The Play Safe campaign has been developed to raise awareness of how everyone can play their part in ensuring that football is a safe space for all.
The campaign aims to make parents and guardians, as well as staff at all levels of the game, aware of how they can help protect the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and adults at risk.
It also provides children and young people with an understanding of the support available to them should they require it.
Parents and carers are encouraged to check in regularly with their children, to ensure that they know how to report a concern and that they are also aware of safeguarding measures and expected behaviours at clubs or by adults working with children and young people.
Safeguarding is a key aspect of the work the League, clubs and their community organisations deliver which extends beyond the pitch and sees them work collaboratively to create positive experiences where children and young people feel safe, valued and empowered.
At Manchester City’s Official Charity, City in the Community, safeguarding is the priority 365 days of the year.
At the helm is CITC Safeguarding Officer, Deborah Glynn, who has worked at the charity for 13 years.
We caught up with Deborah, to find out more about her role and the important work she leads.
Deborah, please can you introduce us to your role and main aims within CITC?
My role is to ensure that safeguarding is embedded into the culture of CITC and support the team to create an environment where participants can have a positive experience, allowing them to thrive in a safe, nurturing and enjoyable environment.
The main aims within CITC are to ensure that participants are safe, healthy and may develop, raise awareness across the workforce and ensure that staff have appropriate knowledge to support and champion the voices of our participants and empower them to speak out if anything is upsetting or worrying them.
Why is it so important to have a full-time Safeguarding Officer based within the charity?
We work with participants from the age of two to adults in their 80’s from a range of backgrounds. By having a full-time Safeguarding Officer, CITC can ensure that we can support all of our participants in appropriate ways whether it is proactive or reactive.
Although we all have a responsibility towards safeguarding, having a full-time officer within CITC can ensure that it is embedded throughout.
How does CITC engage with participants and parents around safeguarding?
In a variety of ways! Whether we’re providing resources like our ‘Young Person Guide’ or ‘Safety Cards’ to our delivery staff engaging with participants or embedding safeguarding practices within everything we do.
We also champion a range of campaigns throughout the season – Parents in Sports Week, Anti-Bullying week, Digital Awareness Week, Child Safety Week and Speak Week.
Throughout these campaigns, we engage with both participants and parents, including through a parents survey and focus group, as well as online safety workshops to help educate, raise awareness and encourage participants to #SpeakupSpeakout.
How can CITC tell if its proactive safeguarding work is making a difference?
Through staff training, we can monitor awareness and review any concerns that get raised. If a coach is picking up on a concern, no matter how small, it helps to demonstrate that we are doing something right.
Also, through our campaigns we can measure impact and awareness via surveys which are embedded within our monitoring, evaluation and learning team.
However, the main thing for me is when a participant or a parent reaches out to us, whether it is to provide feedback, share ideas or for help and support, it demonstrates that we have created a positive environment with a listening culture that allows anybody to #SpeakupSpeakout.
To find out more about City in the Community’s work, follow the us on social media!
Twitter: @CITCtweets
Instagram: @CITCmancity
Facebook: @mancityCITC
