Safeguarding Matters with the Ann Craft Trust

Jodi Evans talks to former International Rugby Player Rhys Thomas about his life journey and the lessons he has learnt along the way. In the early 2000s, Rhys had a thriving international sports career as a capped Welsh rugby player. But in 2012, aged just 29, he suffered a massive heart attack during training, which would change his life forever. Rhys is now on a mission to share his unique life experiences to create positive change. He strives to help others reach their full potential through greater self-awareness, perspective and choice.

Nicola chats with Robbie Jacques, who plays for Nottingham Lions FC, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire’s only LGBTQ+ football team. The two discuss the rising acceptance of LGBTQ+ identities in professional and grassroots football. Robbie's recently received a nomination for the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT as part of the National Diversity Awards. "I believe everyone should be comfortable doing what they love without fear of discrimination and abuse. I believe we have the potential to change attitudes now more than ever. LGBTQ+ friendly clubs can play a significant role in providing a safe and supportive space for players and supporters, irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity, race and religion." Learn more about Nottinghamshire Lions FC here. Robbie also recommends The Gay Football Supporters' Alliance, as a great resource for anyone who wants to know more about LGBTQ+ friendly clubs.

Nicola talks to Stuart Gallagher a Senior Lecturer at The University of Worcester, about a course he runs: a Post Graduate Certificate in Leading Culture Change in Safeguarding. She also chats with two students who have taken this course: Victoria Wiegleb from The English Cricket Board, and Kath Bennett from The Rugby Football Union. Stuart describes the course as "a course for people who are short on time. It's a flexible course for really busy safeguarding leaders. It respects your time, and your work/life balance." The course allows participants to learn not about safeguarding, but around the subject. It encourages participants to thinks about safeguarding in a different way. How can we change what is, particularly in sport, quite a well-defined process? Throughout, Stuart, Victoria and Kate refer to The Munro Review. This was an independent review into child protection in England, which called for "a move from a compliance to a learning culture." The three consider how much the safeguarding community has taken onboard this report's lessons: How do you do things right, and do the right thing? It's not an either/or choice. You need to do both! They also discuss the idea of being a positive "rebel at work". This is a campaign that encourages people to improve and innovate in the work place through asking: What are you doing to make things better? You can learn more about Rebels at Work here. If you want to learn more about Stuart's Leading Culture Change in Safeguarding post graduate certificate, head to The University of Worcester's site.

On Monday 20 March I had the exciting job of visiting the world famous Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in Nottinghamshire to speak to Nottinghamshire Men’s Fast Bowler Luke Fletcher and coach Paul Franks, with one of the Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding in Sport Managers, Nicola Dean. As a cricket fan living in Nottingham, it’s hard not to know the history of Trent Bridge, one of the oldest cricket grounds in the world, or about the success of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Nicola and I were interested to hear and see how culture, good or bad, plays its part in the success of one of England’s top sports clubs. As you'll hear in the podcast, Nottinghamshire Cricket Club places a lot of emphasis on building a positive culture. As soon as Nicola and I stepped through the gates at Trent Bridge, you could feel and see that staff were happy in their work. The person working on the gate gave Nicola a brief history of the ground, and we could tell that he enjoyed coming to work. This continued as Luke came to greet us with a box of new kit, excited about his new stash for the upcoming season. After 15 years, ‘Fletch’ could be forgiven for taking his stunning work surroundings for granted. But you can still see the excitement as he walked down the steps of the pavilion and took us out to the pitch. He stopped briefly to see how the ground staff were before talking us through what a good cricket pitch looks and feels like. The impromptu tour continued to the kitchens, where Fletch and the chef had a light-hearted exchange about what was on the lunch menu for the upcoming pre-season friendly. We could sense a culture based on mutual respect, where everyone was comfortable and appeared happy in their work. As we discuss in the podcast, a good culture means encouraging everyone to be the best version of themselves and to have fun in their work. But, if anyone sees, hears, or feels anything isn't right, they call out the poor practice early so that it doesn't become "the norm". Thanks to Luke, Paul and Nottinghamshire Cricket Club for their wonderful welcome and openness to sharing with us what a safe culture means for them. Good luck for the season ahead! - Stuart Sale, CEO, Ann Craft Trust

University of Nottingham student Bridget Tunney is currently volunteering to help The Ann Craft Trust promote Safeguarding Adults Week. In this podcast, she introduces herself and discusses Rugby Minds, a University of Nottingham safeguarding in sport campaign. Rugby Minds aims to improve the welfare and culture in the university men’s and women’s rugby teams. Bridget and Nicola discuss this campaign, its aims, and its parallels with The Ann Craft Trust's #SaferCultureSaferSport campaign.

