This handbook article contains two distinct safeguarding policies that together form BMABA CIC's national safeguarding framework. The first is the BMABA National Child Safeguarding Policy. The second is the BMABA National Adult Safeguarding Policy.

Each is presented in full, as a self-contained, standalone document.

We have chosen to publish both policies in a single article, rather than splitting them into separate handbook entries, because they are designed to be read and adopted as one coherent national safeguarding offer. They share a common governance ecosystem, including the National Martial Arts Event Safety and Governance Framework (NMESGF), the National Refereeing and Officiating Standards (NROS), the Concussion and Head Injury Management Awareness framework (CHIMA), Regulation Ready, Club Colours, and the wider BMABA Quality Management System certified to ISO 9001:2015 (UKAS-accredited via the British Assessment Bureau).

Many of the people involved in delivering martial arts will work across both child and adult populations, often within the same session, and they need to be able to find a single, consistent source of national standards.

At the same time, child and adult safeguarding are not the same discipline. The legal frameworks differ, the principles of decision-making differ, and the way concerns are recognised, recorded, and responded to differs. We have therefore been careful not to merge the two into a single combined policy, which is what BMABA's previous national policy did. Best practice across the wider safeguarding sector treats them as related but distinct, and BMABA now reflects that. A club, instructor, official, parent, statutory partner, auditor, insurer, or commissioner can read either policy in isolation and find everything they need to understand BMABA's expectations, the legal context, the operational requirements, and the consequences of non-compliance.

Where this article uses the word "safeguarding" without a qualifier, it refers to both child safeguarding and adult safeguarding together. Where a section relates only to one population, the policy makes that clear.

BMABA CIC, trading as the British Martial Arts and Boxing Association, is unequivocally committed to creating and maintaining safe, inclusive martial arts environments in which children, young people, and adults at risk are protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and avoidable harm. The welfare of participants is paramount, and it overrides any competitive, commercial, sporting, or organisational interest. There is no result, no commercial relationship, no club's reputation, and no individual's standing in the sport that BMABA will place above the safety of a participant.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Leaders, instructors, officials, volunteers, parents, carers, event organisers, partners, and participants themselves all have a role to play in recognising, preventing, and responding to harm. The frameworks set out in these two policies are the standards that BMABA will hold itself, its members, and its affiliated clubs to. They are written to be clear, practical, and auditable, so that clubs and organisers can confidently implement safe systems of work and so that participants and families can understand what protection looks like in practice.

Compliance with these policies is a condition of BMABA membership, instructor registration, club affiliation, event recognition, and partnership. Failure to meet these standards may result in sanctions under BMABA governance, up to and including removal from membership and referral to statutory authorities.

BMABA CIC believes that every child and young person who participates in martial arts has the right to do so in an environment that is safe, inclusive, welfare-first, and free from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination. This is a positive belief, not simply the absence of harm. A safe martial arts club is one where a child is known by name, listened to with respect, taught well within their physical and developmental limits, protected from those who would do them harm, and supported when something in their wider life is going wrong. The welfare of the child is paramount in every decision made under this policy. No competitive, commercial, organisational, or reputational interest will ever outweigh the safety and wellbeing of a child.

This policy sets out the national child safeguarding standards that apply across all BMABA-recognised activity. It is written to do several things at once. It sets the legal and sector framework within which BMABA, its clubs, and its members operate. It articulates the principles that govern decision-making and practice in relation to children. It defines the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved, from BMABA itself to the individual parent dropping a child off for a Tuesday-night session. It sets out the operational controls, processes, and behaviours that BMABA expects to see in practice. It tells members and the public what to do when they have a concern, and it tells BMABA itself what to do when a concern reaches us. It sets the governance, monitoring, enforcement, and continuous improvement arrangements that ensure the policy is lived rather than merely written.

The policy applies in addition to, and is consistent with, BMABA's wider governance framework, including NMESGF, NROS, CHIMA, Regulation Ready, Club Colours, the BMABA Code of Conduct, and BMABA's Quality Management System. Where the requirements of those frameworks reinforce or extend this policy, all apply together. Where there is any ambiguity, the more protective interpretation prevails.

In summary, BMABA commits to:

All BMABA members and affiliated organisations must adopt this policy, ensure their local safeguarding procedures are consistent with it, and ensure that their people are trained, vetted, supervised, and supported to deliver safe, welfare-first martial arts.

This policy applies nationally across all activities of BMABA CIC, its charitable and social enterprise initiatives, and all BMABA-recognised events, programmes, communities, and partnerships. It is binding on every individual and organisation that operates under, in partnership with, or in affiliation with BMABA. The intent is that wherever a child encounters BMABA's name, badge, framework, or services, the same standard of protection applies.

This breadth of scope is deliberate. Children may participate in martial arts through a fully affiliated BMABA club, through a partner organisation that uses BMABA's insurance or licensing, through a white-labelled programme delivered by a third party, through a one-off seminar, or through an online community moderated under BMABA's banner. The route by which a child arrives in BMABA-recognised activity does not change the protection they are entitled to. Equally, the route by which an instructor or volunteer comes to work with children does not change what BMABA expects of them. A volunteer assisting in a single session is held to the same standards of behaviour as a head instructor running a club, even if the depth of vetting and training required differs in proportion to the role.

The policy applies specifically to BMABA members, including instructors, coaches, assistant instructors, instructors-in-training, volunteers, referees, judges, officials, and event staff. It applies to club leaders, owners, and management committees, who carry direct responsibility for local governance, safeguarding policy adoption, safer recruitment, and the welfare environment of their clubs. It applies to event organisers and promoters operating under NMESGF, and to officials and referees operating under NROS. It applies to contractors, partners, and third parties delivering services or working in partnership with BMABA, and to partner organisations, governing bodies, and non-governmental organisations that access BMABA's services in any capacity. Where a partner uses BMABA platforms or services, safeguarding standards within this policy remain binding on their staff, volunteers, and users in respect of that engagement. Finally, it applies to BMABA's own staff, trustees, contractors, and volunteers; we hold ourselves to the same standards we ask of others.

Clubs and event organisers must maintain a local child safeguarding policy that is consistent with this national policy and ensure that all staff, volunteers, parents, and participants are aware of it. A club that has no separate written document is deemed to have adopted this national policy in full, and is responsible for implementing it accordingly. Parents, carers, and participants are expected to respect and follow the codes of conduct and safeguarding expectations set by their club and BMABA. The policy also extends to digital and online environments facilitated or recognised by BMABA, including online platforms, member communities, virtual training, and social media activity associated with BMABA-recognised entities. The fact that an interaction takes place through a screen does not reduce its safeguarding significance.

No individual or organisation is exempt from this policy. Compliance is a condition of BMABA membership, instructor registration, club affiliation, event recognition, and partnership. Where local policies exist, they must meet or exceed the requirements of this national policy. In any conflict, the BMABA National Child Safeguarding Policy takes precedence.

This policy does not invent its standards. It applies and extends a body of statutory law, statutory guidance, and sector best practice that has developed over decades. The frameworks listed below are not exhaustive, and the law and guidance applying to children change regularly. BMABA monitors these changes and updates this policy as set out in Section 22.

The most important piece of statutory guidance for the purposes of this policy is Working Together to Safeguard Children, published by the Department for Education in March 2026, which replaced the 2023 edition. Working Together 2026 sets the statutory expectations for multi-agency working to help, protect, and promote the welfare of children in England. It is binding on statutory safeguarding partners and is the document that all organisations working with children, including those in sport, are expected to align with. Several of its strengthened themes are reflected throughout this policy.

These include the explicit expectation that organisations identify, understand, and challenge racism and discrimination; the recognition that a child may be experiencing simultaneous or multiple harms at once; the clearer framing of the role of family help as a coordinated system of earlier support; the inclusion of all children in scope, including those in kinship care, special guardianship, adoption, or where there are concerns during pregnancy; and the strengthened expectation that information sharing, including via Operation Encompass under Section 49A of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, is timely and proportionate. BMABA expects all clubs, DSLs, and members in safeguarding-relevant roles to be aware of these themes and to apply them in their own practice.

Where BMABA-recognised activity intersects with education settings, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), in its current edition, also applies. The Prevent Duty Guidance and the Channel Duty Guidance apply in respect of safeguarding children from radicalisation and extremism, and the Care Act 2014 statutory guidance is relevant at the boundary between child and adult safeguarding (see Section 19 on transitional safeguarding).

The principal pieces of primary legislation that frame this policy include the Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the Equality Act 2010, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Children and Social Work Act 2017, the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, the Serious Crime Act 2015, the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and the UK GDPR alongside the Data Protection Act 2018. Members are not expected to know each Act in detail, but DSLs are expected to be aware of the duties these create and to be confident in their application.

In sector terms, this policy aligns with the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) Standards for Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport, which is the recognised benchmark for safeguarding standards in UK sport. It also aligns with Sport England's safeguarding expectations for recognised bodies and clubs, the UK-wide Concussion Guidance for Grassroots Sport ("If in doubt, sit them out"), and Ann Craft Trust guidance on safeguarding adults in sport in respect of transitional safeguarding for those aged 16 to 25. Local Safeguarding Children Partnership procedures relevant to the area in which a club or event operates also apply. Where any of these benchmarks set a higher standard than this policy, the higher standard prevails.

The following principles govern every decision and action taken under this policy. They are written in the order in which they should be brought to mind: paramountcy first, then the rights of the child, then the wider context of how protection is delivered.

Paramountcy means that the welfare and best interests of the child are the first and overriding consideration in any decision. If a competing consideration arises, whether commercial, reputational, sporting, organisational, or personal, paramountcy is the test. The child's welfare wins.

Child-centred and rights-based practice means that children are the focus of decision-making about them. Their voice, their lived experience, and their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are taken seriously. Where a decision is being made about a child, that child should as far as possible be consulted, informed, and given the opportunity to influence the outcome. Decisions made about children should be capable of being explained to them in age-appropriate language.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion mean that safeguarding applies to every child without exception. Disabled children, neurodivergent children, children from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ children, children from minority faith communities, and children from socio-economically marginalised backgrounds may face additional barriers to disclosure, additional risks of harm, and additional risks of being disbelieved or dismissed. BMABA and its members will identify and remove barriers to safe participation and will challenge discrimination, harassment, and exclusion wherever they appear.

Anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice is treated by BMABA, in line with Working Together 2026, as a positive duty and not merely the absence of overt prejudice. Clubs and members are expected to recognise, understand, and challenge racism and discrimination as both a safeguarding risk in itself and a barrier to children being heard. Cultural identity, language, faith, and background must be considered in how concerns are recognised and responded to, including the recognition that a child's experience of asking for help may be shaped by historical or current experiences of being unheard or disbelieved by adult authority.

