Working together to look out for children

How do you know your child is safe at a sports club or at the shops? The NSPCC's John Grounds explains how we're helping protect children wherever they are.

From the moment a child is born, he or she will come into contact with adults from all kinds of different organisations. First there's the hospital and the GP surgery. Then there's nursery, school, sports clubs, Brownies, Cubs, Scouts and Guides.

Add to that the emergency services - police, fire and ambulance - and for some children, social services. And that's before you even start to count the cafés, shops and cinemas which children might visit as they get older.

Child protection training

Many organisations - large and small - are required by law to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that they're safe for children. They need training in everything from basic awareness of how to spot the signs of child abuse and how to respond, to very specialised training for people like social workers and teachers, who have specific responsibilities. In fact, we estimate that at any one time, well over a million adults in the UK need some form of training in child protection.

That's where the NSPCC comes in. We've been giving help, advice and training to organisations working with children since the 1960s. And last year, we brought all this vital work together under a new team called Child Protection Consultancy.

I'm proud to be leading this new team because I believe that by working with and through other organisations, we can help to protect many more children than by working alone. Because whether it's giving a simple piece of advice over the phone, or creating a large-scale programme with a local authority, thanks to your support we'll do whatever it takes to protect children from harm.

How are we helping?

Three ways you're helping us protect more children through the work of the Child Protection Consultancy:

Primetime viewing
Over the past few years, EastEnders has featured some hard-hitting storylines about bullying, physical and sexual abuse. NSPCC Senior Consultant, Tom Narducci, worked closely with the programme's producers to create a storyline about the targeting, grooming and sexual abuse of 15-year-old Whitney Jackson.

Since the programme was shown, there have been a number of convictions as a direct result of viewers going to the police to report abuse they suffered as children. Last year, the newspapers reported that a woman went to the police about the abuse she had suffered 25 years ago, after watching what Whitney went through.

On the maternity ward
Babies under the age of one are the most at risk of being killed at the hands of another person. It's crucial that we find new ways to protect these most vulnerable of children. Thanks to donations to the NSPCC, our team has developed a potentially life-saving project to provide training to parents of newborn babies about preventing head injuries.

We are producing a DVD and other materials that can be used by midwives in hospitals to show new parents just how easily a baby can be hurt. A similar programme in the USA has already led to a decrease in the number of babies being brought to A&E departments with non-accidental head injuries. At the moment, we're introducing the projects in six areas of the UK. But if it's successful, we'll be lobbying the government and health authorities hard to introduce it in every hospital.

Safer sports clubs
How can you know your children are being looked after responsibly by the adults running a sports club?

The NSPCC, together with Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland and the Sports Council of Wales, have launched a 'Call to Action' urging all sports organisations to take action to protect children. That includes making sure that the right checks are followed when they recruit new staff and volunteers, and that the right procedures and training are in place. It also means getting children and young people involved in making sure sports clubs are places where they feel safe and secure.

Find out more about the work you're helping the Child Protection Consultancy carry out at www.nspcc.org.uk/cpc.