Peer support networks can make a huge difference in helping organisations achieve safeguarding best practice. In this edition of Safeguarding Matters, Nicola Dean talks to Cassi Wright, Head of Safeguarding at Crystal Palace FC, and Ashlee Byrne, Senior Safeguarding Officer for the British Horseracing Authority. They discuss the importance of peer support in safeguarding. They also offer some tips for anyone looking to set up their own peer support network. In short - reach out to people! You'll find that most people are happy to help. They also talk about the upcoming Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Conference in Nottingham.

Nicola Dean and Kimberley Walsh reflect on how the #SaferCultureSaferSport campaign has progressed since its launch. Their discussion focuses on a recent seminar The Ann Craft Trust ran with Penny Briscoe OBE and Claire Cunningham of British Paralympic Association. In this seminar, they revealed how they embedded a values-based culture to make sport more accessible for everyone. Nicola and Kimberley talk about some of the key themes raised in the British Paralympic Association seminar, and explore just what it means to create a safer culture in sport.

Nicola Dean talks to Emma Gibson about her new role as Head of Safeguarding Adults in Sport at the Ann Craft Trust. Emma talks about her background in sport, and how it motivated her to work towards making sport and activity safe and accessible for everyone. The two then discuss some of the current challenges in safeguarding adults in sport, and how we're working together to meet these challenges.

Joane Pell chats with Paul Stephenson, a Senior Consultant at the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU). In May 2022, Paul hosted an online seminar as part of The Ann Craft Trust #SaferCultureSaferSport campaign: "From Recommendations to Action - Embedding Safeguarding Learning Into Practice." The seminar focused on two main areas. First, it explored how we can recognise safeguarding lessons in our organsiations. Next, it discussed how we can take these lessons one step further, and embed them into everyday practice. In this podcast, Joanne and Pell talk about the key takeaways from this seminar. And though Paul's background is in safeguarding children and young people, these lessons are just as relevant if you're working with adults.

Outgoing Safeguarding Adults in Sport Manager (Wales) Ruth Ingram reflects on her time at The Ann Craft Trust. Ruth joined The Ann Craft Trust in January 2020. Just a few weeks later, the UK went into lockdown. In this farewell podcast, Ruth talks about the challenges of joining a new team on a remote basis, as well as some of the other challenges she faced in her role. But she also talks about her achievements, and on the general state of safeguarding adults in Wales.

Catherine Sykes talks to David Rose, Deputy CEO of The Football Supporters' Association (FSA). David talks about how the FSA is working to develop policies and procedures to safeguard adults in their organisation. He discusses how important it is to listen to the voices of people who use services, as this helps clubs and organisations truly meet their needs. David also shares some of his methods for engaging with FSA members. He stresses that supporters are the lifeblood of football, so it's vital that we create a culture of trust in which nobody's ever afraid to speak out. It can be too easy to ignore problems. So the trick is to make it even easier to act on problems. Finally, David shares some advice for any sport and activity organisations starting on safeguarding journey: Don't fear it! Because if you start worrying, you might put it off, and it might never happen. David concludes that safeguarding is not as daunting or complicated as it seems, and there's loads of help out there if you need it.

Nicola chats with Denise Richards from The CPSU following an online conference focused on creating safer cultures in sport and activity. The conference took place over two mornings on 19 and 20 January 2022. From Learning Lessons to Taking Action, the conference challenged attendees to create a safer place for all children and adults in your organisation, whatever their role. The conference explored: The keynote presentations and workshops addressed: In this podcast, Nicola and Denise reflect on the conference’s themes. They also discuss some of the key messages from the presentations and workshops.

