Safer activities and events

Introduction

Every group or organisation has a duty to safeguard children and young people in their care. This includes making sure that all children who attend your events and activities are kept safe, whether they are regular or one-off.

Things to consider

Some activities may present additional challenges and risks, which make safeguarding more complex. For example, if an event:

includes larger numbers of children, young people and adults than you are used to working with, including some who are new to your group or organisation
requires you to take children to a different venue and location, sometimes for an overnight stay, sometimes involving activities that are less structured than your normal programme
is organised with other groups, companies and/or individuals who may not be used to working with children and young people.

You need to think about the extra measures you will put in place to keep children and young people safe.

What to do

We've highlighted steps you can take to make sure children and young people are safe while they enjoy themselves at your events and activities.

Staff and volunteers

Nominate a key member of staff or volunteer to take overall responsibility for organising the event or activity.

Safer recruitment

Follow safer recruitment procedures to make sure everyone who works or volunteers at the event or activity is suitable to do so. This includes your own staff and volunteers as well as sub-contractors and anyone who is not directly accountable to your organisation such as staff or volunteers from partnership organisations.

Ask the other organisations or individuals involved what their safer recruitment procedures are and make sure they match up to your own. Get written confirmation that everyone working with children and young people has been recruited safely and has undergone the relevant checks.

Anyone who is taking part in regulated activity or regulated work must have undergone a vetting and barring check.

> Find out more about safer recruitment

> Find out more about vetting and barring checks

> Take our Safer recruitment training

Training

All staff and volunteers (including sub-contractors) should have completed child protection training to make sure they are able to recognise and respond to any concerns.

> Find out more about what level of child protection training your staff and volunteers need

> See our range of introductory child protection training courses

Code of conduct

Draw up a code of conduct for all the adults who are working or volunteering at the event or activity and make sure everyone understands it and agrees to follow it.

> Find out more about behaviour codes

Plans and procedures

Safeguarding and child protection plan

The event leader should liaise with your nominated child protection lead and the key people in any other organisations involved, to draw up a safeguarding and child protection plan for the event. This might also be called a welfare plan.

What to cover

Your safeguarding and child protection plan should include information about:

your overarching safeguarding and child protection policy
who has overall responsibility for child protection at the event or activity and how to contact them on the day
how staff and volunteers should respond to any welfare or child protection concerns that may arise during the event or activity
how you will respond to any allegations of abuse made against an adult or a child involved with your group or organisation during the event or activity
your whistleblowing procedures
where to go for safeguarding advice and guidance during the event or activity (for example the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or the number of your local child protection services).

Make sure all staff and volunteers who will be taking part in the event or activity are aware of and understand this plan.

If you’re using a venue belonging to another organisation, arrange a meeting in advance to discuss how things will run on the day and make sure your child protection and safeguarding plans are aligned.

> Find out more about writing a safeguarding and child protection policy

> Find out more about recognising and responding to abuse, including whistleblowing

> Find out more about managing allegations of abuse made against an adult

> Find out more about managing allegations made against a child

Lost or missing children

Think about what measures you can put in place to prevent children getting lost and make sure you have clear procedures to follow if children go missing during your event or activity. Things you should consider include:

whether you will have a designated meeting point for lost children, where this will be, how you will make sure children know about it and how it will be supervised
how you will contact parents or carers to inform them that their child is lost or has been found
how you will verify that adults coming forward to collect a missing child are the child’s parents or carers
whether any of the children you are working with might need extra supervision to prevent them going missing, for example if they have a history of running away or if a learning disability means they get confused in unfamiliar places
who will co-ordinate the initial search for a missing child
who is responsible for contacting the police if necessary, and when this should happen.

You may wish to contact your local safeguarding agencies, who should be able to provide you with more detailed advice.

Photography and filming

Children, young people and their families might want to take and share photos or videos of the event or activity. However it’s also important to be aware of child protection and safeguarding issues surrounding images of children and put measures in place to keep them safe.

> Read our photography and image sharing guidance

After the event or activity

Make time after the event or activity to review what happened and identify any improvements you can make to your future practice.

