Safeguarding

TASS upholds a duty of care to safeguard and enhance the well-being of athletes, beneficiaries and staff. The commitment extends to taking proactive measures to prevent harm.

The policy emphasises that the welfare and interests of athletes are paramount, regardless of factors such as age, ability, gender, race, religion, socio-economic background, etc.

TASS commits to promoting athlete safety and well-being by ensuring clear roles and responsibilities, providing appropriate training to recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns, acting in case of incidents, maintaining accurate records of concerns and offering guidance to TASS Delivery Sites.

All allegations are to be taken seriously, and appropriate action is to be taken. All concerns must be reported to the TASS Safeguarding Lead, regardless of how trivial the concern may appear. It is not the responsibility of personnel to decide if child abuse is taking place but to report concerns to the TASS Safeguarding Lead

All reasonable steps are taken to prevent unsuitable people from working with children. The steps that should be taken are the same for all volunteers and employees who are going to have access to children or their contact information. All recruitment and selection procedures are be based on the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

TASS aligns its safeguarding practices with legal obligations, official guidelines, governmental standards and TASS-specific requirements.

TASS acknowledges that some athletes, like para-athletes, younger athletes (U16), or those from ethnic minority communities, can be more vulnerable to abuse. TASS takes a proactive approach to ensuring any additional measures are applied to vulnerable groups.

The policy acknowledges the challenge of distinguishing poor practice from abuse, whether intentional or accidental. All personnel are responsible for recognising and acting upon poor practice or concerns, by reporting them to the TASS Safeguarding Lead. It is not the responsibility of any individual involved to investigate whether abuse is taking place.

As outlined elsewhere in this document, everyone involved in the TASS programme has a duty to act if they have concerns, however minor, about an athlete. All concerns related to TASS should be sent to safeguarding@tass.gov.uk. Firstly, and as a minimum, the person concerned should contact the TASS Safeguarding Lead for help and guidance on how to progress their concerns.

Training is crucial for staff and volunteers to understand the policy, procedures and practices related to child protection. Training must be ongoing to ensure knowledge is up to date. Training should take place at all levels to ensure that procedures are carried out consistently, commensurate with responsibilities in the athlete protection process.