Meet the team
We have 25 years’ experience supporting the sport sector with safeguarding and welfare training, guidance and support. Our staff come from a range of different backgrounds, including social work, education, sport development, youth justice, child protection, and marketing and communications. In addition to our years of experience supporting the sport sector, as part of the NSPCC we have access to the latest research and leading experts on specialist areas such as grooming, online safety, policy and legislation, child sexual abuse and many more topics.
Bespoke safeguarding in sport training and consultancy team
The bespoke safeguarding in sport training and consultancy team offers industry-leading services to help you keep children and young people safe. Whether it's places on our national training programmes, training tailored to your organisation's needs or you'd like independent assessments, reviews or event support, our team can help.
To learn more about what we can offer, please visit our webpages.
England
The England team work to support and improve safeguarding and child protection practices within sports National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and Active Partnerships in England. This involves training, consultation and conducting annual safeguarding reviews to ensure safeguarding is being maintained and embedded within organisations. As part of this work, the England team aim to:
- build the capacity and knowledge within sport organisations
- enable sports organisations to recognise and respond to concerns relating to children
- play an important role in Sport England's Uniting the Movement, working to ensure equity of safety for all children by building a shared understanding of the risk's minority groups face
Northern Ireland
Paul Stephenson is our Senior Consultant for Northern Ireland. He works to support sports governing bodies to achieve and maintain their safeguarding standards. Paul assists organisations in having robust safeguarding policies and procedures but also encourages self-reflection to enable sports to examine their own culture and communication with their own stakeholder.
The Northern Ireland project supports sports organisations to:
- engage parents to help their child to enjoy their sporting experience and fulfil their full potential
- engage with young people and listen to their voices when shaping the delivery of sports activities and competitions
- understand the role they have in supporting a young people's mental health and wellbeing
- raise awareness of sexual abuse prevention
UK Sport
The UK Sport team provide safeguarding and child safeguarding guidance, support and training to UK Sport sole funded organisations. The team supports performance organisations to maintain and embed safeguarding standards to help create safer sporting environments and cultures for elite and talented young athletes.
Wales
Our Wales team support and guide the Welsh National Governing Bodies and National Partners Organisations with their child protection and safeguarding provisions within the sector.
This is implemented through our CPSU framework for safeguarding and protecting children in and through sport in Wales. We work with the organisations on safeguarding aspects such as, policies and procedures, case management processes, engaging and consulting with children and young people, education and training, implementation and monitoring and influencing. Overall enabling them to maintain and embed a safeguarding culture and promoting best-practice safeguarding throughout the organisation.
Information, content and digital production
The information, content and digital production team work closely with colleagues from across the CPSU team, the wider NSPCC and specialist subject matter experts to develop and review digital content to help sports club and activity providers to keep children and young people safe in sport. The team find new and informative ways of getting safeguarding information to the sports sector.
