About us

Our work with national bodies, clubs and activity providers

We assist sporting organisations to develop and embed safeguarding policies and procedures, creating a safe and inclusive environment for all participants, staff and volunteers.

We do this by:

• supporting sports organisations to follow our set of Standards for Safeguarding children in sport
• guiding sports organisations through a framework process to ensure standards are embedded across their work
• providing expert safeguarding and child protection advice to National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships, clubs, coaches and parents
• developing and delivering sports specific training, and resources and guidance
• commissioning and supporting research into a range of issues, developing understanding and an evidence base for work

Though we are happy to give safeguarding advice to those who may need it, we cannot investigate specific cases. If you need help with investigating a case or safeguarding concerns, please contact your National Governing Body or Active Partnership.

The NSPCC helpline can offer in-depth advice and can be contacted by phoning 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@nspcc.org.uk.

Emerging work

Leisure facilities

The CPSU also takes a lead in several areas of safeguarding work across the UK, such as the development of safeguarding policy and procedures in leisure facilities.

We’re currently developing relationships with the leisure sector to identify the needs of both the public and the sector, to meet safeguarding standards and help protect children from harm.

Unregulated sports bodies

As well as the National Governing Bodies and Active Partnerships we work with (who are funded by the Sports Councils to engage with a safeguarding process and work with the CPSU), there are a number of sports bodies and organisations not affiliated with national bodies or sports councils and therefore not required to do so.

The CPSU aims to reach out to these organisations, to offer advice, guidance and tools to help put in place and implement safeguarding practices.

National awareness raising campaigns

Close the Loophole

Currently, a loophole in the law means that some adults who hold a position of power over a young person aged 16 and 17 (including sports coaches) can legally have sex with them. This is unlike teachers for whom this would be a serious criminal offence.

The NSPCC has campaigned to get this law changed and in March 2021, the ministry of Justice announced that that law is being extended to see sports coaches and faith leaders included alongside roles like teachers and social workers. Read more about this in our Success for Close the Loophole campaigners news article.

Parents in Sport Week

Parents in Sport Week takes place in October each year and aims to raise awareness of the important role parents play in youth sport.

We play the lead role in helping sports organisations to develop and implement their responses, policies and procedures, systems and structures for safeguarding.

Since 2001, we have worked with sport and statutory agencies to ensure that all children, regardless of their level of participation in sport or where they participate, have a safe and enjoyable experience.

We help organisations to:

• recognise their responsibility to protect children and young people left in their care
• recognise their responsibility to pass on any concerns about children’s welfare or protection in their families or communities to a statutory agency
• develop strategies and standards to protect children and young people
• identify and respond to adults who are a threat to children and young people
• develop safeguarding knowledge and skills among all staff and volunteers

Meet the CPSU team

Michelle North
Head of CPSU

Michelle joined the CPSU team in April 2013 and was appointed as Head of CPSU in April 2020. Prior to this she worked for the NSPCC Safeguarding in Education Service.

Before joining the NSPCC, Michelle was an Education Welfare Officer with over 10 years' frontline experience and later a Senior Manager with responsibility for prosecutions and case management.

She is responsible for managing the unit’s staff across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. She also manages relationships with the respective Sports Councils and with our key partners in sport.

Jude Toasland 
Senior Consultant England

Jude joined the CPSU in 2009. she's worked for the NSPCC since 2000, in training and consultancy and managing direct services for children and young people. Jude is a qualified social worker.

All England Senior Consultants provide safeguarding support to NGBs and Active Partnerships. Jude leads on safeguarding training for sport, which involves consultation, training and liaison with sports organisations, government departments and other sports bodies. Her work also focuses on external communication and equality and diversity in sport.

Carole Billington-Wood 
Senior Consultant England

Carole joined the CPSU in 2005. Prior to joining the unit she was Director of Development for British Triathlon.

Having been a youth swimmer and GB International Triathlete, Carole remains a keen sportswoman. She's taught PE, been a coach educator and practitioner in sports development. Carole is currently a specialist member of the National UK Anti-Doping Panel.

All England Senior Consultants provide safeguarding support to NGBs and Active Partnerships. Carole’s role also involves supporting UK Sport organisations in developing their safeguarding work, working with our Wales team members to support Sport Wales funded NGBs and leads our work on elite athlete wellbeing.

Liza Ware
Senior Consultant England

Liza joined the team in March 2018. She's a qualified social worker with 18 years experience.  Prior to joining the CPSU, Liza worked for Lincolnshire Children’s Services, as an advanced Social Worker and previous posts include Children’s Rights manager and Regional Participation Coordinator for Barnardos.

All England Senior Consultants provide safeguarding support to NGBs and Active Partnerships. Liza's work within the team focuses on equality and diversity in sport, involving children and young people and supporting UK Sport bodies with safeguarding guidance.

Brendan Tonks
Senior Consultant England

Brendan joined the CPSU in 2021. Previously, Brendan was a children’s social worker and has a keen interest in child advocacy. He worked as a Children’s Guardian at Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). He then worked as a casework officer and lead safeguarding officer at a sport’s national governing body, before joining the CPSU.

Brendan has other safeguarding roles outside of the CPSU. He volunteers on a further education college strategic safeguarding panel, as well as his role as trustee for a sporting charity Power2Inspire. Brendan is a keen sportsperson who enjoys all sports, but particularly football, boxing, angling and online games.

As a senior consultant at the CPSU, Brendan will provide safeguarding support to NGBs and Active Partnerships.

