Brentwood Padel Safeguarding Whistle Blowing Policy
Safeguarding at-risk children and adults requires everyone to be committed to the highest possible standards of openness, integrity, and accountability. As a club, we are committed to encouraging and maintaining a culture where people feel able to raise a genuine safeguarding concern and are confident that it will be taken seriously.
What is whistle-blowing?
In the context of safeguarding, “whistle-blowing” is when someone raises a concern about the well-being of a child or an adult at risk.
A whistle-blower may be:
- a player;
- a volunteer;
- a coach;
- other member of staff;
- an official;
- a parent;
- a member of the public.
How to raise a concern about a child or an adult at risk at the club
If a child or an adult at risk is in immediate danger or at risk of harm, the police should be contacted by calling 999.
Where a child or an adult at risk is not in immediate danger, any concerns about their well-being should be made without delay to the Club Welfare Officer. The Club Welfare Officer will pass the details of the concern on to the Directors of Brentwood Padel Club at the earliest opportunity and the relevant local authority and the police will be contacted, where appropriate.
If, however, the whistle-blower does not feel comfortable raising a concern with the Club Welfare Officer or the club Directors, the whistle-blower should contact the Safeguarding Team directly https://safeguardingconcern.lta.org.uk/.
Summary.
Information to include when raising a concern,
The whistle-blower should provide as much information as possible regarding the incident or circumstance which has given rise to the concern, including:
- their name and contact details (unless they wish to remain anonymous);
- names of individuals involved;
- date, time and location of incident/circumstance; and
- whether any witnesses were present.
What happens next?
All concerns raised by a whistle-blower about the well-being of a child or an adult at risk will be taken seriously and every effort will be made to deal with each concern fairly, quickly and proportionately.
If the whistle-blower does not believe that the concern has been dealt with appropriately and wishes to speak to someone outside the club or the relevant sport’s Safeguarding Team, the NSPCC Whistleblowing advice line should be contacted on 0800 028 0285 or by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk.
Support
The club will not tolerate any harassment, victimisation, or unfair treatment of, and will take appropriate action to protect, whistle blowers when they raise a concern in good faith.