Purpose and commitment
Cricket Arena CIC provides sport and personal-development opportunities for children and young people. This policy sets out how we keep every participant safe in all activities we deliver or support.
Our safeguarding practice follows ECB Safe Hands, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), the Children Acts 1989 and 2004, and UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
The welfare of the child or young person is paramount.
Scope
This policy applies to:
- All paid staff, casual coaches, volunteers, directors, contractors and partner organisations.
- Every activity involving under-18s that is organised, delivered, hosted or branded by Cricket Arena CIC.
- All physical venues and online platforms used for such activity.
Safeguarding roles
| Role | Name | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Designated Safeguarding Officer | Johnny YounisECB Safeguarding Level 2 | First point of contact; incident log; referrals; DBS and training oversight |
| Deputy DSO | Jawad AkhtarECB Safeguarding for Coaches and Activators | Supports the DSO; acts when the DSO is unavailable |
All hold enhanced DBS checks and complete annual safeguarding training; renewals are tracked on our internal compliance register. To contact them, send us a message marked for the Designated Safeguarding Officer.
Key principles
- Child-centred decisions; safety comes before sport or results.
- Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
- Equality, inclusion and zero tolerance of discrimination.
- Prompt, transparent reporting and secure record-keeping.
- Continuous improvement: we review our practice, training and this policy regularly, and act on what we learn.
Safer recruitment and training
- An enhanced DBS check for anyone in regulated activity, renewed every three years (we use the DBS Update Service where possible).
- Two references obtained before appointment.
- Induction covers this policy, the Code of Conduct and whistle-blowing, which new starters read and sign.
- An annual safeguarding refresher for all roles, with records kept by the DSO.
Code of conduct for adults
- Treat children and young people with dignity and respect; act as positive role-models.
- Keep professional boundaries: no one-to-one contact in closed or unobservable spaces unless essential and risk-assessed.
- Use only official communication channels; no private social-media messaging.
- Never humiliate, shout abusively or use physical punishment.
- Challenge poor practice and report any concern to the DSO immediately, in writing (by email).
Supervision and session standards
- A minimum of two responsible adults is present at every session and match. Coaches never work alone with a child.
- For single-sex sessions, at least one adult of the same gender is present.
- For girls' sessions, a female adult (coach, assistant coach or partner staff) is always present.
- For mixed sessions, at least one male and one female adult are present.
- Volunteers under 18 do not count towards supervision ratios.
The figures below are the ECB minimum supervision ratios. We treat them as a floor and aim to exceed them.
| Age | Typical programmes | Minimum ratio (adult : child) | Key notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5–8 | Introductory skills, soft-ball | 1 : 8 | Parent or guardian signs child in and out |
| 9–12 | Soft-ball, hard-ball and small-sided leagues | 1 : 10 | Toilet breaks supervised in pairs; photo-ID age check at registration |
| 13–17 | Academy, holiday camps, hard-ball fixtures | 1 : 10 | Written consent required for travel or overnight trips |
Children are never left unsupervised. Separate adult and child changing areas are used; adults do not change or shower with children.
Transport, trips and overnight stays
- Routine drop-off and collection are the responsibility of parents and guardians. If a child is not collected on time, they wait with at least two staff until collected.
- Cricket Arena does not transport children in staff members' personal vehicles.
- Organised travel to fixtures, camps and trips is provided in the Cricket Arena minibus, operated under our Section 19 permit by an appropriately licensed driver.
- Written parental consent is obtained before any child travels with Cricket Arena.
- A risk assessment is completed before each programme begins. Trips and overnight stays also have a detailed itinerary, risk assessment and emergency contacts in place.
- At least one staff member of each gender is present for mixed-gender trips and overnight stays.
First aid and medical
- A qualified first-aider is present at every session and fixture.
- Parents provide up-to-date medical information and medication consent on registration forms.
- Incident and accident forms are completed and stored securely.
Media, photography and online safety
- Written parent or carer consent is collected at registration for all photography or video.
- Images are used only for responsible promotion: posters, website, social feeds and reports to the organisations that support our programmes.
- We never publish a child's full name alongside their photo, and we avoid personal details such as school or address.
- Parents may withdraw consent at any time; the child is then added to a media opt-out list and excluded from images and streams.
- Live-streaming of under-18 activity is by exception only: on official Cricket Arena channels, overseen by the safeguarding lead, with consent and opt-outs honoured and comments disabled. For matches, the relevant teams, umpires and scorers are notified and their agreement obtained in advance.
- All digital content is stored securely, with access limited to authorised staff.
Recognising, responding and reporting concerns
- Recognise possible abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, exploitation, peer-on-peer or online.
- Respond: listen, reassure, avoid leading questions, and explain that you must share the concern.
- Record: date, time, factual notes, who was present, and exact words where possible.
- Report: to the DSO straight away (or the Deputy, or the police if there is immediate danger).
The DSO decides on any referral to Children's Social Care, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or the police. Whistle-blowers can raise concerns with Hamzah Hussain (Director). If a concern involves the named contact, it should be raised with another director.
If a child is at immediate risk, call 999. For non-emergency police, call 101. For anything else, speak to the lead coach at the session or send us a message marked for the Designated Safeguarding Officer.
Confidentiality and data protection
- Information is shared only on a strict need-to-know basis.
- Safeguarding records are kept securely (encrypted or locked) for at least 25 years.
- Subject-access requests are handled under UK GDPR, with the necessary safeguarding redactions. Our Privacy Notice explains how we look after personal information.
Monitoring and review
- A quarterly compliance review by the Director and DSO checks that DBS, first-aid and safeguarding qualifications are current for everyone in regulated activity, using our compliance register.
- An annual safeguarding summary to the directors covers incidents, training and improvements.
- Unannounced session spot-checks by the DSO or Deputy.
- This policy is reviewed every 12 months, or sooner after a major incident or a change in legislation.
- Feedback from children, young people, parents and staff is actively sought and used to improve this policy and our practice.
Approval
This policy was approved by the directors of Cricket Arena CIC on 26 June 2026. Staff and volunteers sign a copy on joining; the signed register is held internally.
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