The Isle of Wight Story Festival Festival is committed to the safeguarding and care of children and vulnerable adults at its events. For the purposes of this document children are regarded as any persons under the age of 18 years.

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SAFEGUARDING OFFICER

The Trustees will appoint a Safeguarding Officer who will be responsible, on behalf of the other trustees, for implementing the policy in respect of safeguarding children and adults at risk of harm.

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Our Safeguarding Officer is Elspeth Giddens Contact: elspethgiddensiw@gmail.com

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CHILDREN ATTENDING LIVE EVENTS

Children under the age of 12, who wish to attend the IW Story Festival, or other live events organised by the IW Story Festival, must be accompanied by a parent or appropriate adult.

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This requirement will be posted on the festival website, alongside this policy. The organisers are not responsible for the supervision of children or vulnerable adults during the festival. If parents/guardians/carers are not personally attending the festival with their child(ren) it is required that they make satisfactory arrangements to ensure that their child(ren) will be accompanied to the festival and adequately supervised by responsible adults acting on their behalf.

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THE FESTIVAL MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ITS VOLUNTEERS DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY CHILD(REN) OR MEMBERS OF VULNERABLE GROUPS AT THE FESTIVAL.

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THE FESTIVAL ENVIRONMENT

The IW Story Festival is organised by a volunteer committee and run by volunteers. It aims, in so far as it is reasonably practicable, to provide a safe environment for all participants and those involved in IW Festival events.

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A risk assessment will be carried out prior to all events and we will take reasonable steps to inform and involve parents, guardians and carers in order for them to work in partnership with us to ensure a safe environment for all activities in so far as is practicable.

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FESTIVAL PERSONNEL

The organising committee hold contact details for all personnel – performers and volunteers – taking part in the Festival. All Festival personnel have been made aware of and support this Safeguarding Policy.

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During all Festival events:

• Festival personnel will wear a lanyard to identify themselves

• At least one trustee will be on site at each Festival event

• The Safeguarding Officer (or, in their absence, a designated deputy) will keep a record of any incident involving a child or vulnerable adult

• In the case of a problem any Festival volunteer can be approached and will be able to identify someone who can help

• All Festival volunteers will have a mobile phone with the number of the Safeguarding Officer and the other volunteers

• Any problem will be taken seriously and will be documented and dated. Depending on the nature of the problem, the incident may be reported to the appropriate authorities, including the police. Any concerns raised will be dealt with in confidence on a need-to-know basis only.

• The Festival organising committee and volunteers do not supervise children or vulnerable adults in the public and performance rooms or toilet accommodation. In performance and public areas there are usually festival helpers and volunteers but they are not responsible for the supervision of children.

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PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING

During the Festival, photographs and videos may be taken for use in publicity by press or the organisers. Some live events may also be ‘live-streamed’ and/or recorded in full to be made available on the website and other platforms later. An announcement will be made about this before the start of each event and parents/guardians/carers will have the opportunity to refuse permission for their child(ren) to be photographed or filmed.

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Any professional photographers or press who are invited to an event will be made aware of the IW Story Festival’s expectations of them in relation to child protection.

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The IW Story Festival cannot take responsibility for the general public taking photographs during events.

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ON-LINE EVENTS

Children under the age of 12, participating in live online events, must be accompanied by an adult.

Guidance is given in this policy (and in an announcement at the beginning of all online sessions), on keeping children safe during online events, including:

• Do not reveal personal details such as age, school, full name, address, etc

• Do not request personal details from any other participant

• Do not post weblinks in the chat

• Do not post anything that is disrespectful or bullying to another person

• The IW Story Festival will monitor chat and reserves the right to delete comments that break the above rules, give warnings and ban repeat offenders.

• The chat function will be turned on only when there is someone available to moderate it

• Sessions may be recorded and made available after the event

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ACTION

If anyone representing the IW Story Festival is concerned that someone at one of the events is at risk of, or is being abused, or presents a risk to others, they should immediately inform the Safeguarding Officer, or their designated deputy, who will report the concern to the appropriate authority, including the police, and make a judgement as to the need to report the matter to the Charity Commission.

Policy approved: November 2020