- New poll finds almost a fifth of parents surveyed are not confident they could spot the signs if their child was suffering abuse at a sports club.
- In Northern Ireland, the Irish Football Association (IFA) is backing NSPCC ‘Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week’ campaign which empowers parents to raise concerns about safeguarding in sport.
The NSPCC has launched its sports safety campaign backed by the Irish Football Association in Northern Ireland as a new poll reveals almost a fifth of parents (15%) surveyed across the UK are not confident they could spot the signs if their child was suffering sexual, physical or emotional abuse at their local sports club.
The research carried out by YouGov on behalf of the children’s charity also found that one in 10 parents were not confident they knew how to raise concerns with their child’s sports club about their child’s safety. The NSPCC aims to ensure that all parents have the knowledge and confidence to raise safeguarding concerns. The figures are based on 1,000 parents of children aged 3 to 16 years old who attend sports clubs across the UK.
Furthermore, new data has revealed the number of contacts to the NSPCC Helpline from adults from across the UK with safeguarding questions or concerns about children in a sports setting has almost doubled in the last five years.
The NSPCC’s Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week campaign, backed by the Irish Football Association in Northern Ireland, launched this week and offers advice and information to empower parents to play a key role in helping to keep their children safe in sport.
The campaign aims to provide parents and carers with the right knowledge and resources so they can make confident informed decisions when raising concerns with their child’s sport club. Advice tools and supporting information are available from the NSPCC and its Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU).
The Irish Football Association (IFA) has given its backing to the important campaign in Northern Ireland.
IFA Safeguarding Manager Kevin Doyle said: “We are delighted to support NSPCC’s Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week and are encouraging clubs to run local events to engage openly with parents and share this via their own social media.
“We have two webinars scheduled during the week – one advising clubs how to engage with parents and the other to raise awareness with parents about what they can do to support their children in sport. We will also run workshops for parents involved in our under 18 International squads.”
Michelle North, Director of the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit, said: “Parents and carers play a key role in keeping children safe in sport. This is why during the NSPCC’s Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week campaign, we want to empower parents and carers with the knowledge, information and confidence needed to uphold child safeguarding.”
To support the NSPCC’s Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week on social media, follow the campaign using #SafeInSport
For more information about the campaign and to gain access to the supporting resources please visit: www.nspcc.org.uk/safeinsport
