Safeguarding Kit for Youth Groups
A practical safeguarding toolkit for youth groups, scouts, guides, cadets, and similar organisations working with children and young people.
Overview
Youth groups — including scouts, guides, cadets, and independent youth organisations — play a vital role in children's development, offering leadership, teamwork, and life skills. These groups often involve a mix of adult leaders and older young people in mentoring roles, residential trips, and outdoor activities. This kit helps youth group leaders establish and maintain strong safeguarding practices across all of these areas.
Key Risks
- •Older young people in leadership roles having unsupervised access to younger members.
- •Residential trips and camps creating opportunities for inappropriate behaviour away from usual oversight.
- •A culture of tradition or loyalty discouraging children from reporting concerns.
- •Peer-on-peer bullying, hazing, or initiation rituals.
Policies
- •A safeguarding and child protection policy that is shared with all leaders, volunteers, parents, and young people.
- •A clear anti-bullying and anti-hazing policy that names unacceptable behaviours and sets out consequences.
- •A policy on young leaders and peer mentors, defining their role, supervision requirements, and the boundaries of their responsibilities.
- •A residential trip policy covering accommodation, supervision ratios, risk assessments, and parental consent.
Adult Conduct Boundaries
- •Adult leaders should never be alone with a single young person — maintain the two-adult rule at all times.
- •Young leaders should be supervised by an adult and should not be left in sole charge of younger members.
- •Physical activities and challenges must be age-appropriate, consensual, and never used as punishment or initiation.
- •Leaders must not form exclusive personal relationships with individual members outside the group setting.
Communication Boundaries
- •Group communication should use official channels such as a group email, a parent-accessible platform, or an official social media page managed by at least two adults.
- •Private messaging between adult leaders and young members is not permitted unless parents are copied.
- •Young people should be encouraged to speak up about anything that makes them uncomfortable, and told how to do so.
- •Any online group or forum linked to the youth group must be moderated and have clear rules.
Image Guidance
- •Obtain parental consent before photographing or filming young people at events, trips, or activities.
- •Images should be taken by designated adults using group-owned devices, and should reflect the activity rather than focusing on individuals.
- •Images shared online should not include identifying information such as full names, school names, or locations.
Emergency Escalation
- 1Any disclosure or suspicion of abuse should be reported to the group's DSL immediately. If the DSL is implicated, escalate to the organisation's regional or national safeguarding team.
- 2Record all concerns in writing, factually and promptly, using the organisation's reporting forms.
- 3Contact local authority children's services or the NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) if the internal process is insufficient or unavailable.
- 4In situations of immediate danger to a child, call 999 without delay.
Safeguarding Checklist
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This content is designed to support professionals in their safeguarding role. It does not replace your organisation's safeguarding policies or training requirements.
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Last reviewed: 2026-03-29