National Ministox Club (NMSC) Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

NMSC acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person within the club and is committed to providing a safe environment for all. We recognise that a child is anyone under the age of 18 and licensed with the NMSC and ORCi.

The NMSC endorses and adopts the following key safeguarding principles:

  • The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration.

  • All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status or civil partnership, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, ability or disability, pregnancy, and maternity.

  • All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

  • Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents/carers is essential.

  • We acknowledge that every child or young person who races or participates in racing should be able to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse.

The NMSC also recognises that the principles above are the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.

The NMSC has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual, or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying.

It is noted and accepted that Safeguarding Children Regulations apply to everyone in racing whether in a paid or voluntary capacity, including committee members, volunteers, officials, or medical staff or other officials/helpers.

We endorse and adopt Safer Recruitment guidelines and we will:

  • specify what the role is and what tasks it involves.

  • request identification documents.

  • as a minimum, meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where possible, interview people before appointing them.

  • ask for and follow up with 2 references before appointing someone.

  • where applicable, require a DBS enhanced with barred list check, in line with other junior organisations current Safeguarding Children Policy and Regulations.

If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of the NMSC, guidance will be sought from external safeguarding organisations. It is noted and accepted that the NMSC will consider the relevance and significance of the information obtained via the DBS process and that all suitability decisions will be made in accordance with legislation and in the best interests of children and young people.

It is accepted that the NMSC aims to prevent people with a history of relevant and significant offending from having contact with children or young people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children or young people. This is to prevent direct sexual or physical harm to children and to minimise the risk of ‘grooming’ within racing.

The NMSC supports a Whistle Blowing policy, which requires any adult or young person with concerns about an adult in a position of trust within the NMSC can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting the NMSC Safeguarding/Child Welfare Officers by either phoning or writing to the NMSC or alternatively by going direct to the Police, Children’s Social Care or the NSPCC.  The NMSC encourages everyone to know about Whistle Blowing and to utilise it if necessary.

The NMSC has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (“CWO”) in line with guidance, who has completed Safeguarding Children training. The CWO is the first point of contact for all club members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. The CWO will liaise directly with other Designated Safeguarding Officers and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any concerns. The CWO will also play a proactive role in increasing awareness of respect, poor practice, and abuse amongst club members.

The NMSC acknowledge and identify bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind is not acceptable at our club. If bullying does occur, all drivers and parents/carers should refer to our anti- bullying policy adopted from national guidance and know that incidents will be dealt with appropriately. Incidents need to be reported to the CWO.

Codes of conduct for drivers, teams, parents and officials (as required by the CPSU) have been implemented by the NMSC (see page 12 of the rule book). To police these codes of conduct the club has clear actions it will take regarding repeated or serious misconduct at club level and acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctions which may be implemented by the ORCi in more serious circumstances.

In this Club, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and we know that inaction is not an option. If anyone is worried about a child, it is important that they report their concerns to the CWO, who will deal with reported concerns as follows:

  1. Our CWO will manage poor practice and where necessary seek advice from other external Designated Safeguarding Officers.

  2. Our CWO will make referrals about more serious concerns in an emergency contact the Police or Children’s Social Care.

  3. We will ensure that if the child needs immediate medical treatment that we take them to a hospital or call an ambulance and tell them it is a child protection concern.

  4. Our CWO will keep records of the actions taken.

The NMSC CWO is AJ Hemingway.

If at any time our Club Welfare Officer is not available, or the matter is clearly serious, all our members should be aware that they can:

  • Contact the Police or Children’s Social Care; and/or

  • Call the NSPCC 24-hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or text 88858 or email help@nspcc.org.uk.

The NMSC Committee understands and accepts our collective responsibility to adhere to oursafeguarding children policy and procedures and we commit to ensuring our members are aware of and have access to our policies.

Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our club policies and procedures including:

Anti-bullying policy

Behaviour code for adults working with children

Behaviour code for children and young people