Meet the Coach | James Dilley 5th Degree Black Belt | Reading Taekwon-Do

Reading Taekwon-Do Safeguarding Policy

Adopted: 28/09/2026 · Nation: England · Policy owner: James Dilley

Our commitment
Scope and definitions
Legal and regulatory framework
Principles
Roles and responsibilities
Safer recruitment and ongoing suitability
Recognising abuse, neglect and poor practice
Low-level concerns
Responding to a disclosure and reporting a concern
Allegations against instructors, volunteers and other adults at the club
Codes of conduct
Safe practice in martial arts
Online safety, photography and social media
Safeguarding adults at risk
Information sharing, records and confidentiality
Whistleblowing
Training, monitoring and review
Quick reference: how to raise a concern

1. Our commitment

Reading Taekwon-Do exists to teach martial arts well and safely. Every child, young person and adult who trains with us, watches from the side, helps out, or works for us has the right to do so free from abuse, neglect, exploitation and poor practice. We take that responsibility seriously, not as a form-filling exercise but as the foundation of how the club runs day to day.

This policy sets out how we meet that responsibility. It applies to everyone connected with the club, in every setting where the club operates, including sessions at Kings Academy Prospect, gradings, competitions, seminars, camps, social events, travel to and from events, and every online space the club uses. It is a public document. Any member, parent or carer may ask for a copy and it is available on request from james@readingtkd.com.

Reading Taekwon-Do is a member of the British Martial Arts and Boxing Association (BMABA). Membership commits us to BMABA's safeguarding standards and gives our members an independent route to raise a concern about the club. This policy is built on BMABA's model policy and has been adapted to reflect how our club actually operates.

2. Scope and definitions

Child means anyone under 18. This includes 16 and 17 year olds, whatever their grade, whether they assist with teaching, and whether they train in an adult class.

Adult at risk means a person aged 18 or over who has needs for care and support (whether or not those needs are being met), is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves. Section 14 explains how we apply this.

Safeguarding means protecting people from harm, preventing impairment of their health or development, making sure they grow up or live in circumstances consistent with safe and effective care, and acting to give them the best outcomes. Child protection is the part of safeguarding that responds when a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is the named person responsible for safeguarding at this club. Ours is James Dilley. Some organisations use the title Club Welfare Officer or Designated Safeguarding Officer; the role is the same.

Instructor in this policy includes every person who teaches, assists, supervises or helps at the club, paid or unpaid, however senior, and however occasionally.

Position of trust describes the relationship between an instructor and a student. It carries a legal meaning in some nations (section 3) and a professional meaning everywhere: instructors have power and influence over students, and that power must never be misused.

3. Legal and regulatory framework

Safeguarding law is devolved. This section sets out the framework that applies to Reading Taekwon-Do in England. Where the club runs events in another UK nation, the framework of that nation applies to the event and the DSL will check the local reporting routes in advance.

The principal framework in England is:

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, the statutory guidance on multi-agency safeguarding published in March 2026, which replaced the 2023 edition. It applies to every organisation with functions relating to children, including sports clubs, and this club follows it.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, statutory for schools and colleges. Where Reading Taekwon-Do delivers sessions in a school or on behalf of one we work within the school's safeguarding arrangements as well as our own, and we apply the guidance as good practice everywhere else.

Children Act 1989 and 2004, which set the legal basis for child welfare, and the Care Act 2014 and its statutory guidance, which do the same for adults at risk.

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which govern Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and the barred lists.

Crime and Policing Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. It creates a statutory duty on anyone carrying out regulated activity with children in England to report child sexual abuse to the police or local authority when they are told about it by a child or by the perpetrator, or witness it; creates a criminal offence of obstructing someone from making such a report; and removes the former "supervision" exemption from regulated activity, so that supervised roles with children become eligible for the enhanced check with barred list information. The reporting duty is expected to come into force during 2027 once the Government publishes commencement regulations and guidance. This club applies it from now.

