Maurici Tennis aims to create an enjoyable environment for all juniors and adults who wish to take part in tennis and other social activities at all of our venues.

• We believe that children and young people have the right to be safe, secure and free from threat.
• We believe that young people have the right to be treated with respect, and to have their concerns listened to and acted upon.
• We will ensure that the club provides for the needs of juniors through specific programmes, designated facilities, and safe practice.
• We have procedures in place to address poor practice, and to help any young person who appears to be at risk, or who appears to be the victim of abuse. We will offer help and support when a child or young person tells us that they are affected by these issues.
• We will take steps to ensure that any volunteers or professionals working with children are suitable to do so, through the use of references and background checks. We will ensure that all relevant people have been vetted and approved through the LTA’s Criminal Record Bureau disclosure process.
• We will ensure that all of those working with children are made aware of the LTA code of conduct for people working with children in tennis, and are required to follow it.
•  We have an adult member who is specifically responsible for children, young people and child protection: This person’s name is: Danja Gutzwiller. She can be contacted at danja@dircon.co.uk if you have any safeguarding concerns relating to Maurici Tennis.  

For the full  Safeguarding Policy, please click here

Updated September 2021

Maurici Tennis Safeguarding Whistle Blowing Policy

Safeguarding children and adults at risk requires everyone to be committed to the highest possible standards of openness, integrity and accountability.  We are committed to encouraging and maintaining a culture where people feel able to raise a genuine safeguarding concern and are confident that it will be taken seriously.  A Summary of our reporting procedure is contained below but for a detailed view of how to report a concern, please refer the LTA safeguarding policy above.

What is whistle blowing?

In the context of safeguarding, “whistle blowing” is when someone raises a concern about the well-being of a child or an adult at risk.

A whistle blower may be:

· a player;

· a volunteer;

· a coach;

· other member of staff;

· an official;

· a parent;

· a member of the public.

How to raise a concern about a child or an adult at risk at the club

If a child or an adult at risk is in immediate danger or risk of harm, the police should be contacted by calling 999.

Where a child or an adult at risk is not in immediate danger, any concerns about their well-being should be made without delay to the Welfare Officer. The Welfare Officer will pass the details of the concern on to the LTA Safeguarding Team at the earliest opportunity and the relevant local authority and the police will be contacted, where appropriate.

If, however, the whistle blower does not feel comfortable raising a concern with the Welfare Officer, the whistle blower should contact the LTA Safeguarding Team directly on 020 8487 7000, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000. 

Information to include when raising a concern

The whistle blower should provide as much information as possible regarding the incident or circumstance which has given rise to the concern, including:

• their name and contact details (unless they wish to remain anonymous);
• names of individuals involved;
• date, time and location of incident/circumstance; and
• whether any witnesses were present.

What happens next?

All concerns raised by a whistle blower about the well-being of a child or an adult at risk will be taken seriously and every effort will be made to deal with each concern fairly, quickly and proportionately. 

If the whistle blower does not believe that the concern has been dealt with appropriately and wishes to speak to someone outside the venue or the LTA Safeguarding Team, the NSPCC Whistleblowing advice line should be contacted on 0800 028 0285 or by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk.

Support

The venue will not tolerate any harassment, victimisation or unfair treatment of, and will take appropriate action to protect, whistle blowers when they raise a concern in good faith.

Updated September 2021