Child Protection and Vulnerable Adults

WheelPower - British Wheelchair Sport
Policy Statement

Position Statement

WheelPower has a duty of care to safeguard all children and vulnerable people involved in disability sport from harm. All children and vulnerable people have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account. WheelPower will ensure the safety and protection of all children and vulnerable people involved in disability sport through adherence to the Child Protection guidelines adopted by all involved in any aspect of disability sport.

Definitions

•  A child is defined as under 18 The Children Act 1989
•  A Vulnerable Adult is defined as any person aged 18 or over who:
•  Is or may be in need of assistance by reason of mental, physical or learning disability, age or illness, and who:
•  Is or may be unable to take care of him or herself or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or serious exploitation which may be occasioned by the actions of inactions of other people"
•  All vulnerable people regardless of age, gender, racial origin, religious belief or sexual identity, have a right to be protected from abuse.

Statement of Intent

WheelPower will:
•  Respect and promote the rights, wishes & feelings of the people the policy wishes to protect.
•  Ensure that effective procedures are in place, regularly reviewed and updated in line with legislation.
•  Protect athletes/ sports people, staff, volunteers etc
•  Ensure those working within the organisation are safe to do so
•  Ensure all staff and volunteers are equipped to implement the policies and procedures.
•  Strive to ensure that any partner organisations have appropriate policies and procedures in place
•  Actively promote the policies and procedures
•  Ensure that all incidents of suspicious poor practice, and allegations should be taken seriously and handled effectively (link to data protection)
•  Commit to provide appropriate support to:
•  Those at risk of abuse
•  Those accused
•  Those reporting concerns / incidents

WheelPower has a duty of care to safeguard all children and vulnerable adults involved in disability sport from harm. All children and vulnerable adults have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children, vulnerable adults and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account. WheelPower will ensure the safety and protection of all children and vulnerable adults involved in sport through adherence to the child protection guidelines adopted by all involved in any aspect of disability sport.
The Children's Act 1998 defines a child as anyone under the age of 18.

Policy aims

The aim of the Disability Sport Child and Vulnerable Adult’s Protection Policy is to promote good practise:

• Providing children, young people and vulnerable adults with appropriate safety and protection whilst in the care of WheelPower.
• Allow all staff/volunteers to make informed and confident responses to specific child and vulnerable adults protection issues.

WheelPower is a member organisation of the English Federation of Disability Sport and together with EFDS and its member organisations are currently working with the Child Protection in Sport Unit to provide co-ordinated child and vulnerable adults protection policies and procedures.