Council backs campaign to keep children ‘Safe to Play’ within sport

Wed 23 Aug 2023

Derby City Council is backing a new campaign to keep children safe from exploitation while playing sport. NWG Network’s Safe to Play campaign, developed in partnership with Sport England, encourages parents, coaches and children to know the signs that something isn’t right and have the confidence to report it.

The Council and Derby City Sports Forum are supporting the campaign to ensure young people in the city can take part in their favourite sports safely. Individuals involved in sporting clubs and organisations often have significant influence over young people and are held in a position of trust by parents, carers and the participants themselves.

Every child and young person has a right to have fun and enjoy taking part in activities without the risk of being harmed or abused. Safe to Play aims to ensure all organisations and individuals involved in sport are aware of the risks and act promptly to deal with any concern.

With funding from Sport England, the NWG Network’s Safe to Play campaign provides local sport and physical activity clubs and coaches with free resources to raise awareness with their members, players, parents and carers.

It uses Augmented Reality (AR) technology as a new method of engaging parents whose children play community sport. The campaign video is based around a family scenario and features three short vignettes from a sports coach, a parent and a child, based on an incident involving a sports coach. You can watch the videos on the Stop CE website.

Councillor John Whitby, Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Learning and Skills, said:

Being active and playing sport has huge physical and psychological benefits for children and young people. We are backing this campaign to help make sure parents and carers can be confident that their children are safe while taking part in organised activities and sports clubs.

There are key things for parents and carers to look for when choosing a sports club, to ensure the correct safeguarding policies and procedures are in place. You can find advice on the NWG Network website.

If you have any concerns about an activity/club or coach or are worried about inappropriate behaviour by anyone involved in a sports club, you can contact the NWG Networkb for advice via their website or on 01332 585371.

Sports clubs and organisations in Derby who would be interested in becoming a Safe to Play partner can get in touch with the safeguarding in sport team at the NWG Network using the contact details above. More information about Safe to Play in Derby and how to support the campaign can be found on the Move More Derby website.

For support and advice if you are worried about a child, go to the Council’s website. If someone is in immediate danger always call 999.