Victoria Brown, Safeguarding Manager at Badminton England, shares her views on the importance of supporting Safeguarding Adults Week.
Working in safeguarding, I have always been motivated to do the right thing because I care about people and how they feel. It sounds very clichéd but it’s difficult to put it any other way when it’s true.
There has been encouraging progress in safeguarding children and young people over the years. But knowledge and understanding of safeguarding adults still seems too far behind.
At Badminton England it is our aim to be the nation’s most accessible, diverse, and inclusive sport. We want to ensure everyone involved has a safe and positive experience.
We want to embed safeguarding and wellbeing support for everyone, at all levels and across all ages.
Raising Awareness
Supporting Safeguarding Adults Week is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues. These issues could affect any one of us at any time within the badminton community.
We shouldn’t be afraid of talking about the ‘serious stuff.’ We can all make a positive difference to our safeguarding culture through simply starting conversations.
During the week, we will be sharing information and resources from the Ann Craft Trust about safeguarding adults through our social media channels. We will also signpost our members to the series of free webinars focusing on various forms of abuse and exploitation.
Badminton England’s Commitment to Safeguarding Adults
We know that a positive safeguarding culture doesn’t just evolve on its own.
In the last 12 months we have:
- Reviewed and updated our Safeguarding Adults Policy
- Launched our new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
- Delivered safeguarding adults training to our Board of Directors
- Included safeguarding adults training in our online awareness course
- Recruited three new independent volunteers for our Safeguarding Case Management Group
Next Steps
Badminton England has also committed to starting the Safeguarding Adults Framework to coincide with Safeguarding Adults Week.
This is an audit tool that will enable us to have our safeguarding policy and practices assessed against a national framework.
This will be much more than an administrative exercise for us. It’s an opportunity to identify where we can continue to improve and create impact.
If you have any questions relating to safeguarding, please get in touch: victoriabrown@badmintonengland.co.uk