Safeguarding & Protecting Young People

1. Introduction

1.1  Suffolk Pickleball Company Ltd ("we", "us", "our") is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment for all young people to enjoy pickleball. We accept our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all young people and to protect them from poor practice, abuse and bullying.

1.2  This policy and its procedures apply to all individuals involved with us, whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. Everyone involved in our pickleball activity has a responsibility to safeguard and protect young people within the sport, to act appropriately, and to report concerns.

2. Principles

2.1  The guidance given in this policy is based on the following principles:

• All young people, regardless of age, ability or disability, sex, race, religion, ethnic background, social status, gender reassignment status and sexual orientation, have the right to be protected from abuse and to enjoy all aspects of pickleball in an enjoyable and safe environment — whether playing, volunteering, or in leadership or coaching roles.
• The safety and welfare of young people is paramount.
• The rights, dignity and worth of all young people should always be respected.
• All allegations will be taken seriously and responded to quickly in line with this policy and its procedures.
• It is everyone's responsibility to act appropriately and report concerns at the earliest opportunity. Young people are those aged under 18 years.
• We recognise the role and responsibilities of the statutory agencies in safeguarding young people and fully comply with the procedures of the Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships.
• Working in partnership with parents, carers and young people themselves is essential for the safeguarding and protection of young people.

2.2  This policy and its procedures are mandatory for everyone who works with or supervises young people in any of our activities, including our junior and youth sessions, kids' summer camps, and any session or event with junior participants. We appoint a Safeguarding Liaison Officer (see Section 4) to ensure best practice is promoted and that this policy is supported across all of our activity.

3. Guidance & Legislation

3.1  The practices and procedures within this policy are based on the principles contained within UK and international legislation and Government guidance, and have been developed to complement Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships' procedures. They take the following into consideration:

• The Children Acts 1989 and 2004
• The Protection of Children Act 1999
• The Police Act 1997
• The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000
• The Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR
• "What to do if you're worried a child is being abused" — HM Government
• Working Together to Safeguard Children — HM Government
• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
• The Human Rights Act 1998
• The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• The Equality Act 2010
• The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

4. Roles & Responsibilities

4.1  Suffolk Pickleball Company Ltd is committed to having:

• A clear Safeguarding and Protecting Young People Policy and procedures, together with guidance and resources to support them.
• A clear commitment by senior management to the importance of safeguarding and promoting children's welfare.
• Procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff and volunteers.
• All staff, including temporary staff and volunteers who work with children, made aware of our safeguarding arrangements and of their individual responsibilities.
• A culture of listening to and engaging in dialogue with young people, seeking their views in ways appropriate to their age and understanding.
• Appropriate whistleblowing procedures and a culture that enables safeguarding issues to be raised and addressed.

4.2  Safeguarding Liaison Officer. Our designated Safeguarding Liaison Officer is Laura Kent, who is qualified to Safeguarding Levels 1–3 plus sports-specific safeguarding. Laura is the first point of contact for any safeguarding concern, question or report and is contactable at safeguarding@suffolkpickleball.co.

4.3  For all of our activities involving young people we are committed to:

• Adopting and implementing this policy, its procedures and guidelines.
• Ensuring that all coaches, session leaders, volunteers and committee members are aware of their responsibility for safeguarding and protecting young people in pickleball.
• Ensuring that all staff and volunteers working with young people hold a current Enhanced DBS check (with the children's barred list where appropriate) before working unsupervised with young people.

5. Practice Never to be Sanctioned

5.1  Best practice with young people must be observed by all adults working with young people in both a paid and voluntary capacity. The following practice must be avoided:

• Spending time alone with young people away from others.
• Inviting or allowing a young person to stay at their home.
• Transporting a young person in a car alone.
• Engaging in rough, physical or sexually provocative games with young people.
• Sharing a room with a young person.
• Allowing or engaging in any form of inappropriate physical touching, or any sexual contact or behaviour.
• Using, or allowing young people to use, inappropriate language unchallenged.
• Making sexually suggestive comments to a young person.
• Allowing allegations made by a young person to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.
• Doing things of a personal nature for a young person that they can do for themselves, unless requested to do so by the parent or carer. This does not preclude anyone attending to an injured or ill young person, or rendering first aid.
• Departing from the venue or agreed meeting point before the safe dispersal of all young people is complete.
• Humiliating or undermining an individual, or acting in a way that negatively affects their self-esteem.
• Treating some young people more favourably than others.
• Creating a dependent relationship between themselves and a young person; appropriate boundaries must be maintained (see Section 8).
• Private texts, social network messages and emails to a young person without parental consent or knowledge.

5.2  This list is not exhaustive (see Section 9 regarding relevant conduct and convictions).

6. Consequences of Inappropriate Behaviour with Young People

6.1  Adults who do not observe best practice with young people, or who breach this policy and/or our Codes of Conduct, will be investigated by us. Where appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken against them.

7. Whistleblowing & Reporting a Concern

7.1  All suspicions and allegations must be taken seriously and appropriately reported. It is recognised that strong emotions can be aroused, particularly where any form of abuse or poor practice is suspected, or where there is loyalty — sometimes misplaced — to a colleague or someone you know.

7.2  Individuals may not express concerns because they fear harassment or victimisation. It is important to understand these feelings but not to allow them to interfere with the need to report concerns appropriately. Not acting is not an option; in certain circumstances, not reporting a concern may itself be a disciplinary issue.

7.3  We are committed to the highest possible standards of openness, honesty and accountability, and we encourage everyone to come forward and voice any concerns. It is recognised that certain cases will have to proceed on a confidential basis.

