Calling all parents, are your children attending summer holiday play schemes this summer? 

That time of the year is nigh again and the weather is certainly playing its part as we look towards the end of yet another academic year, indeed this year is the first for a while where the children attended school all year round without interference from Covid 19

The importance of play and physical activities for children has really been proved to be an essential part of the development of children especially following the long lockdown periods, children and indeed us adults are still recovering from the after-effects of the pandemic, even though we may not realise it at this time!  

One of Sport England’s key priorities is getting us all moving again and involved in sports and other physical activities. I’m sure many of you parents out there are now looking for providers to keep your children entertained during the summer break as we all struggle to manage work, childcare and all the other daily stresses and strains of modern-day life.  

However, parents, before you let your children attend any summer holiday activities have you thought about how are they going to keep your child safe whilst attending their chosen sport, has the activity provider informed you about their safeguarding processes and procedures, and who would you go to if you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s care or the potential inappropriate behaviour of an adult or child,  what’s their first aid policy if your child gets injured and just as important what’s their behaviour, boundary and conduct policy for their staff and the expectations of the behaviour of children who attend.  

A good provider will have all of these policies and procedures in place and clearly accessible on their website, they have nothing to hide and have an open policy with regard to parents rightly asking these questions and indeed welcome parental engagement.  

To help parents navigate themselves around this sensitive subject the NWG Network has developed a safeguarding in sports campaign called Safe to Play, the link below will take you to our dedicated website that has a suite of short videos to help you understand how children and parents can be taken advantage of within a sport setting and also gives advice and guidance about asking the appropriate questions.  

CSE in Sports (Sport England)

As always we at the NWG Network would be delighted to have a chat with you about any concerns you may have regarding children being exploited and also hear about any success stories that you may have, please do get in touch through my contact details below.  

Finally, colleagues, I hope you all find some time over the summer when you can relax, take a breather, reflect on the good work you do and give yourselves a “pat on the back” and enjoy the sunshine.

Kevin Murphy 

Safeguarding in Sport Lead 
NWG Network 
Office: 01332 585371 

Mobile 07399 449045 

Email:  [email protected]  

Secure Email: [email protected] 

www.nwgnetwork.org