Contextual safeguarding is the recognition that children are made safe, or made unsafe, in their families, peer groups, schools, online environments, and communities, and not only at home. A martial arts club is one of those contexts. BMABA expects clubs to recognise that the dojo, dojang, gym, or training hall is a context that can either reduce or increase risk, and that the club may be the place where a child first signals harm originating elsewhere, or, in some circumstances, where harm itself originates.

Trauma-informed practice means recognising that many children who participate in martial arts have lived experience of adversity, and that behaviour which appears non-compliant, withdrawn, dysregulated, or volatile may be a response to trauma rather than a discipline issue. Trauma-informed practice does not require clubs to become therapists. It requires them to be patient, predictable, transparent, and willing to consider that the child in front of them may be carrying things the club cannot see.

Recognition of multiple and simultaneous harms is the principle, reinforced by Working Together 2026, that a child may be experiencing several types of harm at once and that focusing on the most visible single concern can mask the wider picture. A child being bullied at school may also be witnessing domestic abuse at home and being approached online by an adult with sexual intent. The picture is rarely clean. Safeguarding decisions must consider the full context.

Proportionality and transparency mean that safeguarding responses are based on evidence, are clearly documented, and are open to appropriate scrutiny. Actions taken must be necessary, reasonable, proportionate, and explainable. A response that is too cautious can damage relationships and trust unnecessarily; a response that is too restrained can leave a child in harm. The proportionate response is the one that protects the child while being as fair as possible to everyone involved.

Accountability means that everyone involved in martial arts under BMABA's remit has a role to play in safeguarding and is answerable for it. Instructors, officials, volunteers, leaders, and staff must understand their responsibilities, complete appropriate training, and be held accountable for upholding standards. Accountability also runs upwards: BMABA itself is accountable, through its governance and Quality Management System, for the standards it sets and the way it enforces them.

Shared responsibility means that safeguarding is not the duty of a few designated individuals. It is a collective responsibility embedded across clubs, events, partnerships, and BMABA itself. The DSL is the single point of accountability for managing concerns, but the duty to recognise, report, and respond is shared across everyone in the room.

Continuous learning and improvement means that BMABA reviews lessons learned from cases, audits, near misses, and member feedback, and updates training, policy, and frameworks accordingly. Safeguarding practice is never static. Every case, every audit, and every concern is a source of learning.

Safeguarding within BMABA is a shared responsibility, but shared responsibility only works if the roles are clearly defined. The sub-sections below set out who does what, at each tier of the BMABA system. They are written in descending order of remit, from BMABA at the national level down to the individual.

BMABA CIC, as the national body, carries overall responsibility for setting the safeguarding standards that apply across the membership and for assuring that those standards are met in practice. We do not directly supervise every session in every club, and we do not pretend to. But we set the framework, we maintain the registers, we provide the tools, we train the people, and we intervene when we need to.

In practical terms, BMABA will set, publish, and review safeguarding standards, policies, and procedures on a scheduled cycle of at least once a year, and sooner where statutory guidance, law, or sector standards change. We will maintain a national Designated Safeguarding Lead function with clear escalation routes for concerns raised at club or event level. The current DSL is Helen Martin, Head of Governance and Safeguarding. The Deputy DSL is Giovanni Soffietto, CEO and Governance Lead. We will provide training pathways, templates, toolkits, and advice to support clubs, instructors, and event organisers in implementing best practice. We will oversee safer recruitment and licensing through Regulation Ready, Club Colours, and BMABA's membership and registration systems. We will audit, monitor, and investigate safeguarding practice within clubs and events, and we will impose sanctions or corrective actions where standards are not met. We will liaise with statutory agencies, sports councils, and safeguarding partners where necessary to protect children. And we will ensure that BMABA's own staff, trustees, contractors, and volunteers are vetted, trained, supervised, and supported to uphold this policy.

BMABA also maintains national registers of instructors, assistant instructors, and clubs, including the recording of safeguarding outcomes such as bars, suspensions, or restrictions where this is necessary to protect the public. These registers exist to give participants, parents, clubs, and statutory partners accurate information about who is and is not safe and eligible to work in martial arts under BMABA's recognition.

Clubs are the front line of safeguarding. The vast majority of BMABA-recognised activity takes place in clubs, and the relationships in which children disclose, in which patterns of poor practice begin, and in which safeguarding culture is either built or eroded are local relationships in local rooms. The standards BMABA sets are only meaningful if they are lived at club level.

Each BMABA-affiliated club, school, or association must adopt a local child safeguarding policy that is consistent with this national policy. Where a club has no separate document, this national policy is deemed adopted in full. Each club must appoint a club Designated Safeguarding Lead who is suitably vetted, trained, and supported, and who has clear authority within the club structure to act on safeguarding concerns without obstruction. We strongly encourage clubs to identify a Deputy DSL where size and structure allow, so that there is always someone available when a concern arises.

Clubs must ensure that all instructors, assistants, and volunteers are subject to safer recruitment checks, hold a clear written role description, complete a structured induction, and are supervised in line with their experience and role. They must deliver and evidence safeguarding training relevant to role, and ensure refresher cycles are met. They must maintain robust processes for recognising, recording, reporting, and escalating concerns. They must keep accurate safeguarding records, stored securely, with access restricted to designated personnel, and retained in line with BMABA's safeguarding retention standard set out in Section 18.

Clubs must promote a safe, inclusive culture, ensuring children, young people, parents, and carers know how to raise concerns and feel confident in doing so. This includes the practical step of displaying safeguarding contact details (the club DSL, the BMABA DSL, the NSPCC Helpline, and 999) somewhere visible to participants and parents in the club's training space, on its website, and in its joining materials.

The DSL role is central to this policy. Every DSL, whether at national, club, or event level, is the person who holds the safeguarding picture for their remit. They are the first point of contact for concerns. They make the judgement calls about referral and escalation. They keep the records. They support and advise colleagues. They are not expected to act alone, and they should never feel that they do, but the role carries weight and it requires appropriate authority.

In practical terms, every DSL is responsible for acting as the first point of contact for safeguarding concerns within their remit; recording and managing concerns, allegations, and disclosures with rigour and care; making timely referrals to statutory agencies (Local Authority Children's Services, Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub, Local Authority Designated Officer, the Police, the Disclosure and Barring Service) where the threshold is met; liaising with parents and carers, where this is appropriate and safe to do so; supporting and advising colleagues in the recognition and response to concerns; ensuring confidentiality and proportionate information sharing in line with this policy; and maintaining their own competence through ongoing CPD.

Where a club is small and the DSL is also the head instructor or owner, the natural conflicts of interest must be recognised and managed. Concerns about the head instructor cannot be investigated by the head instructor. In those circumstances the concern must come straight to BMABA's national DSL, and Section 14.2 explains how.

Every individual involved in BMABA-recognised activity carries safeguarding duties appropriate to their role. The duty does not depend on having a senior title.

Leaders, instructors, and assistant instructors must uphold this policy, complete required safeguarding training, hold a current criminal records check where eligible, follow safer coaching practices, and role-model positive behaviours. They are the people most often in direct contact with children and are most often the people in whom a child first confides.

Officials and referees, operating under NROS, must apply safeguarding-first decision making during officiating. This means that participant welfare takes priority over competition outcome at every point, and that officials are expected to stop, adjust, or end activity where a participant's welfare is at risk, regardless of the consequences for the contest.

Event organisers, operating under NMESGF, must ensure that event safeguarding requirements are fully implemented. This includes appointing an Event DSL, securing proportionate medical provision (which for events permitting head contact means qualified medical professionals rather than first aiders alone), and empowering officials and Participant Advocates and Safe Adults to act on welfare concerns without fear of overrule.

Participant Advocates and Safe Adults (PASA) must be designated at BMABA-recognised events to act as independent advocates for one or more participants. The PASA is empowered to withdraw a participant from activity where welfare is at risk, without penalty to the participant, and must liaise with the Event DSL and BMABA safeguarding team as required. The PASA is a deliberate counterweight to the pressures of competition: their job is to put the participant first, even when the participant, the coach, or the crowd would prefer otherwise.

Parents, carers, and participants are expected to follow codes of conduct, raise concerns promptly, and contribute to a safe, respectful environment. We say more about parental engagement below.

Parents and carers are not bystanders to their child's experience of martial arts. They are, in safeguarding terms, partners. A club that engages parents and carers actively in its safeguarding culture is a stronger and safer club than one that treats them as customers to be managed.

In practical terms, clubs are expected to engage parents and carers in understanding the codes of conduct that apply to staff, volunteers, and participants; in knowing who the club DSL is and how to raise a concern; in being involved in consent, communication, and welfare decisions about their child; and in modelling respectful behaviour at training and at events. Where a parent or carer raises a concern, the club's response sets the tone for whether they will raise the next one. Clubs should approach parental concerns with the same seriousness as concerns from any other source.

Most safeguarding incidents involving adults harming children in organised settings are not committed by people who appear obviously dangerous at the point of recruitment. They are committed by people who, with the benefit of hindsight, gave signals that were not picked up, were not joined together, or were not acted on. Safer recruitment exists to make those signals harder to miss and easier to act on. It is the single most cost-effective safeguarding intervention any club can make, and BMABA expects all clubs to take it seriously.

The principle is straightforward: no individual should begin unsupervised regulated activity with children until the relevant checks are complete. Cutting corners at the recruitment stage to fill a gap on a Tuesday night is one of the most common ways that risk enters a club. BMABA recognises that this can be operationally inconvenient and asks clubs to plan accordingly.

In detail, clubs must ensure that:

At national level, BMABA will verify instructor and club compliance through Regulation Ready and Club Colours, which include confirmation of criminal records checks, safeguarding training, insurance, and other compliance measures. BMABA will refuse, suspend, or remove membership, registration, or event recognition where safeguarding standards or vetting requirements are not met, or where concerns arise about an individual's suitability to work with children. BMABA will refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service where there is a duty to do so under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. The duty to refer is not optional and applies to BMABA itself.

Training is what turns a written safeguarding policy into a lived practice. A club that has a beautifully drafted policy but has not trained its people to recognise, respond to, and report concerns is, in practice, a club without a policy. Equally, training without ongoing application is decorative. BMABA's expectation is that training is delivered, refreshed, evidenced, and applied, and that competence is continuously assured rather than assumed from a certificate.

