Tom McIntosh, Operations Director at Levelling the Playing Field’s strategic partners Sport Birmingham, gives his view on the attributes any coach or youth worker must have when it comes to safeguarding. 

Safeguarding is a complex area: young people can show up to an organised activity with a huge variety of different concerns and vulnerabilities which must be responded to appropriately. Clearly, procedures and policies must be robust, but according to Tom McIntosh from the active partnership Sport Birmingham, the most important factor is confidence.

“We always say to our staff and volunteers that effective safeguarding is the confidence to act,” says Tom. “You can have all the policies and training under the sun, but when that scenario happens and you’re at the sharp end, it’s all about having that confidence to respond, document and escalate.

“I implicitly trust our youth workers to have the right judgement on when they need to intervene and when they don’t. Their confidence to intervene early is crucial because we know that early intervention can increase the chances of resolving issues.”

That confidence comes from high levels of training, lived experience, relatability (forming close and trusting relationships with each young person which enable the leader to spot telling changes in behaviour) and knowledge of the local community and the challenges young people face.

“There are very small margins in some of the key signs these workers can pick up,” explains Tom. “An individual might be a little bit quieter than usual or the youth worker may just have a sixth sense that something is going on. That worker’s ‘healthy curiosity’ is vital, as well as their confidence to intervene, take an individual to one side and not to be afraid to escalate if necessary.”

Confidence is a two-way street in the environment of community youth and sport provision. The staff’s competence, vigilance, empathy and ability to listen will in turn give young people the confidence to open up and voice opinions and concerns.

“Creating an environment that feels safe for your beneficiaries to express themselves is vitally important,” says Tom. “When young people feel safe that’s when they will really enjoy themselves and you will start to see longer term benefits. When we get a disclosure it’s often because a young person feels they are in a trusted and safe place.

“Sometimes young people have had negative experiences of education and have been given sanctions they believed to be harsh, unfair or disproportionate in terms of what they’ve done, so there becomes a point where they become less trusting and disenfranchised.

“For me, youth organisations should offer an escape from that and total safety in terms of listening to their opinion and allowing them to really come out of their shell. They should offer the perception of a safe space as soon as they walk in the door.”

Only once that trusting and open environment has been established can staff start to push positive messages to beneficiaries, including giving them the understanding around the consequences of their choices and behaviour. Youth clubs and community sport environments can be good places for young people to learn that their decisions – such as affiliating with others who are on the fringes of the Criminal Justice System – can jeopardise their safety and wellbeing.

“Staff can’t prevent it all but they can definitely educate and support young people to make sure their behaviours aren’t endangering their own safety,” states Tom.

This commitment to keeping young people safe, active and engaged is why Sport Birmingham are such an integral part of Levelling the Playing Field as a strategic partner, and are helping us achieve the project’s common goals:

• Increase the number of ethnically diverse children taking part in sport and physical activity
• Prevent and divert ethnically diverse children from becoming involved in the Criminal Justice System

As an active partnership, Sport Birmingham is a strategic rather than a delivery body, but their role is important in setting high safeguarding standards for organisations in the city. Regularly updated safeguarding training is mandated within their funding applications and they have a community sport mentor who spot-checks at sessions, examines the environment, observes delivery, gives ratings and highlights any points for improvement.

Sport Birmingham advocate the child-centred approach to coaching and child-first principles, as outlined by the Youth Justice Board. It’s all part of showcasing and advocating best practice for local organisations to follow.

“We ultimately want to make sure organisations understand what is meant by safeguarding and get a wider commitment to delivering it to an excellent standard. We want robust protocols that can be evidenced, ongoing increases in staff knowledge and creation of safe spaces. If all those things are in place, then staff who have that feeling in the pit of their stomach that something isn’t right know exactly what to do to get the best outcome.”

For more info on safeguarding at Sport Birmingham, click here.