Nights Away and safeguarding

Nights away offer great opportunities for new experiences for children and young people and our priority is keeping them safe. We know that concerns can sometimes arise, so here are some things to consider before you go. This guidance applies to both UK nights away and visits abroad.

Have a code of conduct for young people 

• Setting clear expectations about behaviour can reduce incidents and keep nights away safe and enjoyable for everyone.  Discuss with young people, parents and carers what good behaviour looks like on a night away activity and what will happen if there is poor or inappropriate behaviour.   
• Ask young people to develop and agree to an age-appropriate code of conduct agreeing the boundaries and behaviours.  You may already have a code of conduct and you can use the same one for different events, but it’s important to discuss it before an overnight activity and share it again with young people, parents/carers so that everyone’s clear about expectations.  This might involve an agreement from parents and carers to collect their young person from a nights away activity, if required.  Talk about respect and care and link to our Promise, Law and Values and empower young people to take ownership of their code of conduct to ensure your nights away activity is youth shaped. 
• Share with young people, parents and carers details of who they should contact with any questions or concerns before and during the nights away activity and make sure you share details of the InTouch system. 
• Make them aware of the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card). This helps everyone to know what’s expected from adults in Scouts and how to report any safeguarding concerns. 

Discuss sleeping arrangements and personal privacy for young people  

• The Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) says “Do have separate sleeping accommodation for young people and adults, as well as young leaders working with a younger section”, “Do treat everyone with dignity and respect in line with the Scout Values” and “Do respect children’s and young people’s right to personal privacy” 
• Make sure everyone is aware of - and comfortable with - sleeping arrangements for nights away before you go. There are lots of reasons why young people may have different requirements when it comes to sleeping arrangements.   
• Discuss with young people, parents and carers, Young Leaders and your volunteer team the need for privacy and respect.  In shared accommodation, whether under canvas or indoors, it can be difficult to get much privacy, but it’s something everyone should get. It may be necessary to create separation within sleeping accommodation for young people, for example, between genders, age groups, or to accommodate any identified support needs.  Also consider where and how young people can get changed safely and privately. Read our advice on supporting trans young people on nights away.   
• Sleeping arrangements are subject to the Risk Assessment of the Nights Away Permit holder - they have the ultimate responsibility for the overnight part of the event so they will support you to decide where young people sleep.  It’s essential to take into consideration the views of the young people, and their parents and carers, and give them the opportunity to voice any concerns they may have so they all feel happy and comfortable with the arrangements. 
• A key message for the safety and privacy of all young people is to respect each other’s private space and bodies; nudity and inappropriate touching are not acceptable.  Use NSPCC resources for support in talking to younger sections about PANTS (the Underwear Rule) to reduce the risk of problems.  Make sure you get the consent of parents and carers before discussing this with young people to get their support and ask them to reinforce this from home. For older sections, the NSPCC have some great advice on talking to young people about healthy relationships.
• Consider young people’s behaviour and needs when deciding on groupings for accommodation. During nights away activities, young people will have increased freedom, gain a sense of independence and explore boundaries.  However, the excitement of being in new and unfamiliar environments can sometimes lead young people do things they usually wouldn’t do.  We know this often happens at night or during free time.  This can be prevented or minimised by agreeing expectations around this in your code of conduct and discussing with young people, parents and carers before you go.   

Discuss sleeping arrangements and personal privacy for adults 

• The Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) says “Do have separate sleeping accommodation for young people and adults, as well as young leaders working with a younger section”.  Adults must have separate sleeping accommodation from young people. 
• Don’t assume that adults will be comfortable sleeping in the same space together.  There are lots of reasons why adults may have different requirements or preferences when it comes to sleeping arrangements.  For example, you may need to provide separate sleeping accommodation for different genders or to accommodate any identified support needs. Also consider where and how adults can get changed safely and privately. 

Plan for young people and adults with additional or support needs 

• Discuss with young people, parents and carers and volunteers whether any additional support is going to be required to enable them to enjoy the nights away activity.  It’s important not to make any assumptions about the support someone will or won’t need, so have a conversation to find out whether they already have an established individual support plan, or to identify needs and agree a suitable plan.
• Take a look at our guidance on working in partnership with parents and carers to help you with this and with developing an individual support plan to meet their additional or support needs. 

Make sure adults know what’s expected of them 

• Criminal record / disclosure checks are part of how we ensure a safe environment.  All adults who stay overnight at a nights away activity must have a criminal record check in place and have completed the National Vetting Process.  
• All volunteer members who stay overnight at a nights away activity with children and young people must have completed mandatory safeguarding and safety learning. This rule doesn’t apply to non-members attending the event, but it’s good practice to make sure that all adults are aware of our Yellow Card and Purple Card so they know what to do to keep young people safe and what’s expected of them.
• Network members undertaking Network events only do not need a criminal record check as they are participants and are attending to support or deliver activities for members over the age of 18. For joint events which include Network, members of the Network should stay overnight in an area which is separate from children and young people. They have no responsibility for young people under the age of 18 if they are Network members only.  It’s good practice to make Network members aware of the Yellow Card and Purple card so they know what’s expected of adults.  
• Make sure all adults are aware of the Green Card which sets out our policy about alcohol. 