Core safeguarding training is the baseline. All instructors, assistant instructors, volunteers, and staff engaged in regulated activity with children must complete an approved child safeguarding course before beginning unsupervised work. Refreshers must be completed in line with BMABA's required cadence, which is a minimum of every three years, or sooner if statutory guidance or BMABA standards change. The three-year cadence is a floor, not a target. Where a club's culture, casework, or composition changes significantly, BMABA may expect more frequent refresher activity.

Role-specific training is required for those holding particular safeguarding responsibilities. Designated Safeguarding Leads must complete advanced DSL training covering referrals, record-keeping, multi-agency working, and managing allegations. Participant Advocates and Safe Adults must complete event-specific training on advocacy, welfare-first decision-making, and withdrawal procedures. Officials and referees must complete safeguarding-first officiating training, including recognition of indicators of harm during competition and the authority and duty to stop activity. Event organisers must complete event safeguarding planning training, including risk assessment, DSL appointment, medical cover, and emergency response.

Specialist awareness is expected of all DSLs and is encouraged for instructors generally. The themes that BMABA considers material in the current sector context include child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation; child criminal exploitation, including county lines; online safety and online harms; domestic abuse and its impact on children, including Operation Encompass; radicalisation and the Prevent Duty; female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and so-called honour-based abuse; mental health, self-harm, and suicide awareness; anti-racist and anti-discriminatory safeguarding practice; and trauma-informed practice. A DSL is not expected to be a specialist in any of these areas but must be competent enough to recognise indicators and know where to escalate.

Continuous Professional Development keeps competence current. BMABA provides routes through Regulation Ready, Club Colours, the Safeguarding in Martial Arts CPD Qualification, and other specialist programmes. Clubs must maintain accurate records of safeguarding training completed by their team, and BMABA may request evidence during audits.

Competence assurance is the recognition that holding a certificate is not the same as practising well. Club leaders and BMABA will monitor safeguarding practice to ensure knowledge is applied correctly. Where practice falls short, further training, mentoring, supervision, or corrective action may be required. A pattern of safeguarding-relevant errors, even by a person who is "trained", is itself a competence concern and must be addressed.

Safeguarding incidents do not usually emerge from nowhere. In most cases there is a culture around them: a club where boundaries had been quietly eroding, where small things had been tolerated, where senior people had been treated as untouchable, where children had been told that their discomfort was overreaction. Codes of conduct exist to set explicit expectations of behaviour, but the codes themselves are only as strong as the culture that enforces them. Building a strong safeguarding culture is one of the most important and most difficult things a club does, and it cannot be delegated to a document.

Clubs must adopt and display written codes of conduct for staff and volunteers, parents and carers, and participants. Each code should be appropriate to its audience and should set out, in plain language, what is expected and what is prohibited. Every participant and stakeholder should know that respect, fairness, integrity, and professionalism are the standards that apply.

Bullying, harassment, discrimination, abuse, or degrading practices of any kind are prohibited. This includes verbal, emotional, physical, and online forms of harm. Any breach must be reported and addressed swiftly. A culture that permits "banter" at the expense of a child, or that tolerates humiliating practices in the name of toughness, is a culture in which more serious harms can take root.

Instructors, leaders, and officials are expected to act as positive role models. This is not a trivial expectation. Children watch the adults around them carefully, and they take cues from how those adults treat one another, how they treat parents, and how they speak about absent colleagues. A culture of respectful communication is built one interaction at a time, and it is set from the front.

Safe and professional boundaries must be maintained at all times. Favouritism, inappropriate personal relationships, gifts of disproportionate value, and contact outside the structure of the club must be avoided. Where any of these things happen unintentionally, they must be recognised, escalated, and addressed openly.

Martial arts involves physical contact. There is no safeguarding policy that can or should pretend otherwise. The point of this section is not to prohibit contact, which would make the activity impossible, but to make sure that contact is always within a frame that is safe, appropriate, and welcomed.

Where physical contact is required for instruction, spotting, demonstration, or safety, it must always be open and transparent, taking place where it can be observed by other adults. It must be explained to the child in advance, with an opportunity for the child to ask questions or to decline. It must be appropriate to the technical context of martial arts coaching, which means that a coach should be able to articulate why a particular contact is being made and what it teaches. And it must be ceased immediately if the child shows discomfort or asks for it to stop. A child's right to bodily autonomy does not pause when they walk onto the mat.

Codes of conduct extend to digital communications, online platforms, and social media. The principle is the same as in person: contact between adults and children should be open, transparent, and limited to its purpose.

Direct one-to-one messaging between staff or volunteers and under-18s should be avoided. Where contact is operationally necessary, it should be conducted only through approved, transparent club channels with parental visibility, and it should be limited to activity-related matters. Online groups must be moderated to prevent bullying, grooming, or inappropriate contact, and to ensure that under-18s are protected from harms including cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and contact from unknown adults. The fact that a conversation takes place through a phone screen rather than face to face does not reduce its safeguarding significance; in many of the most serious recent sport safeguarding cases, it has been precisely the digital channel that has carried the harm.

Photography, filming, and the use of children's images are addressed in Section 9.3.

Any sexual relationship, sexualised behaviour, or grooming behaviour between an instructor, coach, official, volunteer, or other person in a position of trust and a 16 or 17 year old under their authority is a criminal offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (as amended, and as extended to cover certain coaching and instructing roles) and is a grave breach of BMABA policy. This applies regardless of whether the young person consents.

The reason the law treats this so seriously is that the imbalance of power between a coach and a young person under their authority makes meaningful consent impossible. A young person who has been coached by an adult, who has been encouraged to trust that adult, who depends on that adult for grading, opportunity, and recognition, is not in a position of equality with that adult, and the law recognises that.

Any such conduct will result in immediate suspension, full investigation, removal from BMABA membership, and referral to the police, the Local Authority Designated Officer, and the Disclosure and Barring Service. There is no path back from this. A club or a member who attempts to minimise, conceal, or excuse a position of trust breach will themselves be treated as having committed a serious safeguarding breach.

Clubs must actively challenge discriminatory behaviour, ensure all participants are treated equitably, and make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers to participation. As we set out in the principles, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice is a positive duty, not the absence of overt prejudice.

In practice, this means that clubs should consider how culture, ethnicity, language, faith, disability, neurodivergence, gender identity, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background affect a child's experience of martial arts and of safeguarding. A child who has previously been disbelieved or dismissed by adult authority, whether because of who they are or because of where they come from, may need more time, more patience, and more careful invitation before they will trust a club with a concern. A club that has not thought about this in advance is a club that will miss the disclosure when it comes.

The controls in this section are the practical day-to-day arrangements that reduce the chance of harm and that limit its severity if it occurs. They apply across all BMABA-recognised activity: training, events, travel, online activity, and any other context in which martial arts are delivered under BMABA recognition. Where a club operates in a setting that is not directly addressed below (for example a hired sports hall with shared changing facilities, a school-based after-school club, or a residential training camp abroad), the principles still apply and the club should adapt them in consultation with the BMABA safeguarding team if needed.

All activities must be supervised by suitably qualified and vetted adults, with ratios appropriate to the age, ability, and needs of participants in line with BMABA's Instructor to Student Ratio (ISR) Policy. The ratio is a minimum, not a target. Where a session involves participants with additional needs, where participants are unfamiliar with each other, or where the activity carries elevated risk, ratios should be enhanced.

One-to-one unsupervised situations between an adult and a child must be avoided wherever possible. There are circumstances in which a one-to-one interaction is unavoidable (for example, the immediate provision of first aid or supporting a distressed child) and in those circumstances the interaction must be conducted openly, within sight or hearing of others, and recorded where appropriate. Clubs must ensure contingency cover is available so that ratios are maintained even in the event of staff absence; if cover cannot be found, the safer course is to cancel the session.

Changing rooms and shared facilities are a known area of risk in sport. Clubs must have clear procedures for changing rooms and facilities, including supervision protocols, same-gender supervision arrangements where relevant, and the protection of privacy. Where a venue's changing facilities are shared with other groups or members of the public, the club's procedures must address that explicitly.

Where travel is required, risk assessments must cover supervision, consent, emergency contacts, and safe transport arrangements. Drivers transporting children other than their own must hold appropriate insurance and licences, and should where possible avoid driving alone with a child.

Overnight stays, camps, and trips must be governed by written risk assessments, parental consent, designated staff with appropriate safeguarding training, and accommodation arrangements that safeguard privacy and welfare at all times. Sleeping arrangements must keep adults and children separate, and same-gender supervision must be arranged where appropriate. Where a trip includes participants with additional needs or significant medical requirements, the risk assessment must address these specifically.

Children's images carry safeguarding risk both in their creation and in their distribution. Consent must be obtained in advance from parents and carers (for under-18s) before any photography or filming. Children's images must be used respectfully, appropriately, and only for legitimate purposes such as promotion, coaching feedback, or grading evidence. Photography or filming in changing rooms or other private settings is prohibited.

Official photographers must be identifiable, registered with the club or event organiser, and briefed on safeguarding protocols. Where possible, official photographers should wear visible identification at events.

Particular care must be taken in respect of children who are at heightened risk, including children in the care system, children in refuge accommodation, children whose family circumstances make their location confidential, or children whose images have previously been misused. In those circumstances clubs must consider whether any image use is appropriate and should err on the side of restraint. The default should never be that an image is shareable; the default should be that consent and context have been actively considered.

All equipment must be regularly inspected, maintained, and used in accordance with safety guidelines. Training and event environments must be risk assessed for hazards, suitability, and accessibility, including for disabled and neurodivergent participants. Clubs and organisers must ensure that first aid provision, medical cover, and emergency action plans are in place, proportionate to the activity and to the age group of participants. Fire safety, evacuation procedures, and incident reporting routes must be communicated to staff, volunteers, parents, and participants. A child who has been injured in a club, even unintentionally, deserves to know that the club had thought about how to respond before the injury happened.

Clubs offering online instruction or facilitating online communities must apply the same safeguarding standards online as in person. This includes appropriate supervision, recording where necessary and consented, parental consent for sessions involving under-18s, and clear behavioural standards. Sessions involving children should be visible to parents wherever possible, and one-to-one online sessions between an adult and a child should be approached with the same caution as their in-person equivalent.

BMABA may audit clubs and events to check compliance with safe practice controls and reserves the right to impose corrective actions or sanctions where standards are not met.

Events are concentrated environments. They bring together many participants, many adults, often many clubs, and a competitive atmosphere that can create pressure to keep activity going when welfare concerns suggest it should stop. Safeguarding at events must therefore be deliberate, layered, and resistant to those pressures. BMABA does this through three interlocking frameworks. Compliance with all three is a non-negotiable condition of BMABA event recognition.

