Tennis in Elmbridge, 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 it will be taken seriously. 

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 maybe: 

• 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: 

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 our 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 our 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 the individuals involved 
• date, time and location of incident/circumstance 
• 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 of Tennis in Elmbridge, Parks tennis or the LTA Safeguarding Team, the NSPCC Whistle Blowing advice line should be contacted on 0800 028 0285 or by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk 

Support 

Tennis in Elmbridge, Parks tennis 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. 

A copy of Tennis in Elmbridge Anti Bullying Policiy is available to "Download Here"