Tag: keeping children safe

Campaign being launched in Capital to keep children safe from sexual abuse

A campaign to help protect young children from sexual abuse is being launched in Edinburgh with an online event for professionals who work with children and families in the city.

The year-long campaign is being delivered by NSPCC Scotland, the Edinburgh Child Protection Committee and a wide range of partners across the city to spread the NSPCC’s Talk PANTS message.

Talk PANTS gives parents, carers and professionals advice on how to have simple, age-appropriate conversations with children to help keep them safe from sexual abuse.

With the help of a colourful animated dinosaur, called Pantosaurus, it helps children understand that their body belongs to them, that they have a right to say no and they should tell a safe adult they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. 

Over the coming year, local PANTS champions will be trained to deliver the campaign messages and resources to other professionals and families through webinars and workshops, and awareness raising events will be held across Edinburgh for parents, carers and children.

The online launch, which will run from 2pm to 4pm on Thursday, October 5, will explore how we can better prevent and respond to child sexual abuse, using PANTS, and the next steps of the campaign. The online event is open to all professionals who work with children and families in Edinburgh, and it will take place on Microsoft Teams.

NSPCC Scotland’s Assistant Director Karen Head will introduce the event, and this will be followed with the personal story from a mum whose daughter was sexually abused.

There will also be speeches from Stuart Allardyce, Director of Lucy Faithfull Foundation / Stop It Now! Scotland, Laura Brown, Edinburgh Child Protection Lead Officer and NSPCC Scotland’s Local Campaigns Manager Carla Malseed.

Carla Malseed, Local Campaigns Manager at the NSPCC, said: “Each year in Scotland, Police record more than 5,000 sexual offences committed against children. It is crucial that we do all we can to help prevent abuse from happening in the first place.

“The Talk PANTS campaign is about helping start difficult, but vital, conversations with children from a young age about sexual abuse and their right to be safe. 

“We don’t talk about sex or use scary words but focus on rules that help children understand important messages, like their body belongs to them and they should tell an adult if they’re upset or worried.”

NSPCC Scotland’s Assistant Director Karen Head, said: “We are delighted to be launching this campaign in Edinburgh to help prevent sexual abuse and keep children across the city safer.

“The Talk PANTS message and Pantosaurus animation makes it much easier for parents, carers and professionals to tackle this topic in a straightforward, fun and light-hearted way that children can understand and easily put into practice.”

Lillian Cringles, Chair of the Edinburgh Child Protection Committee, said: “This campaign will help families and professionals have these important conversations with children about their bodies and help keep them safe.

“I urge as many professionals, parents and carers as possible to come along to our events in Edinburgh over the next few months.”

The first event for parents, carers and children aged 3-11, will be held at the McDonald Road Library on Tuesday, October 17 from 3 to 4.30pm.

Also, a PANTS coffee morning will be held at the new NSPCC Community Hub in Leith on Wednesday, November 1, from 10.30am until 11.30am.

Other events throughout the year will promote the campaign materials and resources for parents, which includes a British Sign Language PANTS video, a Talking PANTS with Makaton guide which is designed to be used to deliver the PANTS message to children with Additional Support Needs and a Pantosaurus film. There are also resources for teachers to use in primary schools.

To book a place at the online launch event, visit: Edinburgh, Talk PANTS launch event for professionals Tickets, Thu 5 Oct 2023 at 14:00 | Eventbrite

Find out more about Edinburgh Talk PANTS here.

Parents and professionals can also find out how to Talk PANTS here. The adult guides include ones for foster carers and parents with learning disabilities.

Anyone with concerns about the welfare of a child can call the NSPCC’s free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000 for advice.

Scottish sporting bodies back campaign to help keep children safe in sport

  • One in five parents wouldn’t know who to turn to for help if they had any welfare concerns in relation to their child’s sport/leisure clubs
  • Campaign kicks-off to help parents understand their role in keeping children safe and who they can turn to for help
  • Scottish Athletics, Scottish Gymnastics and Netball Scotland join in supporting the NSPCC’s and Children 1st’s Parents in Sport Week

A group of Scottish governing sporting bodies has backed a joint NSPCC and Children 1st campaign which is raising awareness of where parents can turn if they have concerns about their child’s sports club.