NMESGF is the framework that governs how BMABA-recognised events are designed, planned, and run. It covers governance, safeguarding, medical provision, and event management, and it sets out what must be in place before an event is recognised.

In safeguarding terms, the most important NMESGF requirements are these. Every BMABA-recognised event must appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead who is suitably vetted, trained, and empowered to take safeguarding actions, including halting or adapting activity where necessary. Adequate medical provision must be in place, proportionate to the activity and ruleset; for events permitting head contact, this requires suitably qualified medical professionals (such as a paramedic, doctor, or sports medic) rather than reliance on first aiders alone. Organisers must evidence risk assessments, safeguarding plans, and emergency procedures in advance of the event. NMESGF compliance is the price of recognition; without it, an event cannot run under BMABA's badge.

NROS is the framework that governs the conduct, training, and authority of referees and officials at BMABA events. It is built on the principle that the official's first duty is to the welfare of the participants in front of them.

All referees and officials must be registered under NROS and trained to apply safeguarding-first authority in competition. Officials are empowered to stop bouts, withdraw participants, or overrule decisions where participant welfare is at risk. The empowerment is not symbolic. An NROS official who stops a contest because a young competitor appears concussed, or because a coach is pressuring a participant beyond what is safe, is doing exactly what the framework requires. Coaches, organisers, and clubs who attempt to overturn or punish such a decision are themselves committing a safeguarding breach.

The PASA function is BMABA's deliberate counterweight to the pressures of competition. At every BMABA-recognised event, each child participant or visiting group of children must have a designated PASA. The PASA acts as an independent advocate for the child or children, ensuring their voice and welfare needs are prioritised when other voices in the room may be louder.

PASAs are empowered to withdraw a participant from competition or activity if they believe welfare is compromised, without penalty to the participant. The PASA is not a substitute for the supervision provided by parents, carers, or coaches; they are an additional layer, with explicit authority to act when the people closest to the participant cannot or will not. A coach who reacts negatively to a PASA exercising their authority will be treated as having challenged a BMABA safeguarding control, and the matter will be escalated.

NMESGF, NROS, and the PASA function reinforce one another. NMESGF sets the conditions in which an event can take place safely. NROS empowers the officials in the room to act on welfare in real time. PASA gives the participant an independent advocate with the authority to stop activity if needed. A well-run BMABA event is one in which all three are present and visibly working together.

Compliance with these frameworks is non-optional. BMABA reserves the right to audit, intervene, or revoke recognition where event safeguarding does not meet these standards.

Concussion and serious head injury are among the most significant physical safeguarding risks in martial arts. The science of concussion management has matured considerably over the last decade, and the consensus across UK grassroots sport is now clear: if there is any doubt at all that a participant has sustained a concussion, they should be removed from activity immediately and not returned the same day. BMABA adopts the UK-wide grassroots sport guidance "If in doubt, sit them out", and treats compliance with concussion protocols as a safeguarding requirement, not a sporting preference.

Any child suspected of sustaining a concussion or serious head injury must be removed from play or training immediately. No same-day return is permitted under any circumstances. This is absolute. The welfare of the child takes priority over competition outcome, training plans, and event schedules, without exception. A coach, parent, or official who pressures a child to return to activity after a suspected concussion is committing a safeguarding breach, and BMABA will treat it as such.

Assessment must be conducted by a suitably qualified medical professional. Where an event or activity permits head contact, the presence of a qualified medic is mandatory; reliance on first aiders alone is not sufficient. Clubs and organisers must ensure medical cover is planned, risk assessed, and proportionate to the activity and to the age group of participants.

Return to play must follow the staged timelines and protocols set out in BMABA's CHIMA policy, which align with national sport-sector guidance. Clearance to return must be provided by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. For under-18s, additional caution must be applied and extended recovery timelines observed. The reason for the additional caution in respect of under-18s is well established in the medical literature: developing brains are more vulnerable to second-impact injuries during the recovery window, and the consequences of a second concussion before full recovery from the first can be catastrophic.

All suspected concussions and head injuries must be documented, including details of the incident, the action taken, and the outcomes. Parents and carers, the club DSL, and BMABA where relevant must be informed promptly. Records must be kept securely and shared with statutory or medical bodies as required.

CHIMA sets the operational detail and training standards required of clubs, coaches, officials, and event organisers. Compliance with CHIMA is mandatory for BMABA-recognised clubs and events, and is treated as integral to this safeguarding policy. Failure to follow concussion protocols is a safeguarding breach. BMABA reserves the right to investigate incidents and impose sanctions where standards are not met.

Recognising harm is the foundation of safeguarding. A concern that is never recognised is a concern that is never addressed. All clubs, instructors, officials, volunteers, and participants must be alert to indicators of harm, and indicators must never be dismissed as "part of the sport" or "normal behaviour". Equally, this section is not a diagnostic manual. The purpose of recognising indicators is to know when to escalate, not to investigate.

The categories of abuse and neglect set out in statutory guidance are physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Each appears in martial arts settings in particular ways.

Physical abuse means hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm. In martial arts contexts this also includes excessive or punitive use of force, training loads inappropriate to age or ability, and the use of physical punishment. A child who is being made to spar at a level beyond their ability as a form of discipline, or who is being made to perform conditioning to the point of injury, is experiencing physical abuse, regardless of how the practice is dressed up.

Emotional abuse means persistent emotional maltreatment causing severe and persistent adverse effects on a child's emotional development. This includes humiliation, scapegoating, bullying, threats, intimidation, exploitation of a child's vulnerability or disability, and the imposition of expectations that are developmentally inappropriate. The single most common form of emotional abuse in sport settings is the systematic public humiliation of a child by a coach, often framed as motivation, and clubs must be alert to it.

Sexual abuse means forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. This includes contact and non-contact activity, the production or sharing of indecent imagery, grooming, and the sexual exploitation of children. The Position of Trust provisions set out in Section 8.4 are particularly important here.

Neglect means the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical or psychological needs, likely to result in serious impairment of the child's health or development. In a martial arts context this can include a failure to ensure adequate supervision, hydration, rest, medical attention, or response to disclosed need. A club which is repeatedly failing to follow up on a child's communicated distress is, in safeguarding terms, demonstrating neglect.

Beyond the four core categories, BMABA expects clubs and members to be aware of the following harms, to recognise indicators, and to escalate concerns through this policy.

Bullying and harassment, including peer-on-peer abuse and online bullying, are common and underreported. A club's response to bullying sets the tone for whether more serious harms will be reported.

Online harm includes grooming, sexual exploitation, the sharing of indecent imagery (including self-generated imagery), cyberbullying, and exposure to harmful content. Children who have been groomed online are often groomed gradually, by adults who have learned to present themselves convincingly as peers or as supportive adults. The signals are subtle and clubs should be alert to changes in behaviour, in friendship groups, and in a child's relationship with their phone.

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child criminal exploitation (CCE), including county lines, are forms of harm in which a child is coerced or manipulated into sexual or criminal activity by adults or older peers, often through the appearance of friendship or romantic relationship. Indicators can include unexplained gifts, unexplained money, sudden changes in friendship groups, going missing, and increasing secrecy.

Radicalisation and extremism fall under the Prevent Duty. Where a member or DSL is concerned that a child may be being drawn into terrorism or extremist ideology, this should be escalated through the same routes as any other safeguarding concern, and consultation with the local Channel team can be arranged through Local Authority Children's Services or directly.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, and so-called honour-based abuse are forms of harm with specific cultural framing and specific legal protections. In respect of FGM in girls under 18, there is a mandatory reporting duty on regulated professionals; while this duty does not formally fall on a martial arts coach, BMABA expects DSLs to know what to do if such a concern arises and to escalate it without delay.

Domestic abuse and its impact on children is a significant area of safeguarding focus. Witnessing or being aware of domestic abuse is itself a recognised form of harm. Where a club is notified of a child's exposure to a domestic abuse incident through Operation Encompass (the information-sharing scheme under Section 49A of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021), or learns about it through any other route, this is a safeguarding matter and must be handled accordingly. The child's behaviour in the period after an incident may be affected, and the club's role is to provide a stable, predictable, and welcoming environment, while ensuring the DSL is aware and can liaise as needed.

Modern slavery and trafficking are forms of harm that can affect children in the UK as well as those who have travelled here. Indicators include controlling adults, lack of personal documents, and signs of exploitation in domestic, agricultural, or commercial settings.

Mental health concerns, self-harm, and suicidal ideation are increasingly visible in youth sport. A club is not a clinical setting, but it is often a place where a young person feels safe enough to disclose. DSLs must be able to respond calmly, take the disclosure seriously, ensure parents and carers are involved appropriately, and signpost to appropriate support.

Discrimination and racist abuse are themselves forms of harm. A child who is being racially abused at training, online, or at events, is being harmed; the harm is not reduced by the fact that the abuse may have come from another child.

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 places strengthened emphasis on the recognition that a child may be experiencing several types of harm at once, and that focusing on the most visible single concern can mask the wider picture. A child who is being bullied at school may also be witnessing domestic abuse at home and being approached online by an adult with sexual intent. A young person who is being criminally exploited may also be self-harming. A child whose visible difficulty is poor attendance may also be experiencing harm in the community.

BMABA expects clubs, DSLs, and the BMABA safeguarding team to consider the full context of a child's life when responding to a concern, including family, peer, online, school, and community factors. Where the picture is complex, the safeguarding response must be coordinated rather than fragmented, and statutory partners are usually best placed to coordinate.

Contextual safeguarding is the recognition that children can be harmed in places and relationships beyond their families, including in peer groups, online, in schools, in transit, and in martial arts environments themselves. BMABA expects clubs to treat the dojo, dojang, gym, or training hall as a context that can either reduce or increase risk, and to recognise that BMABA-recognised activity may be the place where a child first signals harm originating elsewhere. Conversely, in some circumstances a sport setting itself can be the source of harm, and a contextual lens means being honest about that possibility.

Where appropriate, clubs should participate in family help arrangements and other multi-agency support around a child, and should support a child's wider network of trusted adults, rather than expecting to manage a complex situation alone.

Behaviour that does not amount to abuse but breaches BMABA's codes of conduct, safeguarding standards, or safe practice expectations is "poor practice". Poor practice must always be corrected, recorded, and may require escalation if repeated or serious. Tolerating poor practice is corrosive: it tells participants that the standards on the wall are not the standards in the room, and it creates the conditions in which more serious harm can develop. A club that addresses poor practice promptly, openly, and fairly is a club that protects its participants.

