Safeguarding Procedures 2

Child Protection Procedures

Section 2:
What might happen at an event and what should you do?

Simple guide for all members

  • Most events will come and go without any issues at all, so don’t feel that you have to be always on the look-out for issues.
  • If you do see or hear something which makes you concerned that anyone, especially a young person, is unsafe in any way, you need to tell someone about it.
  • Choose a person to tell who can do something constructive about the problem then, with them, and with the agreement of the young person if possible, decide what to do next (See section 3 below).
  • Always act in the best interest of the young person.

Simple guide for event organisers and event safeguarding leads

  • If someone at your event tells you that they are worried that a young person is not safe, listen, discuss with each other, discuss with the young person if possible, then decide what to do next (See section 3 below).
  • Always act in the best interest of the young person.

More detail

Safeguarding and Child Protection issues at Society events are rare and it’s very unlikely that a young person will feel unsafe because of the event itself.  If a young person is presenting symptoms of stress or anxiety at an HRGB event this is probably because of other events happening in their lives. 

There are several possible situations in which a Society member might feel that something is not appropriate, including:-

  1. if they overhear any conversation or reported conversation which makes them concerned that a young person is unsafe in any way (see “indicators” on Page 1 above);
  2. if they see or hear someone talking or behaving inappropriately towards a young person;
  3. if a young person tells a Society member something that suggests that they are not safe. (See Listening to young people)

What to do in these situations

In all these cases, talk as soon as possible to the Event Safeguarding Lead, or the young person’s Team Leader, or both, describing what you saw or heard and the reason you think it is worrying.  Try to get a clear description of what happened in a single conversation with the young person.  Together with the young person’s Team Leader, or the Event Safeguarding Lead, or both, decide who to tell and what to do next – see the alternative courses of action below. 

Section 3: What happens next?