An online survey*, conducted on behalf of the NSPCC by YouGov, has found that 20% of parents** who had children in sports and leisure clubs, would not know who to speak to if they had any worries about a child’s welfare at the club.

Now, Scottish Gymnastics, Scottish Athletics and Netball Scotland are backing Parents in Sport Week (4-10 October 2021) – an annual campaign run by the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and Children 1st, aiming to equip every parent with the safeguarding knowledge they need, and highlight the important role parents play in youth sport.

Doc McKelvey, Scottish Gymnastics CEO, said: “Many sports around the world, including ours, have had cause to focus and self-reflect following complaints on different issues. Scottish Gymnastics fully supports this campaign which highlights how important parents and carers are in helping keep children and young people safe in sport.

“Gymnast welfare is at the heart of everything we do, and wellbeing and protection is a priority in our clubs and programmes. We have embarked on a long-term project to ensure all our members, parents and carers know more about safeguarding and child protection, how to identify and raise concerns, and give them the confidence to do so. We are grateful to the NSPCC and Children 1st for helping raise awareness and empower parents.”

Claire Nelson, CEO of Netball Scotland and the Strathclyde Sirens, said: “We are once again proud to support NSPCC Scotland’s and Children 1st’s Parents in Sport Week. The campaign this year aims to ensure parents have access to the right resources, tools and information to feel confident that their children can return to, and most importantly enjoy, sport safely.

“After such a challenging year we know that many parents and children are feeling anxious about restarting clubs and activities, so this campaign will provide vital support to empower families to get back to doing what they love.”

David Fallon, Head of Development for scottishathletics, said: “We are delighted and proud to once again support the ‘Parents in Sport Week’ campaign, led by NSPCC Scotland and Children 1st.

“We will work with our clubs and members to promote the campaign toolkit, and encourage as many parents and guardians as possible to understand the important role they play in the bigger safeguarding picture of sport.

“We hope that by promoting this campaign, more parents will ask those important questions around safeguarding when their child takes part in athletics in Scotland, helping us to ensure our clubs are offering a safe, fun, and engaging environment.”

As part of the campaign the children’s charities have issued three key safeguarding tips for parents in relation to children’s sport:

  • Every club should have a child welfare officer in post – familiarise yourself with who that is and their contact details;
  • Check if your club has a safeguarding policy in place and understand how that keeps children safe;
  • Know that the NSPCC helpline is there if you have any questions or concerns. You can reach the helpline on 0808 800 5000 or at help@nspcc.org.uk

Children 1st provides a helpful guide for parents on finding a safe sports club for their child. And, this year, the NSPCC has launched new resources aimed at parents, to help them understand their role in keeping children safe and who they can turn to for help if they have any worries about their child’s sport.

Resources include a free e-learning course for parents on keeping their child safe; a new animation which helps parents identify when something might be wrong in their child’s sport; and the new NSPCC CPSU Parents Hub – an online destination providing safeguarding information for parents.

Paul Stephenson, Senior Consultant at NSPCC’s CPSU, said: “We’re proud to be running our annual Parents in Sport Week campaign once again, alongside Children 1st, to help more parents be a significant part of their children’s sporting lives.

“Since launching the campaign five years ago, countless sports bodies, clubs and coaches have supported our work and worked hard to develop better relationships with parents and carers.

“This year, we want to provide the tools needed to help parents and carers access important information to help keep their children safe in sport, to spot poor practice and to empower them to speak out. We’re also continuing to support the tireless work sports clubs put into involving parents in their safeguarding process.

“Sport is a huge part of childhood, with many young people spending countless hours practicing, playing and making new friends, and it is so important that every parent feels confident about ensuring their child is safe and having fun.”

Parents who have any worries about their child’s experience in sport or physical activity can seek advice from the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or by emailing: help@nspcc.org.uk.