On 31 March 2006, Active Stirling, a not-for-profit organisation which aims to provide fun, safe and relevant opportunities
for people in the Stirling Council area to become more active more often, came into being.
Active Stirling believes in taking action to keep children safe in and through sport. Following the launch of the 2006
Accord, they acknowledged that although they had a child protection policy, code of conduct, and procedures and guidelines
in place, there was a need to ensure that this information was up-to-date, relevant and being communicated to all members
of staff.
It was agreed to initially focus on four key actions:
- All new sports development team staff, and existing staff who last attended a course two or more years ago, would attend
the sportscoach UK Safeguarding and Protecting Children workshop in order to increase the confidence of staff working with children and young people.
- Involve staff in the review of Active Stirling’s current child protection policy, code of conduct and guidelines,
and link with the Stirling child protection committee in this process.
- Review and produce a new child protection quick reference guide for all coaches and volunteers delivering within their
programmes. This information would include a code of conduct, flowcharts on what to do if there was a child protection concern
and details of local contacts: social work initial assessment team, emergency duty team and police family protection unit.
- Distribute the CHILDREN 1ST Stay Safe and Have Fun in Sport leaflet to young people.
By May 2006 these key actions were complete and it was agreed that the next stage would be to review child protection and
its role within club development.
At present, all clubs affiliated to Stirling Sports Council are advised, as good practice, to:
- have a club child protection officer
- have a child protection policy in place
- have a code of conduct for parents, coaches, volunteers and children
- attend free child protection workshops delivered through Coaching Stirling.
Active Stirling believes that child protection goes beyond the publication of policy documents. In order to enable clubs
within the Stirling Council area to create a safe environment for children and young people, Active Stirling’s sports
development officers are allocated "cluster clubs" which they regularly visit to offer support and advice.
The next key stages for Active Stirling include:
- Stirling sports council management team reviewing the production of a quick reference child protection guide for all clubs.
- The remaining Active Stirling staff attending the sportscoach UK Safeguarding and Protecting Children workshop.
If you would like more information, please contact Gordon Crawford or Pam Colburn at Active Stirling on 01786 432323.