A child-centred policy is one in which children are actually heard. This sounds obvious, and it is treated as obvious in many policies that nonetheless fail to deliver it. Hearing children well is harder than it sounds, and it requires deliberate effort.

Clubs are expected to create routine opportunities for children to give feedback, raise concerns, and shape their experience of training and competition. This might be through age-appropriate feedback sessions, through anonymous routes for raising concerns, through parent-mediated check-ins, or through structured opportunities at gradings and events. The exact method matters less than the consistent expectation that children's views are sought and taken seriously.

Where a concern is raised by or about a child, the child's wishes, feelings, and lived experience must be sought, recorded, and given weight in decision-making, in line with their age and understanding. This does not mean that the child's preference always determines the outcome, particularly where the child is at risk of significant harm and statutory action is required, but it does mean that the child should know they were listened to, and that decisions made about them should be capable of being explained to them.

Practice should be trauma-informed. Many children come to martial arts having experienced adversity, and behaviour that appears non-compliant, withdrawn, dysregulated, or volatile may be a response to trauma rather than a discipline issue. A child who flinches at being approached unexpectedly, a child who freezes when corrected, a child who reacts disproportionately to perceived rejection, a child who cannot tolerate physical contact, a child whose attendance is unpredictable for reasons that are not explained: each of these may be a signal of something that the child cannot yet articulate. Trauma-informed practice does not require clubs to become therapists. It requires patience, predictability, consistency, transparency, and a willingness to consider that the child in front of you may be carrying things you cannot see.

Disclosures, when they come, may not come in a single conversation. A child may signal harm gradually, indirectly, or through behaviour. A child who tests an adult with a small disclosure to see how they respond, before deciding whether to disclose more, is doing something rational and protective. The adult's response to the small disclosure determines whether the larger one will ever follow.

This section sets out what to do when something is wrong. It is the most operationally important part of the policy. Members are expected to know where this section is and what it requires.

If a child or young person discloses a concern, the receiving adult must do six things, in order: listen, reassure, be honest about confidentiality, avoid interrogating, record, and report.

Listen carefully and allow the child to speak in their own words. Do not interrupt, do not minimise, do not reframe. Allow silence. A child who is disclosing is often doing something they have rehearsed many times in their head; let them do it the way they planned.

Reassure the child that they have done the right thing in telling someone. The fear of not being believed, of being blamed, or of getting someone in trouble is one of the largest barriers to disclosure. Reassurance does not mean making promises about what will happen next.

Do not promise confidentiality. Be honest, in age-appropriate language, that the concern needs to be shared with people who can help to keep them safe. Promising confidentiality and then breaking it is a betrayal that damages a child's ability to disclose again.

Avoid leading questions. Do not investigate. Use clarifying questions only where strictly necessary to understand what the child is saying. Investigation is the role of statutory agencies; the receiving adult's job is to listen and to report accurately.

Record the conversation in writing as soon as possible afterwards, in the child's own words where possible, noting who was involved, what was said or seen, when and where it happened, and who else was present. Stick to facts and observations. Distinguish clearly between what the child said, what was observed, and any opinion the recorder is offering.

Report to the appropriate person without delay, as set out in 14.2 below.

Concerns must be reported to the club Designated Safeguarding Lead without delay, and in any case the same day. Where there is a conflict of interest with the club DSL, where the concern is about the club DSL, or where the club DSL is unavailable, the concern must be raised directly with the BMABA DSL.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 without delay. Where appropriate, referrals may also be made to Local Authority Children's Services, the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), or the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000. For events, concerns must be reported to the appointed Event DSL, PASA, referee, or organiser, who will escalate in line with NMESGF and NROS. BMABA reserves the right to escalate concerns directly to statutory agencies, with or without notifying the club, if child safety requires urgent action.

To report a concern to BMABA, contact the BMABA DSL at [email protected] or use the secure form at bmaba.org.uk/safeguarding.

Records of concerns, actions, and outcomes must be accurate, contemporaneous, factual, dated, and signed. Records must be stored securely with restricted access, in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and retained in line with BMABA's safeguarding retention standard set out in Section 18. The record made on the day of the concern is often the most important document in any subsequent investigation; it is what the law, the regulator, the insurer, and the family will look at. Take the time to write it well.

A "low-level concern" is any concern, however minor, that an adult working with children has acted in a way that is inconsistent with the codes of conduct and safe practice expectations of this policy, but does not meet the threshold for a referral to LADO, the Police, or the Disclosure and Barring Service. Low-level concerns are not low-importance concerns. They are the early signals of boundary erosion, and they are where most safeguarding cultures succeed or fail.

The single most consistent finding from serious case reviews in sport, education, and faith settings over the last twenty years has been that allegations against adults that turned out to be serious had been preceded by lower-level concerns that were not recorded, not joined together, and not acted on. Sometimes those lower-level concerns had been raised by participants and dismissed; sometimes they had been observed by colleagues and not raised; sometimes they had been raised once and forgotten. A culture that creates space for low-level concerns to be raised, recorded, and reviewed is a culture that prevents the serious cases from reaching the point of harm.

BMABA therefore expects clubs to create a culture in which low-level concerns can be raised, recorded, and addressed without fear of reprisal. All low-level concerns must be recorded centrally and reviewed for patterns over time. Patterns of low-level concerns about a single individual, or patterns of similar low-level concerns across multiple individuals, can themselves indicate grooming behaviour, deliberate boundary testing, or systemic poor culture, and they must trigger escalation when they emerge.

Where an allegation is made that an adult who works with children has behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child; has possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child; has behaved towards a child in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children; or has behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children, then this is an allegation that must be handled in accordance with this section.

Up to three processes may run in parallel: a criminal investigation led by the police where a potential offence has been committed; a safeguarding investigation led by the Local Authority, MASH, or LADO; and an internal disciplinary or conduct process led by the club and BMABA to assess breaches of codes of conduct, safeguarding standards, or membership terms. BMABA and clubs must cooperate fully with statutory agencies and must not act in ways that compromise criminal or safeguarding investigations. In particular, internal processes must not prejudice the criminal investigation by interviewing witnesses ahead of the police, by communicating with the subject of allegations in ways that could amount to tipping off, or by attempting parallel inquiries.

Pending the outcome of an investigation, interim measures may be required to protect children. These may include temporary suspension from BMABA membership or registration; removal from a role or duties; adjustments to supervision or working arrangements; or restrictions on participation in certain activities or events. Interim measures are not a presumption of guilt. They are a precautionary step taken to ensure the safety of children while the position is investigated, and they protect the subject of allegations by removing them from a position in which further allegations could arise. Interim measures must be communicated in writing, must explain the basis on which they have been imposed, and must be reviewed regularly.

Following investigation and due process, outcomes may include no further action where allegations are unsubstantiated and no risk is identified; advice, mentoring, or reflective practice requirements; mandatory training or re-training in safeguarding or safe practice; formal warnings, recorded and monitored; suspension from BMABA membership, registration, or event recognition; permanent removal from membership; or referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service for consideration of barring. All decisions must be documented, proportionate, and capable of audit.

Where a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service is required under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, BMABA will make that referral. The duty to refer is statutory and BMABA does not treat it as discretionary. Where a club is uncertain whether a referral is required, the club should escalate to the BMABA DSL for advice rather than make the call alone.

BMABA is committed to a culture in which any person can raise a safeguarding concern in good faith without fear of detriment. This is essential, because the most important safeguarding information often comes from people who hold less power than those they are raising concerns about: a junior instructor concerned about a senior coach, a parent concerned about a club owner, a participant concerned about an official.

Individuals who raise safeguarding concerns in good faith are protected under BMABA's whistleblowing arrangements and must not suffer reprisal, exclusion, or detriment for doing so. Concerns may be raised internally to the club DSL or directly to the BMABA DSL at [email protected]. Where a person believes a concern has not been acted upon, or where a concern relates to BMABA itself, the concern can be escalated externally to the NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line on 0800 028 0285, or directly to the relevant statutory body.

Concerns raised maliciously, vexatiously, or in bad faith will be treated as misconduct and may result in disciplinary action. The bar for treating a concern as malicious is high; a concern that turns out, on investigation, to be unfounded is not necessarily malicious, and a person who raises a concern in good faith that ultimately is not substantiated will not be penalised.

Any attempt to pressurise BMABA, its staff, or volunteers into not acting on a safeguarding concern, including by means of ultimatums, threats of public campaigns, threats of negative social media exposure, or threats of legal action, will be treated as misconduct. BMABA reserves the right to take proportionate sanctions and to refer the matter to legal authorities where harassment or defamation is involved. The use of pressure to suppress safeguarding action is itself a serious safeguarding concern and will be treated accordingly.

Effective safeguarding depends on the timely sharing of information. The history of safeguarding failure is largely a history of information that existed somewhere in a system but did not reach the people who needed it in time. Clubs, officials, and BMABA must balance the duty to protect confidentiality with the overriding responsibility to protect children from harm. Where the two appear to conflict, the welfare of the child takes precedence.

The principle of need-to-know means that information must be shared with those who need it in order to safeguard a child, and not more widely. The principle of safety over confidentiality means that promises of confidentiality cannot be honoured at the cost of a child's safety; concerns must never be kept secret if doing so would place a child at risk. The principle of accuracy and clarity means that shared information must be factual, accurate, relevant, and up to date, with opinions clearly identified as such. The principle of transparency means that, wherever possible, the child and their parents or carers should be informed about what will be shared, with whom, and why; exceptions apply where this would place the child at greater risk, prejudice an investigation, or otherwise be inappropriate. The principle of proportionality means that only the minimum information necessary to protect the child should be shared.

Statutory protocols apply. Clubs and BMABA must follow Local Safeguarding Children Partnership protocols and national statutory requirements. Information may be shared with statutory services without consent where there is reason to believe a child is at risk of significant harm, and the absence of consent is not a barrier where harm is the issue.

Wherever a decision is made to share or not to share information, the rationale must be documented clearly, with the date, the decision-maker, and the reasoning recorded. The strongest defence against any later challenge to a sharing decision is a contemporaneous record that shows the decision was thought about, not avoided.

Safeguarding records are among the most sensitive records a club holds, and they are also among the most important. They are evidence of what happened, what was decided, and what was done. Without records, a club cannot account for its safeguarding practice to BMABA, to statutory partners, to insurers, or to participants and families.

All safeguarding records must be stored securely with access restricted to designated safeguarding personnel. Records must be processed in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, with a lawful basis identified and recorded for each category of processing. Sensitive personal data, including data revealing physical or mental health, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, or matters of criminal justice, is subject to additional protections and must be processed accordingly.

