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NSPCC announces ‘Call to Action’ to put child protection at the heart of sport

The NSPCC is today (25 February 2010) announcing a ‘Call to Action’ to sports organisations and their partners in to sign up to a shared vision of child protection in sport for 2015.

The ‘Call to Action’ builds on the progress made over the past decade and has been developed in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), Sport England, UK Sport, and the Youth Sport Trust, and marks a tipping point for child protection in sport.

It calls on all organisations providing sport to children to sign up to key actions, such as involving children and young people in creating child protection plans, and ensuring appropriate checks are followed when recruiting staff and volunteers.

NSPCC director of the Child Protection in Sport Unit Anne Tiivas said: “In the year 2000, only one in ten sports bodies completed police checks on paid coaches and staff members dealing with children and almost half had no reporting system in place for handling abuse allegations.

“Thanks to the huge progress made by sports organisations in introducing safeguards, since the creation in 2001 of the Child Protection in Sport Unit in , co-funded by the NSPCC and Sport England, the picture today is very different.

“The NSPCC is calling on anyone providing sport for children to work closely with partners in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors to ensure children and young people can enjoy sport free from all forms of abuse and exploitation.”

Around 8 million children and young people take part in sporting activity each year. Most do so safely, but a small number of children do suffer abuse at the hands of adults working or volunteering in sport.

Sport ’s Director for Children and Young People Mike Diaper said: “A decade ago, sport’s house was not in order when it came to safeguarding children and young people. There have been major advances since then. We want sport to continue to lead the way over the next decade promoting the welfare of children and young people. Sport has so much to offer young people, it’s vital that all sports organisations work together so that every child can participate in a fun and safe environment.”

Anne Tiivas continued: “We must also recognise the role that sport has in identifying and getting help for children who may be experiencing abuse elsewhere. Staff and volunteers need to know what to do if a child turns to them for help.

“The ‘Call to Action’ is a commitment to protect
and young people and deliver a high quality experience for all children playing sport across .”

A full copy of the ‘Call to Action’ is available to download at www.thecpsu.org.uk
 

Media Contact:

For more information please contact Adrian Brown in the NSPCC’s media office on 020 7825 2516 or email adrianbrown@nspcc.org.uk
 Out of hours mobile 07976 206 625.

Notes to editors:

1. The ‘Call To Action’ was launched today (25 Feb) at a conference ‘How Safe is Your Sport – Taking a Lead in Safeguarding Children’ hosted by Coventry Sports Foundation and the Geese Theatre Company, and sponsored by Network Rail, at the Xcel Leisure Centre, Coventry. http://www.safeguardingchildrensportconference.com/


For more information about Coventry Sports Foundation contact Paul Breed, Chief Executive, on 07747 448 569 or email pnbreed@covsf.com
. For Geese Theatre Company please call 0121 449 6222 or email mailbox@geese.co.uk

2. National Safeguarding Standards were introduced in 2002, and since then 52 national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) and 49 county sports partnerships (CSPs) have achieved the preliminary standard and among these 19 NGBs and 28 CSPs have also achieved the advanced standard.

About the NSPCC

The NSPCC is the ’s leading children’s charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children. The NSPCC’s vision is to end cruelty to children FULL STOP. The NSPCC runs projects and services across the and Channel Islands, including ChildLine, the ’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people.

About the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU)

The Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) is a partnership between the NSPCC, Sport England, SportScotland, Sports Council for and The Sports Council for . The Unit was founded in 2001 to co-ordinate and support sports organisations' implementation of the 2000 National Action Plan for Child Protection in Sport. The CPSU has worked with National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) and County Sport Partnerships (CSPs), national bodies and government departments to develop and implement safeguarding policies and practices. More information can be found at http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/cpsu/cpsu_wda57648.html
 

About Sport
Sport invests National Lottery and Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport. Since 2001 Sport England has invested £2.5m in the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU).

Sport is committed to creating a world-leading community sport system, and has set specific and measurable targets to achieve by 2012/13:

•One million people doing more sport

•A 25% reduction in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds who drop out of at least five key sports

•Improved talent development systems in at least 25 sports

•A measurable increase in people’s satisfaction with their experience of sport

•A major contribution to the delivery of the five hour sports offer for children and young people.


About the Youth Sport Trust

The Youth Sport Trust is a registered charity with a simple mission: To build a brighter future for all young people through physical education (PE) and school sport. Our main objective is to increase young people’s participation and enjoyment of PE and school sport and, through this, improve their life chances. We believe that all young people are entitled to experience and benefit from a variety of sports at a level that’s right for them. Through our work we ensure youngsters can receive the best possible teaching, coaching and resources and have the opportunity to develop their talent.

About Sport
UK Sport is the nation’s high-performance sports agency. Its mission is to work in partnership to lead sport in the to world class success. Primarily this means working with our partner sporting organisations to deliver medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But it also gives us responsibility for activities best delivered at a level, such as bidding for and staging major sporting events in this country; increasing our sporting activity and influence overseas; and promoting sporting conduct, ethics and diversity in society. UK Sport is funded by a mix of Government Exchequer and Lottery income as well as private investment through Team 2012. More at www.uksport.gov.uk 

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