Child Protection & Equality

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Implemented from 1st January 2026

FULL NAME OF ORGANISATION: Chesham Arts Festival

CHAIRMAN: Alan Bacon

VICE-CHAIRMAN: Catherine Bowers

FESTIVAL ADMINISTRATOR: James Bowers

VENUES & DATES:

Elgiva Theatre, Chesham – 8 - 22 February 2026

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT: The safety of children and vulnerable adults is paramount and all, without exception, have the right to protection from abuse. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately and all the charity’s trustees, staff and volunteers have a responsibility to report concerns. Any concerns are to be reported to the safeguarding lead James Bowers.

1. PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF ORGANISATION:

The Chesham Arts Festival provides a platform for amateur performance combined with an educational element through the process of adjudication by distinguished professional musicians and dancers.

2 THE FESTIVAL ENVIRONMENT:

The Festival is held in two separate venues in Chesham. The events at these venues are specific to the venues concerned, toilet facilities are located in these venues. Chesham Arts Festival helpers are not instructed to supervise children whilst they use these facilities. Every effort is made to create a caring, safe and practical environment. All teachers, parents and guardians who enter competitors into the Festival are responsible for children under the age of 18, vulnerable adults, and others to whom Child Protection Policies normally apply. The Festival Organisers are overall responsible for each individual to make sure children, vulnerable adults and any other persons are safe.

3 TO WHOM DOES THIS POLICY APPLY:

This policy relates to children under the age of 18 years and those vulnerable adults of any age who are identified to the organisers prior to their arrival at the Festival. This should be done by contacting the organiser of the relevant Sections – Music or Dance, or the festival administrator. In recognising the needs of children from all ethnic groups and children with disabilities, the Festival actively seeks to meet needs notified to the Festival by parents / guardians / carers and/or teachers two weeks in advance.

4 FESTIVAL PERSONNEL:

Festival personnel are recruited through personal recommendations by members of the Committee. All Festival jobs are reviewed each year and necessary checks - i.e. enhanced CRB/DBS checks - made.  Volunteers and committee members are identified on the day either wearing badges or lanyards. A register of volunteers is held by the Volunteers Co-ordinator, Festival Administrator, Secretary and Section Officer. Any issues concerning welfare, safety and the successful running of the Festival should be reported to the Chairman via the Festival Administrator, preferably in writing. These matters will be taken seriously and discussed/actioned as appropriate.

5 PREPARATION FOR ATTENDANCE AT THE FESTIVAL:

Once a performer has entered the Festival, they are notified promptly, by email, of the date and time of the relevant section(s) in which they are enrolled. Under the policy it is the responsibility of parents/guardians/carers/teachers to ensure that the children/vulnerable adults will be accompanied to the Festival and adequately supervised by responsible adults acting on the behalf of the parents/guardians.

6 PERFORMANCE AREAS AND CHANGING AREAS:

Arrangements for the Dance Festival include the use of changing areas. All sections of the Festival include transit through public areas. Parents/guardians/carers/teachers are hereby made aware of this and are advised, as stated in section 2, of the limits of the Festival’s voluntary staff to provide supervision. It is therefore the responsibility of parents/guardians/carers/teachers, to provide this cover. (In the case of the Dance Festival, this may involve partnership with dance schools.)

7 PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEOS and PRESS PHOTOGRAPHY:

As stated in the Syllabus, recording and photography by members of the public, are not permitted. Only official photographers approved by the committee may be permitted to record or photograph for promotional purposes and events, such as the Final Concert and prize presentations, with parental/guardian consent.

8 THE LEGISLATION AND GUIDANCE THAT SUPPORTS THIS POLICY:

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; The Children Act 1989; The Police Act 1997; The Data Protection Act 1998; The Human Rights Act 1998; The Protection of Children Act 1999; The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, Children Act 2004; The Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

POLICY REVIEW

The organisers will constantly review their policy, revising and enhancing it as necessary. In doing this they will look to The British & International Federation of Festivals for support and that body, in turn, will look to other agencies for good practice, most notably the NSPCC and Arts Council of England policy guidelines.

Chesham Arts Festival

Vice Chairman/Trustee - Catherine Bowers

Festival Administrator – James Bowers

Equal Opportunities Policy

Statement of Policy

This document is a statement of our policy for achieving equality of opportunity throughout the work of the Chesham Arts Festival and its members. This policy shall inform our actions and attitudes to all festival members, employees, sub-contractors, trustees, volunteers, participants and members of the public attending our events.

We recognise that individuals and groups have been, and are, disadvantaged on many grounds including age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy, maternity and paternity, race, colour, nationality, national origin, ethnic origin, political opinion, religion or belief.

The Festival and its members will fully comply with the legislation in these areas and will aim to ensure that no person engaged or participating in our events is disadvantaged.

We understand that equality of opportunity includes:

those attending and/or participating in our events

the employment, training, recruitment and selection of employees, sub-contractors, Trustees, volunteers and festival members

how we communicate, both internally and externally, including how we portray participants in our events

Implementation of Policy

For the Chesham Arts Festival, the overall responsibility for implementation of this policy rests with the Board of Trustees and committee. They will review this policy on a regular basis.

For our festival members, the overall responsibility implementation of this policy rests with a nominated person from the charity trustees or advisory committee of the festival.