Discuss mobile phones  

Some groups choose to prevent young people from bringing mobile phones to nights away activities, others choose to allow them. There’s lots to consider: 

• Mobile phones are expensive to replace if lost or damaged. Young people will be busy participating in activities and may not be able to responsibly look after their phone while doing so. 
• You’ll have an InTouch system place for your nights away activity for communication. Procedures are likely to vary at different events due to the differing circumstances and needs. Bear in mind that if young people have access to a mobile phone, it can undermine the InTouch system put in place to communicate with home in the event of emergencies. 
• In all the excitement of being away from home, there’s a risk that mobile phones are misused. Young people may access inappropriate internet content, receive or send abusive messages or take, receive or send inappropriate images and content. 
• If you decide young people may bring mobile phones to the nights away activity, provide guidelines to support them to use them safely and include these in your code of conduct for young people. Consider having some screen-free time and agree boundaries for their use.  Discuss how and when pictures can be taken, only doing so with people’s knowledge and only putting pictures on social media with parents’ and young people’s consent. Discussions with young people and parents and carers before the nights away activity about the safe use of mobile phones can help minimise potential problems.  Read our top tips for keeping young people safe online.  Childline has some useful guidance for young people and parents about mobile phone safety.  There is also great advice for volunteers, parents and young people about protecting children and young people from online child sexual abuse created by the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Education Team.
• Having mobile phones with them on nights away activities often reminds young people of home, and parents/carers may contact their child directly to see if they’re OK. For some young people, contact from home makes it harder for them to immerse themselves in the programme, as they’ll be thinking about home.
• Volunteers must ensure they follow our guidelines for photography and video recording of Scout activities and events. 

Support young people’s wellbeing 

• Remember this could be the first time some of your young people have been away from home or stayed away without adult family members.  Some may have no knowledge of camping or know the difference between a sleeping bag and a duvet, or how to open and close a tent. Involve young people, parents and carers in your planning and encourage them to ask any questions and raise concerns beforehand to allay any worries they may have. 
• Young people tell us they feel safer on nights away activities when they are reminded to stay in pairs if they go to the toilet in the night.  A ‘buddy’ system is good to adopt so young people can support each other. Make sure young people know what they can expect from the adults around them, what to do if they have any concerns and where to go if they need anything during the night. Remember, the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) says “do not plan to be alone with a young person”.   
• Keeping young people active and involved in activities is one of the best ways to prevent homesickness. It tends to arise at the end of the day and is often associated with tiredness. When dealing with young people with homesickness, try to reassure them and focus on the positive and other exciting things you’ll be doing as a group the next day. Inevitably, there will be occasions where you’ve tried everything and the young person is still upset. At this point, it may be necessary to call the parents and maybe let them talk directly with their child, if they and you think it will help settle the young person down. If that fails, discuss next steps with parents/carers, which could include asking them to come and take their child home that night or the next day. Often, the knowledge that a parent or carer is coming the next day will help settle the young person for the night, and the next morning, they may decide they want to stay for the rest of the event. Check in how they're doing the following morning. 
• Deal with any bedwetting sensitively and without drawing attention.  This can happen to young people in all sections and it’s important to manage this together with parents, carers and the young person.  Common strategies include making sure they don’t have an excessive amount to drink late in the day, and having sleeping bags for all campers aired each morning. It’s always a good idea to have a spare sleeping bag with you in case of surprise emergencies. 
• Remind young people morning and night to wash and brush their teeth, and to wash or shower daily where they can. Remind everyone to wash hands before and after preparing or eating food and after particularly dirty activities.  Take a look at our guidance on hygiene at camp.

Communicate with parents and carers 

It’s good practice to discuss your nights away plans with parents and carers, including who they should contact with questions or concerns. A face to face or online meeting is always best to build trust and rapport with parents and carers and so they are aware of your plans.  It’s useful to document your meeting so everyone is clear about what’s been agreed. A meeting is a great opportunity to discuss and agree with parents all the points in this guidance, which can help reduce the risk of problems arising and make your nights away activity safer. Discuss with parents and carers:

• A Code of Conduct for young people and expectations for their behaviour.
• Sleeping arrangements and personal privacy.
• Any additional or support needs.
• The Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card). This helps everyone to know what’s expected from volunteers in Scouts and how to report any concerns.
• Health and safety.  

It may also be helpful to explain that, where there are safeguarding concerns, information may need to be shared with children's social care or other statutory agencies in line with safeguarding procedures and legislation. Parents and carers can then confidently talk to their children and the nights away activity beforehand, explain expectations and answer their questions. 

Report any safeguarding concerns 

• Report any safeguarding concerns during your nights away activity to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team and remember, there’s an out of hours service if it’s urgent.   Always follow the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and if a young person is at immediate risk of significant harm, call 999 and ask for Police.  Then contact the UK HQ Safeguarding Team to tell them you’ve done this. 
• Remember, the Yellow Card applies wherever in the world you take UK Scouts.  This includes reporting safeguarding concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team. 

Remember, all nights away are authorised through the notification process and your Nights Away Permit holder will be able to support you with many queries during the planning process.  You can also contact the Support Centre for advice.