7.4  How to report. If you have a concern about the welfare of a child, or about the behaviour of an adult towards a young person, or between young people, please share it with our Safeguarding Liaison Officer, Laura Kent, by emailing safeguarding@suffolkpickleball.co. No concern is too small, and you do not need to be certain — if in doubt, report it.

7.5  Allegations about an adult in a position of trust. Where a concern or allegation relates to a member of our staff or a volunteer (including a coach, session leader, camp helper, or anyone in a position of trust — up to and including a director), we will consult and, where appropriate, refer the matter to the Suffolk Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). The LADO provides oversight and advice while the decision on action remains with us as the employer. The threshold to consult the LADO is low — we do not need to be certain an allegation is true. The LADO can be contacted on 0300 123 2044 or at LADO@suffolk.gov.uk (see Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership – LADO).

7.6  All information received will be treated in confidence and only shared on a 'need to know' basis with those who are able to manage and resolve the situation. It may be necessary to seek advice from, and/or to inform, the statutory agencies (for example the police or Children's Social Care).

7.7  All concerns will be taken seriously and managed in line with this policy and our disciplinary procedures.

7.8  If a child is at risk of harm. If you are worried that a child, young person or adult is at risk of abuse, harm or neglect, you can contact Suffolk's front door, Customer First, on 0808 800 4005, or the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000. You can also contact the Police. In an emergency, or if someone is in immediate danger, always call 999. You do not need to raise it with us first.

8. Positions of Trust

8.1  All adults who work with children and young people are in a position of trust, invested in them by the parents, the sport and the young person. This relationship is one in which the adult is in a position of power and influence by virtue of their role.

8.2  Sexual activity or touching by an adult with a child under the age of 16 is unlawful, even where there is apparent consent from the child. Any sexual relationship between an adult in a position of trust within the pickleball setting and a young person over 16 (consensual or otherwise) is contrary to this policy and will result in disciplinary action.

8.3  In pickleball, as in any sport, there are certain boundaries between the coach, official or volunteer and the young player which must not be crossed. The relationship is no different to that between a teacher and a child — it is a position of trust.

8.4  Adults must not encourage a physically or emotionally dependent relationship to develop between the person in a position of trust and the young person in their care.

9. Relevant Conduct & Convictions

9.1  It shall be a ground for action under this policy and our disciplinary procedures where a person or organisation over whom we have jurisdiction is found to have harmed the safety and/or welfare of a young person or young people in pickleball, or whose conduct (whether in pickleball or not) is deemed to pose an actual or potential risk of harm to the safety and/or welfare of a young person or young people in pickleball.

10. Photography, Filming & Social Media

10.1  We sometimes take photographs and video at our sessions, leagues, camps and events — for coaching feedback, promotion, our websites, social media, and our YouTube channel. We are committed to doing so in a way that protects the safety, dignity and privacy of young people.

10.2  Opt-in consent for under-18s. We will not publish any identifiable photograph or video of a person under 18 until a parent or carer has given written consent. Consent is specific to the purposes we describe, and a parent or carer may withdraw it at any time by contacting our Safeguarding Liaison Officer — we will then remove the image from our own channels as promptly as we reasonably can.

10.3  Who may take images. Only authorised RallyPoint / Suffolk Pickleball Co. staff may photograph or film young people, for official purposes, using club accounts and devices. We ask parents, carers and spectators not to photograph or film other people's children, and not to share any image publicly in a way that identifies a child who is not their own.

10.4  How we handle images. We will not publish a child's full name alongside their image, and we avoid sharing identifying details. Images are stored securely and used only for the purposes consented to, in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. No images are taken in changing areas or toilets, and mobile phones must not be used to capture images in those areas.

10.5  Extra protection. If a child should not be photographed for any reason — for example a family, court or safeguarding circumstance — parents or carers should let us know in confidence and we will ensure that child is not captured or published. We will always make clear when a session or event is being live-streamed.

10.6  Staff and volunteers must never use personal social media, messaging or accounts to contact young people, in line with Section 5 of this policy.

11. Camps & Junior Provision

11.1  Our kids' camps and junior sessions are led by qualified, enhanced-DBS-checked coaches who are also experienced school teachers, with safeguarding and first-aid training in place.

11.2  Supervision. We maintain a supervision ratio of at least one leader to twelve children, adding further leaders as group sizes grow so that no group is left under-supervised.

11.3  Registration & consent. Before attending, a parent or carer completes our camp registration & consent form, which records medical conditions and allergies, emergency contacts, authorised collectors, and photography consent (Section 10).

11.4  Arrivals & collection. Children are signed in and out each day and are released only to the parent/carer or to the adults named on the registration form. Anyone not listed requires prior written notice.

11.5  Medication. Leaders administer emergency medication only (for example an inhaler or EpiPen), and only where a parent has given written consent. We do not administer routine medication.

11.6  Food. Children bring their own packed lunch, snacks and a drink; water refills are available. We ask families to support allergy-aware lunches where we have flagged a need.

11.7  We maintain written safeguarding operational procedures that all our session leaders are briefed on and follow. They cover arrivals and collection, missing or uncollected child, intimate care, medication, and illness, injury and incident recording. These procedures are held internally and are available to parents or carers on request.

12. Related Policies

This policy should be read alongside our Codes of Conduct and our Terms & Disclaimers. This policy is reviewed at least annually. Next scheduled review: June 2027. Owner: Laura Kent, Safeguarding Liaison Officer. We welcome feedback from players, parents and carers.