Paul Stephenson
Senior Consultant Northern Ireland

Paul joined the CPSU in 2001. Prior to joining the NSPCC, Paul managed a probation-funded project working with those involved in the criminal justice system. A number of his previous clients were sex offenders with coaching awards. Paul's also worked directly with young people in the care system who have experienced different forms of abuse.

Paul works to support sports governing bodies in Northern Ireland to help them to achieve safeguarding standards and promotes good safeguarding practice. He is also secretary of the Northern Ireland branch of the National Organisation for Treatment of Offenders (NOTA).

Laura Whapham 
Senior Consultant Wales

Laura joined the CPSU in January 2011. Prior to joining the team Laura worked predominantly in the voluntary social care sector with a range of young people with complex needs. This included children with disabilities, young carers and looked after children. She also has a degree in sport and physical education.

Laura works closely with Sport Wales to support the Welsh NBGs with their child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures. She also supports many of the sports through the Safeguarding Standards Framework to enable them to maintain and embed safeguards. Laura also leads on our work around safeguarding deaf and disabled children in sport.

Cerri Dando
Senior Consultant England and National Development Officer Wales

Cerri works as both a Senior Consultant for England and a National Development Officer in Wales. Before joining CPSU in August 2017, Cerri worked as a Senior Officer at Sport Cardiff and has previous experience as a Lead Officer for a couple of NGBs in Wales.

All Senior Consultants for England provide safeguarding support to NGBs and Active Partnerships. In Wales, Cerri works with the lower funded governing bodies, and leads on training.

Cerri is a part time lecturer for the School of Sport and Health Science at Cardiff Metropolitan University.  Cerri is also a UK Coaching Tutor specialising in safeguarding.

Additional Consultants

From time to time the CPSU has additional consultants working in the team on specific projects.  

Denise Richards is working with Active Partnerships (APs) as part of the Framework for maintaining and embedding safeguarding standards work. She has been carrying out annuals reviews with each AP and supporting them with their safeguarding policies and procedures. She is also working on some good practice around safeguarding at events.

Hannah Mansell
Senior Content Specialist

Hannah has worked for the CPSU since 2007 and took the role of Senior Content Specialist in May 2017.

She manages the content on the CPSU website, working closely with the information officers and the digital producer to develop and review content and find new and informative ways of getting safeguarding information to the sports sector.

Lian Gaten, Mel Addams and Laura Young
Information Officers

Lian began working for the CPSU Information team in 2010, Mel joined in 2016 and Laura in 2019.

The information officers are responsible for making safeguarding in sport information widely accessible through our website and social media.

They also coordinate the development of our e-newsletter, monthly Lead Officer bulletin and help to run the CPSU webinars, podcasts and other digital communication.

John Watson
Digital Producer

John sits in the NSPCC Digital Engagement Team and works to ensure the content on CPSU digital platforms is easy to access and meets the needs of our audience.

John also acts as our link to the wider NSPCC and ensures that safeguarding resources and information are accessible through the CPSU website. 

CPSU Administration team

The CPSU administration team triage all enquiries to the unit. They also administer all CPSU meetings, working groups, training, conferences and events run by the team. 

England

Sport Safeguarding Partnership

The CPSU was a driving force behind the creation of the Sport Safeguarding Partnership (SSP), which draws together the major players in youth sport across England, with the common goal of improving safeguarding provisions in the UK.

Due to a number of factors, the Sports Safeguarding Partnership (SSP) has effectively been suspended since December 2019. While individual sports organisations will continue their child safeguarding activities (thereby also contributing to the aims of the wider SSP plan), the SSP as a group is not currently meeting.

Although the SSP is no longer meeting, the CPSU remains a key partner in the strategic direction of safeguarding sport in the UK. The work is now being led by Sport England, with the key partners being invited to contribute when appropriate. Since the inception of the SSP there is greater collaboration across the safeguarding partners, which is a credit to the work of the previous group.

2016-2021 strategic plan

The aim of the strategic plan is to safeguard the wellbeing of all young people in and through sport and physical activity, ensuring everyone has a place to be safe, welcome and included and accessible.

It seeks to embed consistently high safeguarding standards and practices into the culture of the sport and physical activity sector at all levels – from national to local, and from professional to volunteer.

Take a look at our resource library for the full version of the strategic plan.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Safeguarding Children in Sport Strategic Group

The Safeguarding Children in Sport Strategic Group (SCSSG) was established in 2018 and seats members from organisations across Northern Ireland, including: Athletics NI, Department for Communities, Department of Health, Health and Social Care Trust, independent former athletes, Irish Rugby Football Union, Irish Football Association, Local Government Network, NI Sports Forum, NSPCC (CPSU), Police Service for NI, Safeguarding Board NI, Sport Ireland, Sport NI, Swim Ireland, Ulster GAA, Volunteer Now.

The group has established 5 key objectives:

1. all publicly funded and recognised sporting organisations have safeguarding children and young people policies and procedures in place that are proportionate to their activity and capacity
2. throughout sport there is an awareness that all children have equal right to protection from all forms of abuse and exploitation and that children are listened to, know who to turn to, and everyone acts on their responsibilities to safeguard and protect children and young people
3. develop and monitor appropriate quality-assured safeguarding training to meet the needs of all stakeholders in sport
4. robust safe recruitment processes are in place
5. mechanisms are in place to enable sport and leisure sectors and statutory bodies to work together at a strategic and local level to safeguard children and young people consistently across all settings

To help achieve these objectives, the SCSSG will finalise and launch a Strategic Plan for Safeguarding Children in Sport (2020-2025).