Safeguarding reaches across all sectors that employ, educate, manage, coach or deal with children and young people. Our team is regularly instructed by the sports sector, retail sector and education sector.
It is important that children and young people feel safe and protected in their environment. The principles of safeguarding are simple – recognise, respond, report and review. Our safeguarding team comprises of specialists from our regulatory, employment, commercial, and reputational management teams.
What do we do?
Our safeguarding team has first-hand experience in delivering specialist safeguarding training, developing safeguarding systems and documents for organisations and crisis managing safeguarding investigations when disclosures are made.
Examples of our safeguarding team’s work include:
- Developing a safeguarding policy and supporting suite of documents and training guides for a national retailer who employed child models for advertising campaigns.
- Providing immediate out-of-hours reputational management advice to a high-profile Olympic coach who had been exposed on social media following a targeted internet trolling campaign.
- Advising and assisting a national squad coach in relation to an alleged safeguarding investigation which led to their suspension.
- Challenging DBS disclosure information for individuals.
- Providing legal advice in the police station when safeguarding allegations are referred to the police for investigation.
- Delivering live safeguarding webinars for coaches and sporting organisations.
- Representing individuals in the criminal courts charged with safeguarding abuse allegations.
- Representing clubs owners, directors and coaches in governing body and police safeguarding investigations.
Who do we help?
The safeguarding team at Gateley can offer advice to:
- individuals (including coaches, mentors, teachers and educators);
- sport and recreational organisations and community centres;
- educational facilities and establishments including academies;
- sporting governing bodies and national governing bodies; and
- all businesses and organisations dealing with children and young people involved in coaching, mentoring or apprenticeship schemes.
Hear from a recent client:
“As a head coach, manager and a ‘leader’ to be suddenly (without any warning) cast to one side and prevented from doing my job (which for most people in my position is more than a job) is one of the worst experiences possible. However, as soon as I was in touch with Gateley, I felt somebody was on my side and there was light, albeit a very faint light, at the end of the tunnel.
Eventually, we got through it and I am so incredibly grateful for the help, support, encouragement and guidance that the team gave me and I would have no hesitation in strongly recommending them to any colleague who finds themselves in a similar situation.”
Sports head coach, 2021With you throughout your safeguarding journey
We have a safeguarding team of lawyers from across different disciplines at Gateley that can provide strategic support in relation to all aspects of safeguarding, from the preparation of policies and procedures to advice on the employment law implications of any investigation. To assist organisations in ensuring they are fulfilling their safeguarding requirements we have developed a safeguarding toolkit. Get in touch with a member of the team listed below to learn more.