Children's safeguarding records must be retained for a minimum of seven years from the date of the last entry, or until the child reaches the age of 25, whichever is later. Where a record relates to a serious case, an allegation against an adult, or any matter that may have ongoing safeguarding significance, longer retention applies in line with statutory and sector guidance. The principle is that historic safeguarding records can become relevant many years after the events they describe, often when an adult who was once a member resurfaces in another sport or setting, and premature destruction of records can frustrate the protection of future participants.

Records must be capable of audit by BMABA, by statutory agencies, and by inspection bodies. Failure to maintain appropriate records is itself a safeguarding breach and will be treated as such.

The legal line between childhood and adulthood is the eighteenth birthday. The lived line is much less clean. Young people in their late teens and early twenties continue to face risks that have their roots in childhood adversity, and they often face new risks (including exploitation by older partners, mental health crisis, harm in intimate relationships, and the financial and social vulnerabilities of early adulthood) that require a thoughtful approach. The concept of transitional safeguarding has emerged in UK practice precisely to bridge this gap.

In BMABA's context, this matters in two ways. First, clubs working with 16 to 18 year olds should remember that the legal protections that apply to under-18s remain in force until the day a young person turns 18, including the offences that apply to adults in a position of trust. The fact that a 17-year-old is physically adult-sized, technically advanced, or socially independent does not change the legal position. Second, clubs working with 18 to 25 year olds should approach safeguarding concerns with the more protective standard where there is doubt, drawing on the BMABA National Adult Safeguarding Policy (Policy 2 in this article) and on the principles of the Care Act 2014 where relevant. DSLs working with this age group must be confident in working across both child and adult safeguarding frameworks.

A safeguarding policy is only as good as the governance and assurance systems that sit behind it. BMABA's commitment to safeguarding is therefore not only a written one; it is built into the way BMABA itself is governed, the way clubs are recognised, and the way practice is monitored over time.

Every BMABA-affiliated club must be able to evidence safeguarding in practice. This means a current child safeguarding policy consistent with this national policy; the appointment of a suitably trained and vetted DSL; evidence of safer recruitment and vetting for all instructors, staff, and volunteers; records of completed safeguarding training and refresher cycles; incident and concern logs with clear actions and outcomes recorded; and the integration of safeguarding into day-to-day practice, risk assessments, and club culture.

Where any of these is missing, a club is not compliant with this policy. The remedy is usually quick, and BMABA's safeguarding team will support clubs to put it right; but it must be put right.

At national level, BMABA monitors and assures compliance through Regulation Ready and Club Colours, which serve as structured compliance and quality benchmarks for clubs. BMABA conducts spot checks, audits, and thematic reviews to test safeguarding practice across the membership. BMABA investigates safeguarding concerns, enforces corrective actions, and applies sanctions where necessary.

BMABA collects and reviews safeguarding data to identify trends, risks, and areas for improvement. BMABA requires clubs to cooperate with audits and to provide evidence of safeguarding measures on request, and treats refusal to cooperate as itself a safeguarding concern.

BMABA's Quality Management System is certified to ISO 9001:2015, UKAS-accredited via the British Assessment Bureau, and underpins safeguarding assurance processes. The certification provides external assurance that BMABA has documented processes, that those processes are followed, and that lessons learned are fed back into improvement.

In practical terms, lessons learned from incidents, near misses, case reviews, and member feedback are systematically captured and fed back into training, policy updates, and guidance. Standards are benchmarked against national sport-sector expectations and updated whenever law, statutory guidance, CPSU standards, or best practice evolves. BMABA commits to transparency in its safeguarding governance, publishing updates and improvements via the BMABA Handbook and member communications.

Child safeguarding standards are mandatory and non-negotiable. BMABA reserves the right to investigate and to take action against any individual, club, or partner found to be in breach of this policy or of related frameworks including NMESGF, NROS, CHIMA, Regulation Ready, or Club Colours.

BMABA may initiate an investigation following a safeguarding concern, an audit finding, or a breach report. Investigations may run in parallel with statutory agency involvement, in which case BMABA's process will be sequenced and managed so as not to prejudice the statutory work. BMABA acts proportionately throughout, balancing fairness to the subject of an investigation with the need to protect children. Interim measures may be imposed while investigations are ongoing, as set out in Section 15.3.

Sanctions will be proportionate to the nature, severity, and risk of the breach, and may include advisory actions (informal advice, mentoring, or mandated reflective practice); retraining requirements; formal warnings, recorded and monitored; suspension of BMABA membership, registration, or event recognition; permanent removal from BMABA membership, registers, or recognition; and referral to statutory or regulatory bodies (the Disclosure and Barring Service, the Local Authority, the Police, Sport England, or any relevant inspectorate). Sanctions are not punitive in intent; they exist to protect children, to drive improvement, and to maintain the integrity of the BMABA framework.

More serious sanctions are likely where breaches involve a failure to act on safeguarding concerns; an attempt to intimidate, silence, or discredit whistleblowers, children, or families; repeated poor practice despite warnings; breaches of interim safeguarding measures; concealment of relevant information from BMABA, statutory agencies, or insurers; or conduct bringing BMABA, the wider martial arts sector, or children at risk into disrepute or danger.

Individuals or clubs subject to sanction may appeal through BMABA's governance and disciplinary procedures. Appeals must be lodged in writing within the timeframe set out in BMABA's disciplinary framework. Sanctions remain in effect during the appeals process unless BMABA determines otherwise.

BMABA reserves the right to publish the outcome of disciplinary action where this is necessary to protect children or the public interest. BMABA-registered instructors, assistant instructors, and volunteers appear on BMABA's national registers, and outcomes of safeguarding investigations are reflected on those registers, including where an individual has been barred, suspended, cancelled, or otherwise restricted. As a condition of membership and registration, individuals accept that the right to be forgotten or to have entries removed from BMABA's safeguarding records or registers does not apply where public safety is at stake. Safeguarding transparency overrides withdrawal requests, so that participants, parents, and clubs can have accurate information about who is and is not safe and eligible to work in martial arts.

This policy will undergo a formal annual review, led by the BMABA DSL and the Senior Leadership Team. The review will seek input from clubs, safeguarding partners, participants, parents, and statutory agencies where appropriate, and will test alignment against Working Together to Safeguard Children, Keeping Children Safe in Education, the CPSU Standards, and other current statutory and sector guidance.

Interim updates will be made immediately where changes in law, statutory guidance, sector standards, concussion guidance, or insurance requirements require earlier action. Interim updates take effect as soon as they are published and communicated, and clubs are responsible for reflecting them in their own local procedures.

Updates are communicated to members via the BMABA Handbook, official notices, and digital member communications. Clubs are responsible for updating their own local safeguarding policies and procedures to remain consistent with BMABA's national standards. This review and update process forms part of BMABA's ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System and is auditable, documented, and continuously improved.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.

To raise a safeguarding concern with BMABA's qualified DSL team, where the concern relates to an instructor, club, event, or activity licensed or recognised by BMABA, please use the secure form at:

bmaba.org.uk/safeguarding

For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply.

Child or Young Person. Anyone under the age of 18, including 16 and 17 year olds who may legally live independently, work, or serve in the armed forces, but who remain children under safeguarding law.

Adult at Risk. As defined by the Care Act 2014: a person aged 18 or over who has needs for care and support, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves from the abuse, neglect, or risk. The BMABA National Adult Safeguarding Policy (Policy 2 of this article) applies in detail to this group; this Child Safeguarding Policy applies to anyone under 18 even where their needs may be similar.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). The individual appointed at club, event, or BMABA national level to take lead responsibility for safeguarding, including managing concerns, making referrals, and supporting safe practice.

Participant Advocate and Safe Adult (PASA). A designated responsible adult at BMABA-recognised events who acts as an independent advocate for one or more participants and is empowered to withdraw participants from competition or activity where welfare is compromised.

NMESGF. National Martial Arts Event Safety and Governance Framework: BMABA's governance framework for ensuring safe, welfare-focused event delivery.

NROS. National Refereeing and Officiating Standards: BMABA's framework setting safeguarding-first responsibilities for referees and officials.

CHIMA. Concussion and Head Injury Management Awareness: BMABA's framework for recognising, managing, and recording concussion and head injuries.

Regulated Activity. Activity defined as such under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in respect of children, including unsupervised teaching, training, supervision, advice, guidance on physical wellbeing, or care of children.

Position of Trust. A position in which an adult exercises authority or influence over a 16 or 17 year old such that any sexual relationship is a criminal offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (as amended), including the extension to coaching and instructing roles.

Operation Encompass. The information-sharing scheme under Section 49A of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, by which the police notify a child's educational setting, and where relevant other settings, when the child has been connected to a domestic abuse incident.

Poor Practice. Behaviour or actions that, while not amounting to abuse, breach BMABA's codes of conduct, safeguarding standards, or safe practice expectations, and which increase risk of harm. Poor practice must always be corrected and may require escalation.

Safeguarding. The proactive measures taken to protect children and adults at risk from abuse, neglect, or exploitation, and to promote safe, inclusive participation.

Contextual Safeguarding. An approach to understanding and responding to children's experiences of significant harm beyond their families.

Trauma-Informed Practice. An approach to working with children that recognises the prevalence of trauma and adversity, prioritises safety, choice, and trust, and avoids re-traumatisation.

BMABA CIC believes that every adult who participates in martial arts under BMABA-recognised activity has the right to do so in an environment that is safe, inclusive, welfare-first, and free from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination. This is true of all adults, and it is true with particular force of adults who, for reasons of disability, illness, age, mental health, learning difficulty, neurodivergence, sensory impairment, or care and support need, may be less able than others to protect themselves from harm.

Adult safeguarding shares a common purpose with child safeguarding (the prevention of harm and the support of those at risk) but it operates from a different starting point. The starting point in adult safeguarding is autonomy. Adults are presumed to have the capacity to make their own decisions, including decisions to take risks, decisions that others might consider unwise, and decisions about whether and how they wish to be supported. Adult safeguarding, properly practised, does not override that autonomy. It supports it. It steps in where harm is occurring or threatened and where the adult is unable, for whatever reason, to protect themselves. It does so in a way that puts the adult's own wishes, feelings, and outcomes at the centre of the response.

This policy sets out the national adult safeguarding standards that apply across all BMABA-recognised activity. It defines the legal and sector framework within which BMABA operates. It sets out the principles that govern decision-making and practice in respect of adults. It defines the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved. It sets out the operational controls, processes, and behaviours that BMABA expects to see in practice. It tells members and the public what to do when they have an adult safeguarding concern. It sets the governance, monitoring, enforcement, and continuous improvement arrangements that ensure the policy is lived rather than merely written.

