Awaken is a Christian Family Festival, it is open to all streams, networks and denominations and is run by Ground Level Network. We take the safeguarding of children, young people, and adults very seriously. Awaken have a duty to promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults. We believe that we should work together to prevent abuse from occurring and that we should seek to protect those that are at risk of being abused and respond well to those that have been abused.
The welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults at risk is always paramount and should take precedence over all other considerations. We have a dedicated safeguarding team working in partnership with the Ground Level Network National Safeguarding Team to help provide a safe environment in which children, young people and adults can develop physically, intellectually, and spiritually. We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice regularly. Should you wish to have a copy of our National Safeguarding Policy and the Awaken Safeguarding Event Plan please email: safeguarding@awakenevent.uk
Awaken promotes a strong safeguarding culture, from our recruitment processes right through to our site management. All team are properly vetted before being allowed to serve with us and all crew members must wear a lanyard showing their permitted level of access to children and young people. Security team and stewards patrol the site and key areas at all times to make sure that the site is a safe and fun place for all to be.
At Awaken it is expected that:
All allegations of child abuse will be referred to the Event Safeguarding Team (EST).
The EST has the responsibility to action all allegations or suspicions of abuse.
The EST has the authority to contact either Children’s Services local to the child's/vulnerable adults home, Children’s Services or the Police local to the Camp and/or Thirtyone:eight for advice.
Allegations will be dealt with on a 'need to know' basis.
If allegations involve a child or worker from a sending organisation then the leader of that church or a nominated person (i.e. their safeguarding coordinator) will be informed. It is expected they will keep confidence and not investigate the matter themselves.
If the suspicions in any way implicate a member of the EST then another member should be contacted. If the allegations involve all the EST then the Ground Level Safeguarding Lead should be contacted. Thirtyone:eight could also be contacted for advice.
If you need to raise a safeguarding concern please contact the Safeguarding team on-site or at safeguarding@awakenevent.uk
If you believe a child or adult is at risk of immediate harm, please telephone the police on 999 as soon as possible.
If you are a survivor of abuse or have been affected by abuse in any way here are links to other organisations that maybe helpful:
