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What is the festival safeguarding policy?

Child & vulnerable persons safeguarding policy & procedures: The designated ‘Safeguarding’ lead & co-ordinator is Colin Laker.  The deputy Safeguarding lead is Danny Hardy.  The primary responsibility for adequate supervision of each individual child & vulnerable person rests with an identified Responsible Adult.  Every volunteer has responsibility for ensuring that no colleague has isolated contact with a child for any reason. This policy has been designed to protect the child & vulnerable person from possible abuse and to protect staff & volunteers from possible allegations. The safety of children and vulnerable people is paramount and all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.  All suspicions and allegations of this nature will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately and all the Festival’s management team, staff and volunteers have a responsibility to report concerns.  Festival staff & volunteers must not be isolated with an individual child at any time.  If a child is in possible distress, the security team or a trained volunteer must be contacted to arrange assistance.  This policy and process relates to children under the age of 18 years and vulnerable people of any age. 

Festival Environment.  

Minety Music Festival aims to encourage the provision of a safe environment in which children and young people can learn to socialise and enjoy the diverse range of cultural, leisure and entertainment facilities.  It is our intention that this aim will be achieved by informing, involving and working with volunteers, parents, guardians and carers. It sis to be noted by all, that the Festival takes place in an open access public place and is organised and staffed totally by volunteers.

Potential risks to children & vulnerable persons.    

Section 182 of The Licensing Act 2003 states that “The protection of children from harm includes the protection of children from moral, psychological and physical harm, and this would include the protection of children from too early an exposure to strong language and sexual expletives, for example, in the context of film exhibitions, or where adult entertainment is provided.”  The risks to children will vary depending upon the style and character of the festival, the audience profile, the type of activities taking place, the age of the children and whether they are accompanied and supervised by a responsible adult. Potential risks include: 

Ø  Children being vulnerable to sexual or criminal perpetrators

Ø  Consumption of alcohol

Ø  Children witnessing or being involved in substance misuse

Ø  Anti-social behaviour

Ø  Accidental harm

Ø  Bullying

Ø  Children who are unaccompanied/unsupervised

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Ø  Risks to children involved in employment, entertainment or performance

Ø  Children witnessing or being involved with inappropriate or dangerous adult behaviour.

Minety Music Festival will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

Ø  Valuing them, listening to and respecting them

Ø  Adopting child protection guidelines via procedures and safe working practice for staff and volunteers

Ø  Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

Ø  Sharing information about child protection and safe working practice with children, parent, staff and volunteers.

Ø  Sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know, and involving parents and children appropriately

Ø  Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training.

Safeguarding Risk Management.          

In order to demonstrate a sense of legal and social responsibility towards safeguarding children and young people and in line with existing legislation, policy and guidance, a children’s safeguarding risk assessment is at Annex H to the Event Management Plan.   Children are to be protected from potential harm during their involvement in entertainment or employment under current legislation. The most likely risk is that of children becoming lost, or children found without supervision.  The most dangerous risk is a child being vulnerable to sexual or criminal perpetrators.  Both these risks have specific mitigation plans in the Event Management Plan.

Festival Safeguarding team.       

The safeguarding lead and deputy have the responsibility to keep written records in the command & control portacabin/bus (maintained by the watchkeeper) of all child related events, to establish a clear line of accountability for safeguarding, to ensure event staff understand the safeguarding protocols set out in the Event Management Plan and advise event staff/stewards about the safeguarding arrangements in place. This role is to co-ordinate communication and decisions taken by staff working at on site and if necessary to liaise with Police/Social Care. Any activity of a safeguarding nature at the Festival is to be reported to one of the Festival management team or to the security team staff present. Festival security is provided by the IBAUK, security staff headquarters will be situated near the main entrance and staff will be clearly visible with Blue High-Vis jackets at the event and their SIA licence with their name will be on display at all times.  All volunteers are recruited by personal recommendation.  Names and contact details will be kept of all festival personnel. All Festival staff and helpers will be identified by a badge bearing their name and position held.  The festival management team and every volunteer is to be given a copy of the safeguarding policy. Festival staff that have duties that bring them into one to one contact with children or if they have supervisory responsibilities for children’s activities (kids zone), do not need to be DBS certified (DBS screening is required for volunteers who work more than 4 days per months on a regular basis).  Volunteers in the Kidszone are not to be placed in ‘private one-to-one’ contact situations with children.  Volunteers for the kidszone are invited to provide a DBS certificate if they have one.  Names and contact details of volunteers for the kidszone are to be kept by the Safeguarding leader. 

