Safeguarding Vulnerable Users Policy - Edington Village Hall

Edington Village Hall Committee is aware of their duty of care to safeguarding vulnerable users of our hall. This policy applies to users of Edington main village hall and the Edington village hall committee room and facilities attached to both. This includes those people who cannot read warning signs, who are frail or physically less able. Vulnerable users include:

Children & Young People

Adults at risk of abuse or neglect.

Frail elderly people

Children and vulnerable adults:

The village hall committee will ensure that organisations hiring out the hall and under taking regular activities have the appropriate policies and procedures in place in regard to safeguarding children. These include both paid and voluntary organisations. Hirers should be able to produce a copy of their child protection policy and DBS checks on request.

• Regulated activity refers to regular activity relating to children carried out by the same person frequently (once a week or more often, or on four or more days in a 30 day period, or overnight.

Details of premises and staffing

All village committee members, staff and volunteers have a duty to safeguard children and vulnerable adults using the hall and its premises and those who come into contact with children.

Principles:

The welfare of the child or vulnerable adult is paramount and is the responsibility of everyone. All children and vulnerable adults, without exception, have the right to protection from abuse, whether physical, verbal, sexual, bullying, exclusion or neglect. Bullying, shouting, physical violence, sexism, and racism towards children will not be permitted or tolerated.

1. No member of the trustees, helpers or other volunteers or staff will have unsupervised access to children unless they have been through the safe recruitment procedure and introductory Child Protection training or vulnerable adult training.

2. All suspicions or allegations of abuse against a child or vulnerable adult will be taken seriously and dealt with speedily and appropriately.

3. All staff and volunteers will be made aware of this policy. A copy of the policy will be provided to all who request it.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The chairman of the village hall is the nominated representative to whom any suspicions or concerns should be reported.

The management committee will endeavour to keep the premises safe for the use by children and vulnerable adults. The committee recognises that a higher standard of safety is required where use is made by small children, those who cannot read safety notices and physically disabled adults.

Any organisation or individuals hiring the hall for the purposes of holding activities where Ofsted registration is required should show their registration and their own Child Protection Policy. Safe recruitment processes should be used to appoint staff who will be working with children or vulnerable adults in any kind of activity.

The committee will ensure that hirers are made aware of their obligations under the Licensing Act 2003 to ensure that hirers are

aware than no children may be admitted to films when they are below the age classification for the film or show. No gambling or entertainment of an adult or sexual nature shall be permitted on the premises.

These policies and procedures will be reviewed annually and updated as appropriate in the interim periods.

Reporting incidents:

The nominated Child Protection and Vulnerable Adult representative will have a responsibility for reporting concerns that arise, as a matter of urgency, to the local authority Child Protection and Vulnerable Adult lead agency. The representative may choose to have a confidential discussion with others in order to clear up any misunderstandings or to corroborate and support any suspicions before reporting a concern to the lead agency.

Edington Village Hall Procedures:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. All trustees and volunteers involved with children or vulnerable adults will be given information about Child Protection and should attend introductory Child protection training, where possible.

An annual review of all required policies will take place following the AGM, to allow any updates of policies and procedures.

New committee members must be given information and an induction in order to understand their responsibility.

A copy of the policy should be displayed and be available to hirers.

All organisations using the hall or hiring the hall should be able to show their policy for child protection/vulnerable adults. A copy will be available on the village hall website.

All users will be made aware of the Health and Safety policy, including fire safety regulations for the hall, bearing in mind children/vulnerable adult’s inexperience and lack of awareness of risks. Sharp knives, dangling leads, scalds from kettles, boilers and burns from contact with cookers are some obvious hazards. Small children should not be in the kitchen when caterers or volunteers are busy serving hot food and drink.

The Edington village hall committee will ensure that when there is a stage performance, the back stage facilities are large enough to accommodate safely the number of children taking part in any performance. They will ensure all chaperones and production crew on the show receive instruction on the fire procedures applicable to the hall prior to the arrival of the children. They will make aware to the shows director that it may be inappropriate to use certain special effects, including pyrotechnics, smoke machine, rapid pulsating or flashing lights, which may trigger adverse reactions in children, unless supervised or agreed by the committee.

Contractors engaged to work at the premises must not be allowed, by the responsible users for the unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults.

Fire extinguishers – use only if safe to do so.

If the hall is used by more than one hirer, arrangements should be made, by the responsible users, for children to be supervised when using the toilets.Village Hall, Edington Policies: Reviewed August 2022

Teenage Parties:

Village Hall, Edington Management Committee Information Sheet.

When young people go to a party, they want to enjoy themselves and we hope your party will be as successful as you want it to be. Over time, we have come across quite a few things that could cause problems for the organisers, the participants, the hall, or nearby residents. Whether it is your first time for this type of event or you are an old hand, we strongly recommend the following safeguards:

1. 2. 3. As an organiser, make sure that you have read and fully understand all of the conditions of hire and have done what is necessary to observe them.

If your child has made some of the arrangements, make sure you know in advance what these are and have approved them.

Arrange for sufficient number of responsible adults to attend the party to:

Exercise general supervision.

Be fully prepared should there be an emergency.

Make sure that guests behave in an acceptable way, and don’t put others at risk.

Keep an eye on the emergency exits (gatecrashers), toilets.

4. 5. 6. 7. Admit guests by invitation only, keeping the main doors manned at all times, so they are not blocked as an emergency exit and that guests stay in the hall and do not cause a nuisance coming and going.

Do not allow any alcoholic drinks on the premises.

Do not allow foiled gatecrashers to have their own party in the car park.

At the end of the event help guests to leave quickly and quietly.

Policy based on the template policy document by Acre (No. 5) A Guide to Safeguarding Vulnerable users for village halls and

community buildings. Adapted for the purpose of Village Hall Edington, by R. Tilbury. Jul 18. Reviewed August 2022