> Review and improve your safeguarding arrangements with our free self-assessment tool

Consent and information sharing

Sharing information about the event

Share information about the event with parents or carers, staff and volunteers to ensure everyone knows how the activity will run and what action they need to take to make sure children and young people are safe.

Make sure children and young people know what is going to happen and who they can talk to if they have any concerns.

Consent

Get written consent from parents or carers for their child being involved.

Seek consent from children and young people too. If necessary, make alternative arrangements for those who don’t want to take part.

Using a separate consent form for each activity or event gives you a good opportunity to check information such as emergency contact details and any medical conditions, allergies, disabilities or other vulnerabilities of the child or young person. This means you can make sure nothing has changed and ensure they receive the extra support they need.

Online consent forms

If you decide to use online consent forms to record consent for children to take part in activities, these should be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Inform parents and carers about how this information will be stored and used.

Things to consider include:

how you will verify that forms have been signed by the right person
how you will keep the forms secure
how authorised staff will access and check the forms as necessary
whether all parents and carers will have access to an online system.

> See our example consent forms

Emergency information

Create a list of emergency contact numbers for each child and make sure this is easily available to the staff or volunteers who are responsible for the child.

Make sure group leaders know your procedures for contacting the emergency services if they need to. Give parents and carers a number they can call if they need to contact you or their child in an emergency.

Additional needs

Make sure the staff and volunteers are aware in advance of any additional support needs for each child.

Record keeping

Make sure you keep all written records, such as consent forms, medical information and any records about child protection concerns securely.

> Read our child protection records retention and storage guidance

Health and safety

Make sure you have all the necessary health and safety measures in place. For example:

make sure appropriate first aid cover is available
make everyone aware of fire safety procedures
find out as much as you can about external venues including visiting in advance wherever possible
talk to any third party providers directly and make sure they are fully compliant with the law
carry out comprehensive risk assessments in advance
check that any organisations you are subcontracting to run activities comply with safety standards.

Take into account the level of ability and stage of development of the children who will be involved and think about any support they need.

More information about health and safety at events is available from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

You should also make sure you have adequate insurance. If you are a member of an umbrella body or have a local council for voluntary service, they can give more information about this. The Cabinet Office provides information about insurance for voluntary and community events in its guide to organising voluntary events (Gov.uk, 2017).

Everyone’s responsibility

Brief your staff and volunteers so they understand any health and safety risks involved with the event or activity and how to mitigate them.

Make sure parents or carers know about all the activities their children will be involved in, any risks that might occur and what steps you’ve taken to keep children and young people safe. For example, explain what you will do if there are adverse weather conditions that would make an outdoor activity more dangerous. Remind parents or carers about any special kit their child will need, for example safe footwear or waterproof clothing.

Be clear about whether you expect parents and carers to remain responsible for their children during the activity (for example if you have organised a family event).

Talk to children and young people and explain how you expect them to behave. This is especially important if their behaviour might have an impact on their safety, for example whilst travelling to the venue or taking part in an adventurous activity.

> See our example behaviour code for children and young people

Standard 4 of our Safeguarding standards and guidance gives more information about running safe activities and events.

Supervision

Make sure you provide the right number of adults to supervise the children and young people participating, depending on their age, group size, the activity they are involved in and any specific needs or vulnerabilities that the children may have.

Never allow anyone under the age of 18 to be in sole charge of other children.

Take into account what would happen if a member of staff or volunteer had to leave to accompany a child to hospital.

> Find out more about adult to child supervision ratios

Who's who

Make it clear which adults are ‘working’ (whether paid or volunteers) and which are spectators. For example, you could issue your staff and volunteers with badges, t-shirts or hi-vis vests. This is important in case of emergency. It also helps children and young people recognise trusted adults they can talk to if they have any concerns.

Free time

As a general rule, you should not allow under 11s unsupervised free time.

If older children and young people are allowed unsupervised time, for example if you have taken them on a day trip and they are looking around on their own, they should be in groups of at least three. Make sure they know where and how to contact a member of staff, what time they should reconvene with the group and where.