Sexual Offences Act 2003, section 22A (inserted by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022), which since 28 June 2022 has made it a criminal offence for an adult who coaches, teaches, trains, supervises or instructs a 16 or 17 year old in a sport on a regular basis to engage in sexual activity with them. This applies directly to every instructor at this club.
Online Safety Act 2023, Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, and the Equality Act 2010.

Concerns about a child are reported to children's social care at the local authority where the child lives (many areas run this through a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub, or MASH), and to the police where a crime may have been committed. Concerns about an adult at risk are reported to the local authority adult safeguarding team. Allegations against people who work with children are referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). The DSL keeps the current contact numbers for our local authority and safeguarding partnership.

Two further points apply everywhere. First, this policy does not replace the law or statutory guidance; where they say more than we do, they prevail. Second, BMABA's own safeguarding standards, the BMABA Safeguarding Code, and the conditions of our membership sit alongside this policy and we comply with them.

4. Principles

Everything in this policy follows from six principles.

The welfare of the child or adult at risk comes first. Before the club's reputation, before an instructor's feelings, before a grading, before a competition result.

Everyone has an equal right to protection. Age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, background, ability, grade or how long someone has trained with us make no difference to the protection they are owed. Some people face barriers to being heard, including disabled people, those who speak English as an additional language, and those who have been let down before. We work harder, not less hard, to hear them.

Safeguarding is everybody's responsibility. The DSL leads, but every instructor, helper, parent and member has a part to play. Nobody at this club may treat a concern as someone else's job.

We act on concerns, not certainty. Nobody at the club is expected to investigate or prove abuse. A concern that turns out to be unfounded does the child no harm. A concern kept quiet can cost a life.

We listen to children and adults at risk and take what they say seriously. Their views inform how we run the club.

We are open. Concerns about the club, its instructors, or this policy can be raised without fear of reprisal, inside the club or directly with BMABA.

5. Roles and responsibilities

The Designated Safeguarding Lead, James Dilley, is the first point of contact for any safeguarding concern and holds the club's safeguarding records. The DSL:

holds current safeguarding training appropriate to the role, renewed at least every three years, and a valid enhanced criminal records check.

receives and records concerns, decides whether and how to refer them, and makes referrals to statutory agencies.

keeps the club's contact list for the local authority, police and BMABA up to date.

advises instructors and parents, and makes sure new instructors and helpers are inducted into this policy.

reports safeguarding matters to BMABA as required by our membership.

reviews this policy at least annually and after any incident, and keeps a log of low-level concerns.

The club does not currently have a Deputy Safeguarding Lead. Where the DSL is unavailable, or a concern involves the DSL, concerns go directly to BMABA (section 9) or to the statutory agencies. The club will appoint a deputy as soon as a suitable person is available.

The lead instructor and owner, James Dilley, is accountable for the club's safeguarding arrangements as a whole: making sure this policy is in place, resourced and followed, that every instructor is safely recruited and checked, and that the DSL is supported and can act independently. Where the lead instructor and DSL are the same person, a deputy or BMABA provides the independent route.

Every instructor and helper must read and sign this policy before working with students, complete the training required for their role, follow the codes of conduct in section 11, report concerns promptly, and never promise a child confidentiality. Every instructor is personally responsible for making sure that a concern they raise has actually reached the DSL or, where the law requires, the statutory agencies. Telling someone is not the same as confirming it was acted on.

Parents, carers and adult members are asked to read this policy, tell the DSL about anything that concerns them, follow the parents' code of conduct, and support the club by keeping registration, medical and contact information up to date.

BMABA sets the safeguarding standards our membership requires, provides training, model policies and advice, offers an independent route for concerns about the club, and may investigate, sanction, suspend or expel a member club or instructor. BMABA is not a statutory agency. It does not replace the police, local authority or social services, and it will refer concerns to them where necessary.

6. Safer recruitment and ongoing suitability

The people we allow to instruct, help and volunteer are the single biggest safeguarding decision the club makes. We treat recruitment the same way whether the role is paid or unpaid and whatever the person's grade or reputation.

Before anyone works with students, the club:

defines the role in writing, including whether it involves regulated activity with children or adults at risk.

takes an application or expression of interest and interviews the person, exploring their motivation and attitude to safeguarding.

obtains and follows up two references, at least one from someone who has seen them work with children or adults at risk where the role involves that.

verifies identity and, where relevant, coaching and first aid qualifications and instructor insurance.

obtains an enhanced DBS check with barred list information for regulated activity before they start, and keeps the record. Following the Crime and Policing Act 2026 the club no longer relies on supervision to avoid a barred list check: assistant instructors, regular helpers and anyone who regularly works with children are checked at the enhanced level whether or not they are supervised.

obtains a signed self-declaration covering convictions, cautions, disciplinary findings and previous sanctions by any governing body, and a signed acceptance of this policy and the codes of conduct.

confirms the person is registered with BMABA as an instructor where the club's membership requires it.

Ongoing suitability. Checks are a snapshot. The club renews criminal records checks at least every three years (or uses the DBS Update Service where available), requires an annual re-signed self-declaration, monitors practice, and acts on any information that calls a person's suitability into question.

Where a person is removed from a role because they pose a risk to children or adults at risk, or would have been removed had they not left, the club has a legal duty to refer them to the Disclosure and Barring Service and will also inform BMABA.

Young leaders and student instructors under 18 are children first. They are supervised by an adult instructor at all times, are never left in sole charge of a class, are never used to make up adult supervision ratios, and are safeguarded like any other child at the club.

Training. All instructors complete safeguarding training appropriate to their role before working unsupervised and refresh it at least every three years. The DSL complete DSL-level training. Instructors working with children also hold current first aid. Training records are kept by the DSL.

7. Recognising abuse, neglect and poor practice

Abuse is any action that harms a child or adult at risk, or a failure to act that leaves them exposed to harm. Anyone can abuse: a parent, a relative, a stranger, another young person, an instructor, or a trusted senior grade. Abuse can happen in person and online, once or repeatedly, and much of it is never seen directly. What instructors see are the signs.

Physical abuse includes hitting, shaking, throwing, burning, and any injury inflicted deliberately. In martial arts, it also includes using techniques, sparring, conditioning or "discipline" as punishment, pushing a student beyond safe limits, and excessive or inappropriate contact dressed up as training. Signs include unexplained or inconsistently explained injuries, injuries in unusual places, reluctance to change or be seen, and fear of particular people.

Emotional abuse includes persistent criticism, humiliation, ridicule, threats, shouting, favouritism, exclusion, unreasonable expectations, and making a child feel worthless or valued only for performance. Martial arts culture can normalise some of this. It is abuse here as anywhere. Signs include anxiety, withdrawal, low self-esteem, self-harm, and a child who is desperate not to disappoint.

Sexual abuse includes any sexual activity with a child, contact or non-contact, whether or not the child appears to consent, and includes grooming, sexual comments, exposure to sexual material, and creating or sharing sexual images of a child. For 16 and 17 year olds, the position of trust law in England makes any sexual activity between an instructor and a student a criminal offence. Signs include sexual knowledge or behaviour beyond the child's age, secrecy about an adult, gifts or contact from an adult, and physical symptoms. Grooming often looks like generosity: extra attention, lifts, private messages, special treatment, and gradually blurred boundaries. Instructors must recognise it in others and avoid any behaviour of their own that could look like it.

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet basic needs. Signs include a child who is regularly hungry, unwashed, inadequately dressed for the weather, untreated medical problems, and a child who is habitually collected late or not at all.

Other harms the club stays alert to include bullying and cyberbullying (see our Anti-Bullying Policy), child-on-child abuse including sexual harassment and image sharing, domestic abuse in the child's home, criminal and sexual exploitation, county lines, radicalisation, harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and forced marriage, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, eating disorders and unhealthy weight control (a particular risk in weight-category sports), and abuse of adults at risk including financial abuse.

Poor practice is behaviour that falls short of the standards in this policy without necessarily being abuse: unnecessary physical contact, one-to-one sessions without agreement, sharing personal social media, inappropriate language, inconsistent boundaries, favouritism, ignoring the codes of conduct. Poor practice is dealt with through section 8. Left unaddressed it becomes the environment in which abuse happens.

8. Low-level concerns

A low-level concern is any concern, however small, that an adult at the club has behaved in a way that is inconsistent with the codes of conduct, including behaviour outside the club, but which does not meet the threshold for referral to the statutory agencies. Examples: being over-friendly with a particular student, giving a student a lift without agreement, messaging a student privately, using inappropriate language, or a pattern of minor boundary lapses.

The club keeps a confidential low-level concerns log, held by the DSL. Every low-level concern is recorded with the name of the adult, the concern, the person who raised it, the date, and the action taken. The DSL considers each concern on its own and against any earlier entries about the same person, because patterns matter more than single events. Instructors are expected to self-report where they realise their own behaviour has fallen short.

Low-level concerns are addressed through conversation, guidance, supervision or training. Where a concern, or a pattern of concerns, suggests the person may pose a risk, the DSL treats it as an allegation under section 10.

9. Responding to a disclosure and reporting a concern

If someone tells you something. Stay calm. Listen without interrupting. Let them use their own words and do not lead them with questions; if you must ask, ask open questions ("can you tell me more about that?") and only enough to know whether the person is safe. Do not promise to keep it secret; explain that you will need to tell the DSL so the right people can help. Reassure them they have done the right thing and that it is not their fault. Do not confront the person the concern is about. As soon as you can, write down what was said in their words, what you said, the date, time and place, and who else was present. Sign and date it. Give it to the DSL the same day.

If you notice something. An injury, a change in behaviour, something you overheard, something online, a pattern that troubles you: report it to the DSL the same day. You do not need to be sure. You do not need evidence. You must not investigate.

What the DSL does. The DSL records the concern, considers it against any earlier records, and decides on the response. Where a child may be at risk of significant harm, or an adult at risk may be being abused or neglected, the DSL refers to the statutory agencies without delay and without waiting for permission from anyone at the club. The DSL will normally discuss a referral with the parent or carer first, unless doing so would put the person at greater risk, would compromise a criminal investigation, or the concern involves the parent or carer. The DSL informs BMABA of any referral to statutory agencies and of any allegation against a person connected with the club.

Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse. Under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, once the duty is commenced, any instructor or helper carrying out regulated activity with children who is told by a child, or by a perpetrator, that a child is being sexually abused, or who witnesses it, must personally report it to the police or the local authority. Telling the DSL is the right first step and the DSL will normally make the report, but the duty is personal: the instructor must confirm the report was made and, if it was not, make it themselves. Failing to do so may lead to referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service. Anyone who tries to stop, discourage or delay such a report commits a criminal offence. The club applies this standard now, ahead of commencement.

Where a concern is about the DSL or the lead instructor, do not take it to them. Take it to BMABA, or directly to the statutory agencies.

Reporting to BMABA. Any member, parent, carer or instructor may contact BMABA's safeguarding team directly, whether or not they have raised the concern with the club. Safeguarding concerns are sent to BMABA by email to safeguarding@bmaba.org.uk, which reaches the safeguarding team rather than any one individual and is monitored on working days. BMABA's office can be reached on 01798 306546 for general enquiries, but a safeguarding concern should always be put in writing by email so that it is recorded and acted on. Guidance for members, parents and clubs is published at https://www.readingtkd.com/safeguarding.

BMABA will acknowledge a concern promptly, may refer it to the statutory agencies, and may open its own investigation into the club or instructor.

National helplines (available whatever nation the club is in): NSPCC helpline for adults worried about a child, 0808 800 5000; Childline for children and young people, 0800 1111; Police non-emergency, 101; Emergency, 999.

10. Allegations against instructors, volunteers and other adults at the club

An allegation is any information suggesting that an adult connected with the club has behaved in a way that has harmed a child or adult at risk, may have harmed them, has possibly committed a criminal offence against them, has behaved in a way that indicates they may pose a risk to them, or has behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with them. This includes behaviour outside the club and online.

Allegations are reported immediately to the DSL, or where the DSL is involved, to BMABA. The club does not investigate an allegation itself before speaking to the authorities. The DSL reports the allegation the same working day to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and, where a crime may have been committed, the police, and to BMABA, and follows their advice on what the club should do next, including whether the person should be suspended from contact with students while the matter is looked into. Suspension is a neutral act to protect everyone involved and is not a finding.

The club keeps the person informed as far as the authorities allow, offers them support, and keeps the matter confidential. Records are kept until the person reaches normal retirement age or for ten years, whichever is longer. Where the allegation is found to be malicious, that too is recorded and may be dealt with under the club's rules. Where a person leaves the club during or after an allegation that would have led to their removal, the club makes the referrals described in section 6 and tells BMABA.

11. Codes of conduct

Instructors and helpers will:

treat every student with respect and dignity, and put their welfare before results, gradings and the club's standing.

work in an open environment, avoiding private or unobserved situations. Where a one-to-one session is needed, it takes place with the knowledge and written agreement of the parent or carer, in a visible space, with another adult aware and ideally present.

use physical contact only as set out in section 12, explain it before doing it, and stop if the student is uncomfortable.

keep communication with children through parents or carers or through club channels (section 13), never through private messaging, personal social media or personal phone numbers.

never transport a child alone in a vehicle unless the parent or carer has agreed in writing and the DSL is aware, and never be alone with a child in a changing area.

never use language that belittles, humiliates or sexualises, and never use training or techniques as punishment.

never engage in a sexual or romantic relationship with a student under 18, or with any student where they are in a position of trust over them, and never share sexual material or comments with students.

not consume alcohol or be under the influence of drugs while responsible for students, and not smoke or vape in front of children in club settings.

challenge poor practice in colleagues, report concerns, and self-report where their own conduct has fallen short.

maintain the training and checks required for their role and keep the DSL informed of any change in their circumstances relevant to suitability.

Students will: treat instructors and each other with respect; train with control and follow the instructor's rules on contact and sparring; tell an instructor or the DSL if anything worries them, about themselves or about someone else; not bully, harass or exclude anyone in person or online; and follow the club's rules on photography, phones and social media.

Parents and carers will: read this policy and support its principles; keep the club informed of contact details, medical needs and anything that may affect their child's welfare; drop off and collect children on time, inside the venue, and tell the club who is authorised to collect; behave respectfully towards instructors, other parents and students, including at competitions; not coach from the side or pressure their child over grading and results; and raise concerns with the DSL or BMABA rather than on social media.

Breaches of these codes are dealt with through the club's disciplinary process and, where they raise safeguarding concerns, through sections 8 to 10. Serious or repeated breaches may lead to suspension or removal from the club and referral to BMABA.

12. Safe practice in martial arts

Martial arts involve contact, physical correction, changing, travel and competition in ways many activities do not. This section sets out how the club manages those specific risks. It should be read with our Health and Safety Policy, Risk Assessments and Full Contact Sparring Policy where applicable.

Physical contact. Contact is a normal part of teaching martial arts and is used for demonstrating technique, correcting posture, spotting, partner drills and first aid. Contact is appropriate only where it is necessary for the activity, explained first, carried out in view of others, proportionate, and stopped if the student objects or is uncomfortable. Instructors avoid contact with the chest, groin and buttocks except where unavoidable for a specific technique, and explain it where it is. Instructors do not demonstrate techniques on a child where an adult or a senior grade of similar size can be used instead. Students may decline contact and instructors respect that without penalty.

Sparring, contact levels and injury. Sparring involving children is controlled, supervised, matched by size, age, grade and experience, and uses protective equipment appropriate to the discipline. Children do not spar with adults except under close supervision and with parental agreement for training purposes. Full contact and head contact rules for children follow BMABA guidance and our Full Contact Sparring Policy. Any injury is recorded on the Injury and Incident Report and any head injury is managed under our Head Injury and Concussion Policy; a child with a suspected concussion does not return to training without medical clearance.

Weight, diet and gradings. Instructors do not set weight targets for children, do not encourage weight cutting, and challenge unhealthy attitudes to food and body shape. Grading and competition pressure is a recognised route to emotional harm; instructors keep expectations realistic and never withhold or threaten to withhold a grading as leverage over a child.

Supervision and ratios. Every children's session has at least two suitably checked adults present, at least one of whom is an instructor. The club uses a ratio of no fewer than one adult to every eight children under eight, and one to every ten children aged eight and over, increased where the activity, the venue or the needs of the children require it. Registers are taken at every session. Children are not left unsupervised, including before and after sessions and during breaks.

Changing and toilets. Adults do not change or shower in the same area as children at the same time. Instructors do not enter children's changing areas except in an emergency and then in pairs where possible. Where mixed-age or mixed-sex changing cannot be avoided at a venue, the club timetables changing to keep groups separate and tells parents. Mobile phones and cameras are never used in changing areas.

Late collection and drop-off. Children are handed over to a parent, carer or person the parent has named. A child who has not been collected 15 minutes after a session is supervised by two adults while the parent is contacted; after a reasonable time with no contact the DSL contacts the local authority or police. Children are never taken home by an instructor without prior written agreement. See our Child Supervision and Late Collection Policy.

Transport and away events. Travel to competitions, seminars and camps is planned with written parental consent, a named responsible adult, emergency contact and medical information for every child, and appropriate insurance. Instructors do not transport children alone. Overnight stays follow our Travel and Transport Policy and Event Management Policy: children share rooms only with children of the same sex and similar age, never with adults, and an adult of each sex accompanies mixed groups where practicable.

Private lessons and home training. One-to-one sessions with a child follow the code of conduct in section 11. Instructors do not teach children at their own home or the child's home.

Adult classes with 16 and 17 year olds. Where 16 and 17 year olds train in adult classes, this policy still applies to them in full. Instructors keep the same boundaries, contact, communication and supervision standards for them as for younger children, and adult members are told that children are present.

13. Online safety, photography and social media

Communication. The club communicates with children through their parents or carers, or through club channels the parent has consented to and can see (a club group with a parent included, a club email address, or a platform with an audit trail). Instructors do not contact children privately by text, direct message, personal social media, gaming platforms or video call. Where a child contacts an instructor privately, the instructor replies briefly, redirects to a club channel, and tells the DSL. Instructors do not accept or send friend or follow requests to or from students under 18 on personal accounts.

Photography and filming. Images of children are taken only with the written consent of the parent or carer (see our Photography Consent Form), only by people the club has authorised, only in appropriate settings and dress, and never in changing areas. Images are stored on club devices or accounts, not personal phones, deleted when no longer needed, and never published with a child's full name or details that could identify where they live or train.

Parents may photograph their own child at events unless the venue or event organiser prohibits it, and are asked not to publish images of other children without their parents' consent. See our Photography and Videography Policy.

Social media. The club's social media accounts are run by named adults, do not publish images that breach the above, do not identify children by full name, and do not engage privately with children. Instructors' personal accounts are personal; they do not use them to communicate with students under 18 and they do not post material about students. Members are asked not to raise safeguarding concerns on social media but through the routes in section 9. See our Social Media Policy.

Online sessions. Where the club teaches online, sessions are on a platform with the parent's consent, recorded or logged, delivered from a neutral space with the instructor appropriately dressed, and never one-to-one with a child without a parent present. See our Online Assumption of Risk Form.

Online harms. The Online Safety Act 2023 places duties on platforms, not on clubs, but instructors stay alert to bullying, grooming, image sharing and exploitation happening online and treat concerns exactly as they would offline. Where the club becomes aware of a sexual image of a child, it does not view, copy, forward or delete it, but secures the device where practicable and reports to the police and DSL immediately.

14. Safeguarding adults at risk

Many adults train with us, and some of them may at times be adults at risk: because of a learning disability, a physical or sensory impairment, a mental health condition, age, illness, addiction, or circumstances such as domestic abuse or homelessness. Being an adult at risk is about a person's situation and their ability to protect themselves, not a label, and it can be temporary.

The club follows the six principles of adult safeguarding: empowerment (people are supported to make their own decisions and give informed consent), prevention, proportionality, protection, partnership and accountability. Adults have the right to make choices others may consider unwise; the club's role is to make sure the choice is informed and freely made, and to act where a person cannot protect themselves or where others are at risk.

Concerns about an adult at risk are reported to the DSL in the same way as concerns about a child. Where possible the DSL discusses the concern with the adult and seeks their consent before referring; consent may be overridden where the person lacks capacity to decide, where others are at risk, where a crime has been committed, or where the risk is severe. Referrals go to the local authority adult safeguarding team under the Care Act 2014.

Instructors working with adults at risk hold the criminal records check appropriate to that workforce, and the club's SEN and Inclusion Policy, SEN Risk Assessment and Individual Training Plans set out how we adapt training safely for individual needs.

15. Information sharing, records and confidentiality

Safeguarding information is shared on a need-to-know basis with those who need it to protect a child or adult at risk. Data protection law is not a barrier to sharing information to keep someone safe; UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 allow it, and fear of breaching them is never a reason to keep quiet. The DSL may share information with the statutory agencies and BMABA without consent where necessary to protect a person from harm.

The club keeps written records of every concern, disclosure, low-level concern, allegation, referral and outcome, using the club's Injury and Incident Report or a written safeguarding record. Records are factual, dated, signed, kept securely by the DSL, separate from general membership records, and retained in line with our Privacy Policy and any statutory requirement. Records relating to allegations are retained as set out in section 10. When the DSL changes, records pass to the new DSL and BMABA is told of the change.

Confidentiality is maintained for everyone involved in a concern. Information is not discussed with other members, parents or instructors who do not need to know, and is never posted online.

16. Whistleblowing

Any person connected with the club who believes that safeguarding standards are not being met, that a concern has not been acted on, or that the club is covering something up, is expected to say so. They may raise it with the DSL, the lead instructor, BMABA, the statutory agencies, or the NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line (0800 028 0285). Nobody will suffer any detriment at this club for raising a concern in good faith, and any attempt to discourage or punish someone for doing so is itself treated as a serious breach of this policy. See our Whistleblowing Policy.

17. Training, monitoring and review

This policy is reviewed by the DSL and the lead instructor at least once a year, after any safeguarding incident, when the law or BMABA guidance changes, and when the DSL changes. The current version is dated above and supersedes all earlier versions. Every instructor and helper signs to confirm they have read the current version. The club keeps a record of who has signed, of safeguarding training completed, and of all checks, and produces these to BMABA on request.

The club monitors how well the policy works through the low-level concerns log, the incident register, feedback from members and parents, and BMABA's Club Colours and Safeguarding Code processes where the club participates in them.

18. Quick reference: how to raise a concern

Reading Taekwon-Do: worried about a child or adult?

Immediate danger: call 999.

Club Designated Safeguarding Lead: James Dilley, 07751733343, james@readingtkd.com.

BMABA safeguarding team: safeguarding@bmaba.org.uk (email is the route for concerns) · office 01798 306546

NSPCC helpline: 0808 800 5000 · Childline: 0800 1111 · Police: 101

Listen. Reassure. Don't promise secrecy. Don't investigate. Write it down. Tell the DSL today, and check it was acted on.

Signed for Reading Taekwon-Do: James Dilley, Lead Instructor Date: 28/09/2026

Designated Safeguarding Lead: James Dilley Date: 28/09/2026

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WORRIED ABOUT A CHILD OR ADULT AT OUR CLUB? CONTACT OUR DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEAD

James Dilley

Phone: 07751733343

Email: james@readingtkd.com

If James Dilley is unavailable, or your concern is about them, contact BMABA directly using the details in section 9.

If a child or adult is in immediate danger, call 999. You do not need permission from anyone at the club to do so.