Safeguarding At Phoenix Players

The Phoenix Players are a well-established amateur dramatics group based in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire who have been running since 1945. We have performed many plays, pantomimes, and musical shows over the years from whodunits through to farces, comedies, and classic drama, from well-known scripts to those written by our own members.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• to protect children and young people who interact with the Phoenix Players services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services
• to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of the Phoenix Players, including the committee, members and volunteers.

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from nspcc.org.uk/childprotection.

Phoenix Players welcomes individuals of all ages and backgrounds to take part in activities, as audience members, show participants, supporting roles, as visitors or in other capacities. We are committed to creating and maintaining the same protection, and safest possible environment, for people of all ages, genders, sexual orientation or identity, racial heritage, religious beliefs and cultures, health conditions, those with or without disabilities, and from any model of family life.

We believe that:

• children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
• we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse
• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• valuing, listening to and respecting them
• appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people
• adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for members and volunteers
• providing effective management for members and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all members and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently
• Onboarding members and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
• sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with members
• making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
• using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against members and volunteers appropriately
• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we can deal effectively with any bullying that does arise
• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, members, and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
• building a safeguarding culture where members and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

It is the responsibility of all Phoenix Players members to adhere to this policy and its guidelines. The effectiveness of this policy and its related procedures will be monitored and developed where necessary by the Committee and it’s members. The committee and safeguarding lead will review this policy every two years. The next policy will be reviewed February 2025.