Our commitment
At Mercread Youth Centre, the safety and wellbeing of every child, young person and vulnerable adult who uses our services comes first. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and we take it seriously in everything we do.
We are committed to creating a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment where young people feel respected, listened to and protected from harm. We work in line with national safeguarding guidance and the procedures of the Lewes and East Sussex safeguarding partnerships.
Our staff and volunteers
All our staff and volunteers are carefully recruited and checked before they work with young people. This includes:
- An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for everyone working with children and young people
- Safer recruitment practices, including references and identity checks
- Safeguarding training appropriate to their role
- A clear code of conduct and ongoing supervision and support
We keep our safeguarding policies under regular review to make sure they reflect current best practice.
Raising a concern
If you are worried about a child, young person or vulnerable adult, please do not keep it to yourself. Speak to us and we will make sure it is dealt with properly.
If a child is in immediate danger, always call 999.
Concerns about our youth clubs or services:
Please contact Jason, our Youth Services Manager, who is responsible for safeguarding across our youth clubs and services.
Phone: 07888 826248
Concerns about any other activity or event held at the centre
Please contact Myriam, who is responsible for safeguarding for all other activities and events at Mercread Youth Centre.
Phone: 07307 176799
Reporting to the local authority
You can also report a safeguarding concern directly to the local authority. As we are based in Seaford, concerns about a child can be reported to the East Sussex Single Point of Advice (SPoA):