It’s good practice for one or two adults to stay in one place, such as a central square, park or café, so that they are easily available and young people can check in with them regularly.

Transport

You may need to provide transport to get children and young people to and from the event or activity. If you’re using a bus, coach or taxi company, make sure they are reputable, have the right insurance and that their drivers are fully vetted.

Ensure children and young people are adequately supervised on the journey and take the necessary safety precautions depending on what kind of transport you’re using (for example making sure everyone is wearing a seat belt).

> Find out more about adult to child supervision ratios

Avoid using private cars to transport children and young people, unless this involves parents or carers making private transport arrangements with each other. If this is the case, make it clear that this is a private arrangement and not something your group or organisation has set up.

Make sure parents or carers know what time and where to drop off and pick up their children. Make sure they tell you in advance who will be picking up their children if they aren’t doing so themselves.

> Find out more about best practice for dropping off and picking up children

Overnight stays

If you are taking children and young people on an overnight stay, there are some extra things you’ll need to consider.

Preparing parents, carers and children

Meet with parents or carers in advance to explain the arrangements for the trip and answer any questions they may have. Explain the steps you are taking to keep their children safe.

Ensure parents or carers know the address of where you will be staying and have an emergency telephone number they can call if they need to.

Talk to children and young people about keeping themselves safe and well while they are away. Give them the address of your accommodation and an emergency contact number, and make sure they know what to do if they get lost.

Make sure children and young people know who to talk to if they are unhappy or worried about anything – for example if they are being bullied, feel frightened or are or homesick. Make sure all staff and volunteers are prepared to help and know how to respond to child protection concerns that may arise.

> Find out more about recognising and responding to abuse

Overnight accommodation

Make sure there are separate sleeping, washing and toilet areas for:

adults and children
older and younger children
boys and girls.

You should make adequate and sensitive arrangements which take into account the needs of all children. This should include those who have disabilities, those who are transgender, non-binary or questioning their gender identity, and those from different religions, beliefs and cultural backgrounds.

> Learn more about safeguarding d/Deaf children and children who have disabilities

> Learn more about safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people

> Find out more about safeguarding in faith communities

Overnight trips for mixed groups should include at least one female and one male supervising adult. Although accommodation for adults should be separate from children, it should be nearby.

If possible, arrange to have exclusive use of the accommodation. If this isn’t possible, try to negotiate the use of a whole floor and keep all the children’s rooms close together.

If children’s rooms are on different floors, adults should be available on each floor.

Make sure children know what to do if they need help in the night and if there is an emergency, for example a fire alarm.

> Our practice example will help you plan for residential trips

Homestays and exchange visits

If you’re arranging a homestay or exchange visit you need to consider whether children will be staying with suitable adults. You should:

carry out the necessary vetting and barring checks if the homestay is taking place in the UK
liaise with partner organisations to ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place (this may include carrying out vetting checks overseas)
make sure hosts, parents and carers understand and are happy with the safeguarding arrangements
make sure children and young people know what to do if anything makes them feel uncomfortable during their stay.

In England, the Department for Education includes guidance about homestay during exchange visits in Annex D of Keeping children safe in education (Department for Education (DfE), 2023). This may be helpful as an example of best practice in other UK nations.

What helps children and young people feel safe and happy on overnight trips?

Things that children and young people find helpful when they are away from home include:

being able to take a special personal belonging
having help finding their way around a new place – for example being shown where the toilets, eating area, recreational and meeting places and bedrooms are
adults selecting who is sharing rooms fairly and making sure nobody is left out
having communal areas for playing or meeting people
being allowed to phone home
having an identified adult to talk to about anything
adults having a sense of humour and making jokes
feeling like part of a team – adults making sure nobody is left out and arranging activities that involve teamwork

(Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and NSPCC, 2017).

If a child or young person needs confidential help and advice direct them to Childline. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also contact Childline online.

Use of your premises

Letting third parties use your premises

If your organisation allows others to use your premises for activities or events, you have a responsibility to make sure they are taking the right steps to keep children safe.

This applies regardless of the size of the room(s) people are using and whether they are paying you to use the venue.

