Safeguarding in childrens sports anyone knowlagable

[Sportysporty]

If you run s childrens sports club and your own daughter attends and tells you that in a snap chat group one of the other girls has said she wants to commit suicide - what would you do? You do have access to the girls mothers phone number but only through club records.
If you are the safeguarding officer for that club what would you do? Would it be appropriate to call a meeting with the girls mother a week later but not inform her of what had been written till tje meeting?

I would contact the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) for your area and ask for advice.

Bloody hell don’t leave it a week to tell the mother! Either tell the mother now (today) or contact your local Police Force. They will be able to do welfare checks and can put safe guarding/support in place via outside agencies if it’s needed

Do something about this today OP. Could you imagine if you left it a couple of day or a week and she does commit suicide, and it comes out that you knew?

Tell the Club CSO.

If there any hint of this being an immediate threat then call 999.

Otherwise get in touch with the local area safeguarding team. Its possible that the young person is already known to them, but even if not that will be able to take it forward and support you too.

Assuming your sports club is part of a larger organisation, I'd also want to be in touch with the main safeguarding person, again for my own support and talking through next steps as much as anything.

Phoning parents directly would be a tricky one, I'd want the guidance of the above people before making that call and how to handle it. It's possible that for an older teenager it might be more appropriate to contact them directly rather than talking to parents first.

I hope whichever person you are in this situation you are getting support.

I am the parent - the meeting was a week later and more about how she had upset the girls

If child is at risk of immediate harm you call the police. The police have powers to protect children straight away. If that isn't the case then the safeguarding/welfare officer will have had training and know who to contact within the sport for further advice. For example in football this would be the county FA safeguarding person. They will advise what to do, including how to speak to parents, and make sure the right professionals are alerted to help the child. Things are really well organised in football but I can't say whether that's the same for all sports or activities.

Is there an umbrella organisation like oh I don't know, Swim England. Look on their website and pull up the policy. If your grassroots club failed to follow the policy then that is poor.

Are you the safeguarding officer for your club ? If not you need to contact them immediately. If you are, or don't have a safeguarding officer, then please contact your national governing body for assistance. From here you should be given direction. If you can't contact them, council safeguarding team or police. Don't let it linger.

I have just rung the sporting bodys child safeguarding line and the message is if you feel there is imminent danger to ring either the nspcc or 999 so I do feel they have not followed the guidelines.

I am the parent, not the safeguarding officer.

@Sportysporty

I am the parent - the meeting was a week later and more about how she had upset the girls

That's awful.

Not even just under a spirts umbrella (although obviously they must follow safeguarding) but any young child who does this needs a parent informing ASAP.

I don't think there's anything wrong with asking them to let people know how she's feeling through another outlet. That's a lot for a group of kids to take on emotionally themselves. But you shouldn't tell them off for it.

So, you went to a meeting at your DDs sports club to be told she had threatened suicide, with the focus of the meeting being on how she had upset the other kids? Seriously.

I’d expect them to contact a more immediate help, usually the police for speed, and to have told you immediately so you could check your DD was ok. A later meeting to look at the wider issues would be fine but immediate safety first surely.

If i were you I'd be pitching the biggest fucking shitfit they've ever seen, looping in the governing body of the sport and the local news.

I really hope your daughter is OK and getting the help she needs.

She is under chams and getting good help but has really struggled with safeguarding - not going to do local news but am now in touch with the national safeguarding body

Sorry strugglee with the lockdown

i guess a lot of people running these local clubs are basically amateurs, interested in the sport but maybe not much wider awareness of child welfare issues.
i know they should have some training etc, but some people just don't get it.
sorry you had this scare. all the best to yr daughter.
at least that other child, her friend did report it. thank her for that.

Thank you x yes the club lead is an 'amateur' - she actually said she couldn't contact anyone because if GDPR - but the worrying thing is the club safguarding officer is a safe guarding officer in a primary school!

Oh dear OP just read your up-dates. Is it worth speaking to the club leader and pointing out that you’re not happy with how it was handled. Maybe you could put it in writing and forward it to all persons with relevant interest in the club? I’d certainly be making a point of saying that telling you a week later that your daughter made suicidal threats is completely unacceptable, they should have told you at the time and/or Police/SS or any other relevant safe-guarding agency.

I certainly think the clubs practices and procedures need to be reviewed because this is just disgraceful!

And a safe guarding officer should know better!

The governing body are going to ask them if they need support and extra training - I dont want to hammer the club as being a voluntary coach is a hard job at the best of times. I do want them to know I was upset and how to handle any future incidents. My child fortunately has support and is safe - she could however have been alone with no other support rt and committed suicide, with then an email winging its way to a bereved parent a week later - devastating for the parents and awful fall out for the club.

The safeguarding officer has to weigh up the situation.
If they are the designated lead in school they can apply that knowledge just as they would in school.
But a phone call to inform the parents to be aware would not breach GDPR.

I've talked to her - she did what I honestly knew she would do and tried to justify no one calling me and said she had constlted somone higher in the club, I think she felt this absolved her. She also told me the sporting body had totally agreed with her course of action - they had actually told me the total opposite.
I made it clear it was not acceptable to not contact a parent, the police or an on duty social worker if a child expresses suicidal intent. She sort of apologised but not really - she's not the sort of person to just actually say 'you know what, we got it wrong this time'.
I hope it will change thier response next time.

Larger sports clubs (and depending on the sports governing body) will have a welfare officer who would have had some basic training and guidence notes to follow.