Nicola chats with Denise Richards from The CPSU following an online conference focused on creating safer cultures in sport and activity. The conference took place over two mornings on 19 and 20 January 2022. From Learning Lessons to Taking Action, the conference challenged attendees to create a safer place for all children and adults in your organisation, whatever their role. The conference explored: This keynote presentations and workshops addressed: In this podcast, Nicola and Denise...

Nicola chats with Jayne Wilson, Training and Development Coordinator and Lead Safeguarding Officer for Active Lancashire. Jayne shares lots of tips for NGBs and Active Partnerships on how they can effectively work with their local safeguarding adults board. The two also discuss the importance of accessible language in safeguarding. Jayne mentions how, initially, she found the amount of jargon and acronyms hard to understand. Finally, they talk about how safeguarding should not be a box-ticking exercise. It must be focused on and tailored to the individual. When working with individuals, we should always ask: "What outcome do they want?"

As part of the #SaferCultureSaferSport campaign, Nicola and Ruth talk with Fiona and Nathan from Disability Sport Wales about creating more inclusive cultures in sport and activity.

ACT's Safeguarding Children and Young People lead Sarah Goff talks to Nadine Tilbury about working with parents with learning disabilities. Nadine Tilbury is the Policy Officer at the Working Together for Parents Network, which is housed within the University of Bristol. Her work involves trying to influence what happens to parents with learning disabilities who are involved with children's service because there are concerns about how they parent their children. In this podcast, Sarah and Nadine discuss the new Good Practice Guidance for Working With Parents With a Learning Disability.

Nicola and Ruth chat with Rosalind Porter, Director of Women and Girls Cricket at Oxford Cricket Club, and her two daughters, Jenny and Eloise. The podcast looks at domestic abuse and coercive control. If you've been affected by any of the issues we discuss, please remember that help and support is there if you need it. Rosalind, Jenny and Eloise's lives have been shaped by their involvement in cricket. Rosalind's ex-husband was passionate about cricket, and the whole family immersed themselves in it. Cricket offered them a chance to do things as a family that they would not normally be able to do due to the domestic abuse and coercive control they experienced. Cricket also provided a safe space for Rosalind, who found friendship with someone who was later able to give some support. This is an exploration of how sport clubs and organisations can support people who are experiencing domestic abuse and coercive control - whether they're children or adults.

Joanne talks with DBS and RFU about how safer recruitment can help create safer cultures. Guests on this Safeguarding Matters podcast include Cathy Taylor, engagement advisor at DBS, and Cath Bennet, safeguarding case manager at rugby football union. Cathy discusses how DBS supports national organisations with anything they'd like to know about safer recruitment: "We are the people you can contact for help and support, and we will try our best to help and support you."

Nicola talks to ACT Patron Sir Roger Singleton CBE about his career in safeguarding. Roger Singleton has a background in education, children’s services, management, mediation and safeguarding. He is a former chief executive of Barnardo’s. Since leaving in 2005 he has been an independent consultant specialising in safeguarding and interim management. He is a consultant to charities and organisations on their safeguarding policies and practices; he trains board members and senior staff in safeguarding; and he carries out statutory and in-house reviews and investigations into child and adult protection issues. From 2007-20012 he chaired the Independent Safeguarding Authority prior to its merger with the Criminal Records Bureau to form the Disclosure and Barring Service. He has been the Government’s Chief Adviser on the Safety of Children; interim chief executive of the children’s charity, Lumos; and the interim Director of Safeguarding at the Church of England. Speaking about Safeguarding Adults Week, Sir Roger said: "The safety and well-being of people, especially those with very special needs, continues to give rise to serious concern. Do take the opportunity of Adult Safeguarding Week to update your knowledge of the signs of abuse and neglect and what can be done to create safer cultures. Each day of the week focuses on a different aspect of safeguarding and free resources to support the week are available from ACT."

Lisa chats with Samyak Jain about his 84SilenceNoMore project, which addresses male suicide rates. Samyak helped set up the 84SilenceNoMore project while still at secondary school. Having learned that 84 men a week lose their lives to suicide, Samyak and his friends decided to do something. The result was 84SilenceNoMore. The mission is to raise awareness of mental health issues, and to raise money for CALM with a sponsored run and other activities. In this podcast he talks to ACT's Deputy CEO Lisa Curtis about the project, while sharing some of the things he's learned about safeguarding your own mental health while looking out for your friends.