Sharing policies and procedures

Make sure the groups using your facilities are doing everything they can to safeguard and protect children.

Ask groups to share their safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures with you and check that these are adequate.
Share your own safeguarding and child protection policy with the groups and ask them to comply with it (agreement should be given in writing).

Make it clear that groups must put adequate health and safety measures in place. Check that they have carried out risk assessments and have the right insurance.

Give everyone hiring your venue the contact details for your child protection lead.

Sharing information and resources

Arrange an induction to familiarise the club/activity leader with the venue and share relevant safety information, for example where the fire exits and fire extinguishers are located.

Share our safeguarding and child protection resources with the groups using your premises, to make sure they are taking the right action to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

> Safeguarding and child protection resources

> Check your safeguarding processes with our free self-assessment tool

Letting more than one group use your premises

If you’re hiring out different rooms or areas to more than one group at the same time, there are extra measures you can take to make sure children are safe.

> Look at our practice example on hiring out your premises to multiple groups

Legislation and guidance

Across the UK statutory guidance highlights the responsibility of those in the education, community and care sectors to safeguard children from all forms of abuse and neglect:

There is also specific guidance for organising events and activities in different sectors which we have outlined below.

Educational visits and activities

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) has published guidance on planning and leading visits and adventurous activities (PDF) for schools and colleges teaching children and young people from 5- to 18-years-old (ROSPA, 2013).

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance on health and safety for school trips (PDF) (HSE, 2011).

In England, the Department for Education (DfE) has published guidance about health and safety on educational visits in England (DfE, 2018). There is guidance about homestay during exchange visits in Annex D of Keeping children safe in education (Department for Education (DfE), 2023).

The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) has also published interim guidance on educational visits for schools (EANI, 2017).

In Scotland, the government provides guidance on health and safety on educational excursions (Scottish Government, 2004).

The Care Inspectorate, Inspiring Scotland and the Scottish Government have also produced practical guidance for creating outdoor play experiences in early learning and childcare (PDF) (Scottish Government, 2018).

Voluntary and community sector

If your group is affiliated to a national organisation or body they may provide guidelines and/or standards to help ensure your activities and events are safe.

Our Safeguarding standards and guidance include a range of information to help voluntary and community sector organisations keep children and young people safe. Standard 4 covers running safe activities and events.

The Cabinet Office has also provided a guide to organising and running voluntary and community events. This includes information about legislation surrounding insurance (Gov.uk, 2017).

Sports activities

The Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) provides guidance on safe sport events, activities and competitions (Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and NSPCC, 2017).

Guidance on using school premises for community sporting activities is available from Sport England (Sport England, 2019).

Overseas trips

If you are travelling abroad with children, make sure you comply with the legislation in the country you are travelling to. Wherever you travel you are still responsible for the safeguarding and protection of the children in your care and should comply with UK legislation and guidance.

References and resources

Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and NSPCC (2017) Safe sport events, activities and competitions. London: NSPCC.

Department for Education (DfE) (2018) Guidance: health and safety on educational visits. [Accessed 08/01/2019].

Department for Education (DfE) (2023) Keeping children safe in education 2023: statutory guidance for schools and colleges. [Accessed 01/09/2023].

Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) (2018) Educational visits. [Accessed 08/01/2019].

Gov.uk (2017) Guidance: organising a voluntary event: a 'can do' guide. [Accessed 08/01/2019].

HSE (2011) School trips and outdoor learning activities: tackling the health and safety myths. [Bootle]: HSE.

NSPCC (2017) NSPCC safeguarding standards and guidance (England) London: NSPCC.

ROSPA (2013) Planning and leading visits and adventurous activities: guidance for schools and colleges teaching children and young people from 5 to 18 years (PDF). Birmingham: ROSPA

Scottish Government (2004) Health and safety on educational excursions. [Accessed 08/01/2019].

Scottish Government (2018) Out to play: practical guidance for creating outdoor play experiences in early learning and childcare (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

Sport England (2019) Use our school. [Accessed 08/01/2019].

Elearning

Our online and face-to-face training courses can help develop your understanding of how to protect children from abuse and safely recruit staff and volunteers to work with children: