A group of young students gathered around a table outside, enjoying each other's company in a sunny setting.

Safeguarding

We take our responsibility for Safeguarding very seriously and support the B&FC community in the 'Feel safe. Stay well' initiative.

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding at Blackpool and the Fylde College is the actions that are taken to promote the welfare of all students and to protect them from harm.

Safeguarding means:

protecting individuals from abuse, neglect and maltreatment
preventing harm to health or mental health
taking action to enable all students have the best outcomes.

Safeguarding Team Introduction

Blackpool and the Fylde College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of all students, staff and visitors. Due to this the college benefits from a dedicated Safeguarding Team who will work with all student to support them though what may be a range of difficult times.

How can the Safeguarding Team help?

If you are concerned about either yourself or another student, you can tell any member of B&FC staff who will contact the safeguarding team to assist. A member of the SG team will meet you in person to discuss your worries and can support you through what may be a difficult time.

We can help with a range of issues including:

Abuse at home or college
Bullying
Sexual and or other forms of harassment
online safety
mental health
substance misuse
exploitation (sexual or criminal)
risk of radicalisation (being drawn into extremism or terrorism)
homelessness
Sexual health and healthy relationships

If you are a parent/carer or member of the public and you are concerned about a student, please call the Safeguarding Team directly on 01253 504219 who will be happy to assist

You can also contact a member of the safeguarding team directly via email for non urgent enquiries and information requests:

Email: safeguardingadministration@blackpool.ac.uk

I NEED EMERGENCY HELP DURING THE EVENING OR WEEKEND - IMAGE

If you feel at immediate risk, contact the Police on 999

For non-emergency concerns or for Police advice, call 101 or visit 101 online at:

doitonline.lancashire.police.uk

If you are worried about either your own or another persons wellbeing or welfare, contact social care for advice, if you are a resident in:

Blackpool, call 01253 477299 (out of hours: 01253 477600)

Fylde or Wyre, call 0300 123 6720 (out of hours 0300 123 6722)

The NSPCC is available for advice or information, call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000. The helpline is open Monday to Friday 8am – 10pm or 9am – 6pm at the weekends. For support or advice:

Email: help@nspcc.org.uk

I NEED HELP WITH MY MENTAL HEALTH - IMAGE

IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE IN CRISIS, PLEASE SPEAK TO SOMEONE YOU TRUST AND TELL THEM HOW YOU ARE FEELING OR SEEK EMERGENCY SUPPORT VIA A&E

Young People

CASHER Team

This service is based at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and is available to young people up the age of 25 who are in need or urgent mental health support

You can contact this team by phone on the following number to arrange a 1:1 appointment which are available at both evening and weekends:

CASHER CONTACT NUMBER - 07810696565

CASHER Groups

There are a number of small groups run by the CASHER team that can be accessed in the local community. Please contact a member of the Safeguarding Team to find you local group or you can find this and a range of other services via the FYI Directory:

fyidirectory.co.uk

togetherall.com

Adults

If you are worried about your mental health and need support, you should contact your GP to discuss your worries. Additionally, you can also find support from the following organisations:

I NEED HELP WITH HEALTH AND OR SUPPORT SERVICES - IMAGE

To access a range of information and support services related to a range health and wellbeing issues please visit:

healthierblackpool.co.uk

horizonblackpool.uk

wearewithyou.org.uk

I NEED HELP ACCESSING FOOD OR FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Blackpool Council Discretionary Support Team

blackpool.gov.uk/Residents/Advice-and-support

Fylde Residents Food Bank

fylde.foodbank.org.uk

Wyre Residents Food Bank

wyre.gov.uk/cost-living-support-3/foodbanks-helpful-resources

I NEED HELP WITH HOUSING

If you are under 18 and find yourself without a place to stay, please contact the Safeguarding Team immediately who will arrange to support you. It this is outside of college hours, please contact Children’s Social Care – see below

If you are a resident in:

Blackpool, call 01253 477299 (out of hours: 01253 477600)
Fylde or Wyre, call 0300 123 6720 (out of hours: 0300 123 6722)

Housing Options Blackpool

Call: 01253 477760

blackpool.gov.uk/Residents/Housing

Housing Options Wyre

Call: 01253 891000

wyre.gov.uk/housing-options-homelessness

Housing Options Fylde

Call: 01253 658658

new.fylde.gov.uk

Streetlife

youth work charity providing emergency shelter and support to vulnerable and homeless young people aged 16-25 in Blackpool and surrounding areas

wearestreetlife.org

Shelter UK

I NEED HELP WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT OR HARASSMENT

How we are helping

Operation Encompass

Blackpool and the Fylde College participates in Operation Encompass.

Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which ensures that a young person’s college is informed, prior to the start of the next college day, that there has been an incident of Domestic Abuse or any incident in which the young person has been exposed in which they are considered to be vulnerable to harm, and which might then have an impact on them in college the following day.

Each school/college is informed of all such incidents, not just those where an offence can be identified or those which are graded as high risk. The partnership recognises that all incidents of Domestic Abuse/vulnerability can be harmful to children and young people. This information will be shared throughout the year, including holidays and weekends. Information will only be shared with the college by the police where it is identified that a young person was present, witnessed or was involved in a domestic abuse incident.

Nominated members of staff, known as ‘Key Adults’, have been trained to liaise with the police. At Blackpool and the Fylde college, Key Adults are members of the Safeguarding Team who will be able to use information that has been shared with them, in confidence, to ensure that the college makes provision for possible difficulties experienced by children or their families. The Key Adults will keep this information confidential, and will only share it on a need to know basis, for instance, to the Personal Tutor and teachers of the young person. It will not be shared with other students.

If you would like to know more about Operation Encompass, please follow the link below:

operationencompass.org

Radicalisation and Extremism

The Counter-terrorism (CONTEST) strategy 2018 defines ‘extremism’ as vocal or active opposition to the fundamental British values of:

democracy
the rule of law
individual liberty
mutual respect
tolerance of people with different faiths and beliefs

Extremism also includes calls for the death of members of the armed forces, whether in this country or overseas. Some groups and organisations that promote extremist ideologies are not proscribed terrorist groups or organisations.

These groups support divisive or hateful narratives towards others, but may not promote extreme violence. For example, they may hold views that support the distrust or hatred of people with different faiths or undermine the principles of democracy.

What is Prevent?

Prevent is all about keeping people and communities safe from the threat of terrorism. It is one of the four strands of the government's “CONTEST” counter-terrorism strategy; the other strands are Pursue, Protect and Prepare. Full details of the Prevent Strategy can be found on GOV.uk.

Here is the Blackpool and The Fylde College Prevent Strategy (you must be a member of the B&FC community to view this resource)

The Government website ‘Educate Against hate’ has useful resources to help staff address raise awareness of extremism and radicalisation.