The policy applies in addition to, and is consistent with, BMABA's wider governance framework, including NMESGF, NROS, CHIMA, Regulation Ready, Club Colours, the BMABA Code of Conduct, and BMABA's Quality Management System. Where the requirements of those frameworks reinforce or extend this policy, all apply together. Where there is any ambiguity, the more protective interpretation prevails, subject always to respect for the adult's capacity and choices.

In summary, BMABA commits to:

All BMABA members and affiliated organisations must adopt this policy, ensure their local safeguarding procedures are consistent with it, and ensure that their people are trained, vetted, supervised, and supported to deliver safe, welfare-first martial arts to adults.

This policy applies nationally across all activities of BMABA CIC, its charitable and social enterprise initiatives, and all BMABA-recognised events, programmes, communities, and partnerships. It is binding on every individual and organisation that operates under, in partnership with, or in affiliation with BMABA. Wherever an adult encounters BMABA's name, badge, framework, or services, the same standard of protection applies.

The policy applies primarily to adults at risk, as defined by the Care Act 2014: people aged 18 or over who have needs for care and support (whether or not those needs are being met), who are experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and who, as a result of those needs, are unable to protect themselves from the abuse, neglect, or risk. This is the statutory definition that triggers a Local Authority duty to make safeguarding enquiries under Section 42 of the Care Act, and it is the population on which adult safeguarding statutory practice focuses.

However, BMABA also recognises that adult safety in sport is a wider matter than adult-at-risk safeguarding alone. All adults participating in martial arts have the right to be safe from abuse, harassment, discrimination, and exploitation, even where they do not meet the threshold of an adult at risk. This policy therefore also applies, in spirit and in substance, to the broader adult population in BMABA-recognised activity. Where a particular requirement applies only to adults at risk (for example, the formal Section 42 enquiry threshold), the policy makes that clear; where it applies to all adults (for example, the prohibition on harassment, the rules on coach-athlete relationships, or the duty of clubs to maintain safe environments), it applies universally.

The policy applies specifically to BMABA members, including instructors, coaches, assistant instructors, instructors-in-training, volunteers, referees, judges, officials, and event staff. It applies to club leaders, owners, and management committees. It applies to event organisers and promoters operating under NMESGF, and to officials and referees operating under NROS. It applies to contractors, partners, and third parties delivering services or working in partnership with BMABA, and to partner organisations and governing bodies that access BMABA's services in any capacity. It applies to BMABA's own staff, trustees, contractors, and volunteers.

Clubs and event organisers must maintain a local adult safeguarding policy that is consistent with this national policy and ensure that all staff, volunteers, and adult participants are aware of it. A club that has no separate written document is deemed to have adopted this national policy in full. Carers, family members, and supporters of adults at risk are expected to respect and follow the codes of conduct and safeguarding expectations set by their club and BMABA. The policy extends to digital and online environments facilitated or recognised by BMABA, including online platforms, member communities, virtual training, and social media activity associated with BMABA-recognised entities.

No individual or organisation is exempt from this policy. Compliance is a condition of BMABA membership, instructor registration, club affiliation, event recognition, and partnership. Where local policies exist, they must meet or exceed the requirements of this national policy. In any conflict, the BMABA National Adult Safeguarding Policy takes precedence.

Adult safeguarding in England rests on a different statutory backbone from child safeguarding. The cornerstone is the Care Act 2014 and its accompanying statutory guidance, which placed adult safeguarding on a statutory footing for the first time. The Care Act sets out the definition of an adult at risk, establishes the duty of Local Authorities to make safeguarding enquiries under Section 42, defines the statutory roles of Safeguarding Adults Boards and Safeguarding Adults Reviews, and establishes the Six Safeguarding Adults Principles that underpin practice in the sector.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its accompanying Code of Practice are inseparable from adult safeguarding. The Mental Capacity Act sets out how to assess whether an adult has the capacity to make a particular decision at a particular time, what to do if they do not, and how decisions should be made in their best interests. The presumption of capacity is the starting point of every adult safeguarding interaction.

Other primary legislation that frames this policy includes the Equality Act 2010, the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the Mental Health Act 1983, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Serious Crime Act 2015 (including the offence of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship), the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (including the Prevent Duty as it applies to adults), and the UK GDPR alongside the Data Protection Act 2018. Members are not expected to know each Act in detail, but DSLs are expected to be aware of the duties these create and to be confident in their application.

In sector terms, this policy aligns with the Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults in Sport and Activity Standards, which is the recognised benchmark for adult safeguarding in UK sport. It also aligns with Sport England's safeguarding adults expectations for recognised bodies, and with relevant guidance from the UK Concussion Guidance for Grassroots Sport ("If in doubt, sit them out") which applies equally to adult participants. Where Local Safeguarding Adults Board procedures apply in a particular area, those procedures take precedence in respect of statutory enquiries.

This policy is also benchmarked against the Making Safeguarding Personal approach, which has become embedded in adult safeguarding statutory practice since 2014. Making Safeguarding Personal means putting the adult at the centre of the safeguarding response, asking them about their desired outcomes, and shaping the response around what they want, rather than imposing a process upon them. It is, in many respects, the philosophical core of adult safeguarding and it threads through every section of this policy.

Adult safeguarding is shaped by the Six Safeguarding Adults Principles set out in the Care Act statutory guidance. They are not BMABA's invention; they are the shared language of adult safeguarding across UK statutory and voluntary practice. BMABA adopts them in full and applies them throughout this policy.

Empowerment. Adults are supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and to give informed consent. The starting question in every adult safeguarding interaction is "what does the adult want?" not "what do we think they should want?". An adult's views, wishes, feelings, and beliefs should drive the response, not be tolerated alongside it.

Prevention. It is better to act before harm occurs. BMABA expects clubs to create environments in which the conditions that allow harm to develop (poor culture, weak boundaries, inadequate vetting, unaddressed bullying, financial mismanagement) are identified and addressed early, rather than allowed to mature into incidents.

Proportionality. Safeguarding responses must be the least intrusive response appropriate to the risk. An adult who asks for support to address a particular risk should not be subjected to a response that goes far beyond what they want, that involves more agencies than necessary, or that strips them of decisions they could have made themselves.

Protection. Adults at risk are entitled to support and representation when they need it. Where an adult is unable to protect themselves, where they lack capacity to consent to a safeguarding response, or where the harm they are facing has reached a level that requires statutory action, BMABA and clubs must act, and must do so promptly.

Partnership. Local solutions are best delivered by services working together, with communities. Safeguarding is not done to adults; it is done with them and with the people and services that support them. Carers, family members, advocates, and the adult's wider network are partners in safeguarding, not obstacles to it.

Accountability. Everyone involved in adult safeguarding must be clear about their roles and responsibilities and must be held accountable for them. Accountability runs from the individual member upwards through the club, through BMABA, and into the statutory partners with whom BMABA works.

In addition to the Six Principles, BMABA's adult safeguarding practice is shaped by:

Making Safeguarding Personal. As set out above, the adult is at the centre of the response. The safeguarding question is not only "is this adult at risk?" but "what does this adult want to happen, and how can we help them get there safely?". MSP shapes the texture of every conversation, every record, and every decision.

Respect for autonomy and the right to make unwise decisions. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 makes explicit that an adult is not to be treated as lacking capacity merely because they make a decision that others consider unwise. Adults have the right to engage in risky activity, to maintain relationships that others might disapprove of, and to refuse offers of support. Safeguarding does not exist to override these choices.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion. Safeguarding applies to every adult. Disabled adults, neurodivergent adults, adults with learning disabilities, older adults, adults from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ adults, adults from minority faith communities, and adults from socio-economically marginalised backgrounds may face additional barriers to disclosure, additional risks of harm, and additional risks of being disbelieved or dismissed. BMABA and its members will identify and remove barriers to safe participation and will challenge discrimination, harassment, and exclusion wherever they appear.

Anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice. Anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice is a positive duty in adult safeguarding as much as in child safeguarding. The dynamics of adults being unheard, dismissed, or pathologised on grounds of race, ethnicity, faith, or background are well documented in the safeguarding sector. BMABA expects clubs and members to recognise, understand, and challenge these dynamics.

Trauma-informed practice. Many adults who participate in martial arts, particularly those who come to the sport later in life or who present with significant disclosure histories, have lived experience of trauma. Trauma-informed practice in an adult context means recognising the impact of trauma on disclosure, on relationships, on capacity decisions, and on engagement with services. It means avoiding re-traumatisation and offering choice and control wherever possible.

Proportionality and transparency. As with child safeguarding, responses must be evidence-based, proportionate, and capable of being explained. The right of an adult to know what is being said about them, by whom, and why is fundamental, subject to the limits set out in the information sharing section.

Continuous learning and improvement. BMABA reviews lessons learned from adult safeguarding cases, audits, near misses, Safeguarding Adults Reviews, and member feedback, and updates training, policy, and frameworks accordingly.

Adult safeguarding within BMABA is a shared responsibility, and the structure of that responsibility mirrors the child safeguarding model: BMABA at the top, clubs as the operational front line, DSLs as the lead safeguarding role-holders, and individuals everywhere in the system. The duties set out below should be read alongside the equivalent duties in Policy 1; the underlying structure is the same, and many people will hold roles that span both populations.

BMABA CIC, as the national body, carries overall responsibility for setting the adult safeguarding standards that apply across the membership and for assuring that those standards are met in practice. BMABA will set, publish, and review adult safeguarding standards, policies, and procedures on a scheduled cycle of at least once a year, and sooner where statutory guidance, law, or sector standards change. BMABA maintains a national Designated Safeguarding Lead function with clear escalation routes for adult safeguarding concerns raised at club or event level. The current DSL is Helen Martin, Head of Governance and Safeguarding. The Deputy DSL is Giovanni Soffietto, CEO and Governance Lead.

BMABA will provide training pathways, templates, toolkits, and advice to support clubs, instructors, and event organisers in implementing adult safeguarding best practice. BMABA will oversee safer recruitment and licensing through Regulation Ready, Club Colours, and BMABA's membership and registration systems. BMABA will audit, monitor, and investigate adult safeguarding practice within clubs and events, and will impose sanctions or corrective actions where standards are not met. BMABA will liaise with statutory agencies, sports councils, and safeguarding partners where necessary to protect adults at risk. BMABA will ensure that BMABA's own staff, trustees, contractors, and volunteers are vetted, trained, supervised, and supported to uphold this policy.