Child identification & escort information.      

Minety Music Festival will operate a safeguarding wristband scheme.  All children under 18 will wear a white wristband with their parent or guardian’s telephone number written on it in the ticket booth.  Bar staff will be trained and instructed to operate Challenge 21 proof of age scheme and to accept only legitimate proof (eg passport, photo driving license, photo student card or identification approved by the PASS scheme).

Lost Children.        

Children under 18 (those wearing white wristbands) are to be carefully monitored as they enter or exit the festival arena. Ideally, they should not leave the arena without the supervision of an accompanying adult.  This is to ensure that children do not become isolated.  The announcement of lost children is a sensitive issue.  In the event that a child or vulnerable person is apparently lost, the member of the festival staff is to inform the ‘Command and Control’ porta cabin/bus;  arrangements can be made to escort the Lost Child to the Control Porta-cabin/bus; staff are to be directed to look-out for anxious parents or guardians who should be reassured and directed to the control porta cabin/bus (known as the ‘Place of Safety’). Long term (more than an hour) unaccompanied children can be taken to the village hall to be united with their parents/guardians or the Police.   All members of MMF organising staff will be equipped with management radios, so a relay message can be instantly directed between child and guardian as quickly as possible. Written records are to be made and retained by the event watchkeeper in the Control portacabin/bus to account for all actions taken to reunite the child with the responsible adult or to otherwise safeguard the child/young person.

Festival site Access.        

The arena is fenced off with a single point of entry for the public.

Patrolling.   

Stewards and a pair of SIA security staff at any one time will monitor car parks, kids zone, campsite and the main arena.

Lighting.        

Adequate lighting is to be provided in the main arena to avoid covert activities that pose risks to children.  

Kidszone signs.     

The Kidzone is not a crèche facility and children using the Kidzone remain the responsibility of their identified responsible adult at all times.   The kidszone is to display signs that children are not to be abandoned at the kidszone as if it were a ‘crèche’.  The event organisers are not providing crèche facilities, merely entertainment for children and the provision of safety supervisors for the use of the facilities in the kidszone.

Teen Tent.  

The (Treehouse) Teen Tent is provided for use by children and young people between the ages of 12-17.   They will not be accompanied by parents or responsible adults. Teentent sub-contracted staff will hold the responsibility of supertvision. There will be a minimum of 3 staff in the Teen Tent at all times and the shift leader will be DBS checked.  Those using the Teen tent will be required to sign in and to abide by a code of conduct which follows the festival safeguarding measures.

Injury to children on the Kidszone from bigger children.   

One of the risks to children in the Kidszone is impact with or the boisterous behaviour of bigger children.  The kidzone will have a designated manager to supervise the overall operation of the kidzone.  Kidszone volunteers are to call security to remove bigger children that pose a risk to smaller children because of their behaviour.  Kidszone volunteers are to use their discretion to maintain a safe balance of smaller children and bigger children on kidszone attractions so as to preserve the safety of children in general.  Festival security is to be called if there is any risk of harm to children.  The kidzone manager has the authority ‘shut-down’ individual kidzone attractions if they become dangerous for children.

Notification of safeguarding policies.  

Minety Music Festival will make every effort to ensure that Parents, Guardians, Carers are informed of its current Child Protection Policy prior to the commencement of the Festival (installed within the website).  The Festival will inform all Parents, Guardians, Carers that children under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by a responsible adult when attending the Festival.   It must also be noted that where a Parent, Guardian or Carer is not personally attending with their child, this Policy requires them to be satisfied that their child will be accompanied to the Festival and adequately supervised at the Festival by responsible adults acting on their behalf.  Under no circumstances will the Festival act in ‘loco parentis’. The festival terms and conditions include the notification that Minety Music Festival is not responsible for the supervision of children in the kidszone as if it were a crèche, parents still remain responsible for their children and their responsibilities are not delegated to Minety Music Festival staff.

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Safeguarding and festival facilities.    

Whilst campsites, toilets and showers are available for use, none will be constantly supervised by any Festival Officer or other approved volunteer.  Parents and guardians are responsible for ensuring that children under 18 and any vulnerable adult of any age are adequately supervised in these areas.

Safeguarding Policy Review.     

The Festival Officers will constantly review their Child Protection Policy, improving and enhancing it as necessary.  In doing this they will look to the British and International Federation of Festivals for support and advice and that body, in turn will look to other agencies for good practice, most notably the NSPCC and the Arts Council of England policy guidelines.