The Child Protection Committee (CPC) recognised that keeping children safe was not the responsibility of services or professional staff alone. All community groups and organisations required to ensure that staff and volunteers were suitable to work with children and that they had the knowledge and guidance they needed to keep children safe.
Child Safe Shetland was set up with funding from the Community Safety Partnership. Staff from a number of services provided training for local voluntary and community groups, to help them understand their responsibilities to protect children. This training was supported by an easy to use information pack, which included copies of all the forms and documents which groups needed. Child Safe Shetland met the costs of carrying out background checks on all staff and volunteers. Training was provided for staff and volunteers across the islands, to increase their confidence in recognising signs that a child needs help and to ensure they knew how to report any concerns. A dedicated website provided useful contacts, updates and links to other relevant websites. Child Safe Shetland and the work of the CPC was publicised widely in the local media and received widespread public support.
Children have benefitted from a higher level of awareness about their safety. A recent public survey showed most people knew how to get help if they were concerned about a child’s welfare. Staff and volunteers in community groups have increased their understanding of child protection and are better equipped to meet children’s needs.
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