Quick guide

Spring Harvest, as a Christian event strives to provide an environment that feels safe for everyone.  The Butlin’s resort provides children, young people and adults who have care and support needs with the opportunity for a lot more freedom than they would have in other settings.  Every one of us has a responsibility for safeguarding, and those who serve on the team at Spring Harvest are in a unique position of trust at the event and must always remain vigilant.

This quick guide is designed to help you know your responsibilities whilst on the team at Spring Harvest.  If your role directly involves serving children, young people or adults with care and support needs, please familiarise yourself with our full Safeguarding Policy and watch our Safeguarding video below.

Good practice

• Treat everyone with dignity
• Respect personal space and privacy
• Avoid unsupervised contact with any child or young person
• No unauthorised photography or filming of any child or young person
• Avoid questionable activity and language (e.g., rough/sexually provocative games)
• Remain vigilant
• Challenge unacceptable behaviour
• Follow our full safeguarding policy
• Report all allegations or suspicions of abuse

How to Respond to a Disclosure

• Listen – and keep on listening
• Don’t question
• Avoid passing judgement
• Never promise confidentiality
• Explain what you intend to do
• Take action immediately
• Contact the Event Safeguarding Team
• Write down the content of your conversation, including times/dates
• Sign, date and keep safely

Who to Contact at Spring Harvest?

If you have any concerns about the welfare of a child, young person or adult with care and support needs, in the first instance, please speak with a member of our Safeguarding Team:

Event Safeguarding Officer: Stella Ellwood
Deputy Safeguarding Officer: Sarah Driscoll

Safeguarding Duty Officer: 07718 779011

Email:  safeguarding@essentialchristian.org

or via Event Team Office:   01825 705201 or 01825 705202

Please click on the button below to read the safeguarding policy

Lost and Found Persons Procedure

Butlin’s Minehead and Skegness are large, sprawling areas and very quickly and easily a child or vulnerable adult can become detached from their family or group. They may not realise they are ‘lost’, it may be a family member who realises they are missing before they do!

What to do if you find someone who is lost:

If a child or vulnerable adult tells you they are lost or cannot find their family member or you see someone who appears distressed or worried, please follow the guidelines below. 

• If you are alone, do not leave the area where the child or vulnerable adult is, approach them gently and ask if you can help them.
• If possible, quickly try to find another member of the team (Steward or Head Office team member). One of you can contact the Spring Harvest Team Office, either by mobile phone or radio, and alert them to the child or vulnerable adult who is lost. (See procedure below).
• Whilst doing this, the other person should ask where they last saw Mummy or Daddy or their group leader, and what they remember them wearing. Look around you to see if you can see anyone of that description in the immediate area.
• The Safeguarding Officer should be advised of the situation, by the Head Office Team, as soon as the situation is reported.
• If the lost person has their own phone, ask if they have a family member or group leader’s number and endeavour to call them straightaway.
• Check the wristband for an emergency contact number. If there isn’t one, ask the child for their name and the Admin Team Leader (in the Team Office) will be able to look it up on the children’s registration form.
• Do not give the child's name over the radio.
• If the lost person is a vulnerable adult and there is no number, again the Admin Team Leader may be able to track down the booking for contact details. In this instance, you may consider calling the Disability Consultant for assistance.
• Always remain sensitive to the distressed child and try to reassure them. Lost children are usually reunited within a matter of minutes, although it can feel like forever!
• Do not cuddle or pick the child up, just stand with the child and reassure them.
• If no one can be seen nearby or reached by phone, take the child to the Nursery or Team Office (whichever is closer), to wait there with a member of the Nursery or Head Office team.

How to report a missing child or vulnerable adult:

• Contact the Team Office immediately, either by mobile phone or radio
• Give a brief description of the child or vulnerable adult– approximate age, hair colour, clothes they are wearing, area of the resort where they have gone missing from.
• Do NOT give the child or vulnerable adult’s name or accommodation details over the radio
• Do NOT give out the emergency phone number on the wristband over the radio
• The Team Office will alert the Safeguarding Officer immediately.
• The Stewards will oversee the search operation.

If you are required to look for a missing child or vulnerable adult:

• If possible, search in pairs. A male and female combination is ideal but not always possible.
• If you think you have found the missing person, approach them carefully and be sensitive to the fact they may be quietly concerned, rather than visibly distressed. They may not even realise they have become separated.
• Once you have determined that this is the right person, advise the Team Office via phone or radio immediately so this can be confirmed, and the search ended.
• Find out where the family members are and take them to be reunited. Do not leave the child to find their own way there or you could be searching all over again!

This information is available as a PDF below.

Any child left uncollected at the end of a Kid’s programme session should be cared for by the Programme Leader and a suitable familiar team member. The child’s welfare is of paramount importance and they must be reassured at all times.

Procedure

• One of the door stewards should keep watch for the collecting parent.
• A team member should telephone the parent or emergency contact given on the registration form.
• Another team member should be sent to the child’s accommodation to see if the parents or carers are there.
• The Event Safeguarding Officer should be advised via the Team Office.

In the event of no-one arriving to collect the child within 30 minutes of the end of the programme:

• The child should be taken by a pair of team members to the 0-4s venue, or to the Team Office if the 0-4s venue is closed. The Event Safeguarding Officer will be present at this stage and assist in re-uniting the child with their parent/carer.
• If at all possible, the Programme Leader or team member should remain with the child and the Event Safeguarding Officer as a familiar person.

In the event of no-one arriving to collect the child within 1 hour of the end of the programme:

• The person nominated as the emergency off-resort contact on the child’s registration form should be contacted by the Event Safeguarding Officer.

If the parent/carer of the child cannot be located, the Event Safeguarding Officer will make decisions about contacting the local Children’s Services department.