could indicate that they may be in need of help or protection.

For more advice on this area visit:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protecting-children-from-radicalisation-the-prevent duty.

10. Female Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs. It is illegal in the UK and a form of child abuse with long-lasting harmful consequences.

Professionals in all agencies, and individuals and groups in relevant communities, need to be alert to the possibility of a girl being at risk of FGM, or already having suffered FGM.

For more advice on this area visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482799/6_1587_HO_ MT_Updates_to_the_FGM_The_Facts_WEB.pdf.

11. Supporting Organisations

Safeguarding and child protection should never be tackled alone, as an individual or organisations, so UK Ultimate works with other organisations such as the Child Protection in Sports Unit. https://thecpsu.org.uk/.

A range of useful resources looking at particular areas of safeguarding can be found on their page including: training with a mixed ages, travel and staying away for a tournament.

https://thecpsu.org.uk/resource-library/

Contacting UK Ultimate

UK Ultimate has designated safeguarding officers who deal with cases of misconduct, poor practice and abuse. They are a point of contact for any concerned individual young person or club committee.

Contact UK Ultimate:

0844 804 5949

Our Safeguarding Officers are:

Joe Wyatt, Director, UK Ultimate

Simon Hill, Director, UK Ultimate

External Help Lines:

NSPCC Child Protection Helpline: 0808 800 5000

Childline: 0800 1111