BMABA's national registers also reflect adult safeguarding outcomes where these are necessary to protect the public, alongside child safeguarding outcomes. The same transparency principles set out in Policy 1, Section 21.5 apply.

Clubs are again the operational front line. The relationships in which adults at risk are recognised and supported, in which patterns of poor practice begin, and in which a strong adult safeguarding culture is either built or eroded are local relationships in local rooms.

Each BMABA-affiliated club must adopt a local adult safeguarding policy that is consistent with this national policy. Where a club has no separate written document, this national policy is deemed adopted in full. Each club must appoint a club Designated Safeguarding Lead who is suitably vetted, trained, and supported, and who has clear authority within the club structure to act on adult safeguarding concerns without obstruction. In most clubs the DSL will hold both the child and adult safeguarding lead role; this is appropriate provided the DSL has the training and confidence to work across both frameworks.

Clubs must ensure that all instructors, assistants, and volunteers who work with adults at risk are subject to safer recruitment checks, hold a clear written role description, complete a structured induction, and are supervised in line with their experience and role. They must deliver and evidence safeguarding training relevant to role, including adult safeguarding awareness. They must maintain robust processes for recognising, recording, reporting, and escalating concerns. They must keep accurate safeguarding records, stored securely, with access restricted to designated personnel, and retained in line with BMABA's safeguarding retention standard set out in Section 19.

Clubs must promote a safe, inclusive culture in which adult participants feel able to raise concerns without fear. This includes the practical step of displaying adult safeguarding contact details (the club DSL, the BMABA DSL, the local Adult Social Care or Safeguarding Adults Team contact, and 999) somewhere visible in the club's training space, on its website, and in its joining materials.

Every DSL holding adult safeguarding responsibility is responsible for acting as the first point of contact for adult safeguarding concerns within their remit; recording and managing concerns, allegations, and disclosures with rigour and care; making timely referrals to the Local Authority Adult Social Care or Safeguarding Adults Team, the Police, and the Disclosure and Barring Service where the threshold is met; supporting and advising colleagues in the recognition and response to concerns; ensuring confidentiality and proportionate information sharing in line with this policy; and maintaining their own competence through ongoing CPD.

The DSL's role in adult safeguarding has an additional dimension that is not present (in the same form) in child safeguarding: respect for the adult's wishes. Where an adult with capacity declines to consent to a safeguarding referral, that refusal must be respected unless there are overriding factors that justify acting without consent, such as a risk of serious harm to others, an imminent risk to life, or evidence that a criminal offence has been committed. The DSL must navigate these decisions carefully, with advice from BMABA's national DSL or from the Local Authority where needed.

Every individual involved in BMABA-recognised activity carries adult safeguarding duties appropriate to their role.

Leaders, instructors, and assistant instructors must uphold this policy, complete required adult safeguarding training, follow safe coaching practices that respect adult autonomy and consent, and role-model positive behaviours. They are the people most often in direct contact with adult participants and are most often the people in whom an adult first confides.

Officials and referees under NROS must apply safeguarding-first decision making during officiating in respect of adult participants as well as children. Adult competitors, particularly those who may be at risk of pressure to continue when injured or unsafe, deserve the same welfare-first authority of officiating as children.

Event organisers under NMESGF must ensure that event safeguarding requirements are fully implemented in respect of adult participants. This includes appropriate medical provision, accessibility of facilities, and clear routes for adults to raise concerns.

Participant Advocates and Safe Adults (PASA) at BMABA events: see Section 10 below for the application of the PASA function to adults.

Carers, family members, and supporters of adults at risk are expected to follow the codes of conduct that apply at the club, to communicate with the club about the adult's needs and wishes (with the adult's consent where the adult has capacity), and to contribute to a safe, respectful environment.

Adult participants themselves are expected to follow codes of conduct and to raise concerns about their own safety or the safety of others.

The principles of safer recruitment for adult safeguarding mirror those for child safeguarding, but with one important legal distinction in respect of criminal records checks. Regulated activity with adults under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 has a narrower definition than regulated activity with children, and not every coaching role with adults qualifies. BMABA expects clubs to apply the appropriate level of check to the role.

The principle that no individual should begin unsupervised activity with adults at risk until appropriate checks are complete applies in full. Cutting corners at the recruitment stage to fill a gap in adult provision is as problematic as it is in child provision.

In detail, clubs must ensure that:

At national level, BMABA will verify instructor and club compliance through Regulation Ready and Club Colours. BMABA will refuse, suspend, or remove membership, registration, or event recognition where adult safeguarding standards or vetting requirements are not met. BMABA will refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service where there is a duty to do so under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in respect of adults. The duty to refer is statutory and applies to BMABA itself.

Adult safeguarding training is what turns this policy into lived practice, in the same way that it does for child safeguarding. A club that has trained its people in child safeguarding but has never engaged with adult safeguarding is not equipped to handle the concerns that will inevitably arise in adult sessions, in mixed sessions where adults are present alongside children, or where an adult parent or carer of a participating child is themselves an adult at risk.

Core adult safeguarding training is the baseline. All instructors, assistant instructors, volunteers, and staff who work with adults at risk, or whose work brings them into contact with adults at risk (including those running mixed-age sessions), must complete an approved adult safeguarding awareness course. Refreshers must be completed every three years at minimum, or sooner if statutory guidance or BMABA standards change.

Role-specific training is required for those holding particular adult safeguarding responsibilities. Designated Safeguarding Leads must complete adult safeguarding lead training that covers the Care Act, the Mental Capacity Act, Making Safeguarding Personal, the Six Principles, the categories of abuse and neglect, the local Adult Social Care referral routes, and the management of allegations against people in positions of influence over adults. Event organisers and PASAs working at events that include adult participants must understand how the PASA function applies in an adult context.

Specialist awareness is expected of all DSLs and is encouraged for instructors generally. The themes that BMABA considers material in the current adult safeguarding context include the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and capacity assessment in practice; coercive control and the wider domestic abuse picture for adults; financial abuse, mate crime, and the exploitation of adults at risk; modern slavery and trafficking; self-neglect; hoarding; pressure ulcers and acute care needs (where a club is likely to encounter adults with these); mental health, self-harm, and suicide awareness in adults; safeguarding adults with learning disabilities; safeguarding adults with autism and other neurodivergence; safeguarding older adults including those living with dementia; and trauma-informed practice with adults.

Continuous Professional Development keeps competence current. BMABA provides routes through Regulation Ready, Club Colours, and specialist programmes.

Competence assurance is the recognition that holding a certificate is not the same as practising well. Club leaders and BMABA will monitor adult safeguarding practice to ensure knowledge is applied correctly. Where practice falls short, further training, mentoring, supervision, or corrective action may be required.

Adult safeguarding culture, like child safeguarding culture, is built one interaction at a time. The behaviours that adults model towards each other in a club set the tone for whether adults at risk will feel safe to participate, will feel safe to disclose, and will feel safe to remain. The codes of conduct for adult-only environments are not less important than those for environments involving children; they are simply differently focused, and they require careful attention to the specific dynamics that adults bring to the room.

Clubs must adopt and display written codes of conduct for staff and volunteers, for adult participants, and for carers or supporters who attend with adults at risk. Each code should set out, in plain language, what is expected and what is prohibited. Bullying, harassment, discrimination, abuse, or degrading practices are prohibited in adult environments as in child environments. Sexual harassment, racial harassment, disability harassment, and harassment on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity have no place in any BMABA-recognised activity, and the response to them must be unambiguous.

A culture that excuses harassment as "banter", that treats senior coaches as untouchable, or that pressures adult participants to tolerate behaviours they would not tolerate elsewhere is a culture in which more serious harm can take root. The leadership tone in respect of these standards is set from the front, by the instructors and senior figures whose behaviour is watched by everyone else in the room.

Safe and professional boundaries must be maintained at all times. Favouritism, inappropriate personal relationships (see Section 8.4), gifts of disproportionate value, and contact outside the structure of the club must be avoided. Where any of these things happen unintentionally, they must be recognised, escalated, and addressed openly.

Martial arts involves physical contact between adults, and that contact is, in most cases, freely consented to by participants who understand what they are doing and why. The framework for adult physical contact is therefore different from the child framework: the starting point is informed consent, not parental authorisation. But the principle that contact must be appropriate to the technical purpose, that participants have the right to set their own limits, and that contact must cease the moment a participant withdraws consent, applies fully.

Where physical contact is required for instruction, spotting, demonstration, or safety, it must be proportionate to the technical purpose and explained to the participant in advance where the contact is unusual or unexpected. Adult participants have the right to decline contact, to set limits on contact (for example, where they have a physical condition that affects what is safe), and to withdraw consent at any point. Coaches must respect these limits without question and without making the participant feel that they have been difficult.

Adult participants who lack capacity in respect of consent to physical contact require particular care. Where an adult is supported by a carer or has expressed wishes through an advance decision, those wishes must be considered. Where there is doubt, the coach should not proceed with contact beyond what is necessary for immediate safety, and should escalate to the DSL and to the adult's supporters.

Codes of conduct extend to digital communications, online platforms, and social media. The relationship between an adult coach and adult athletes or members in digital spaces should be professional, transparent, and limited to its purpose. Direct messaging that becomes personal, frequent, or boundary-blurring is a signal to which colleagues and the DSL should be alert.

Online groups must be moderated to prevent harassment, discrimination, and harmful content. Adults are entitled to participate in BMABA-recognised online communities without being exposed to harassment, sexualised content, or pressure of a kind they have not consented to. The fact that participants are adults does not reduce the safeguarding significance of online harm; it changes the legal framing and the nature of the response.

The criminal "position of trust" provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 apply specifically to 16 and 17 year olds, and they do not apply, in the same way, to adult athletes who are 18 or over. A sexual relationship between a coach and an adult athlete who is 18 or over is not, in itself, a criminal offence purely by virtue of the coaching relationship.

That legal position does not, however, dispose of the safeguarding question. The power dynamics between a coach and an adult athlete are real. A coach controls grading, opportunity, recognition, and, in many martial arts clubs, the athlete's progression and standing within a community that may matter a great deal to them. An adult athlete who declines a sexual or romantic approach from a coach may face consequences, real or perceived, for that decision. An adult athlete who accepts may be doing so in circumstances that, on objective examination, look much closer to coercion than to free choice.

For these reasons, BMABA's expectations in respect of coach and adult athlete relationships are as follows:

Sexual or romantic relationships between a coach and an adult athlete under their direct coaching relationship are strongly discouraged. Where such a relationship exists or develops, it must be disclosed to the club's safeguarding leadership and managed openly, with appropriate steps taken to remove the conflict of interest. Disclosure must be prompt; concealment of such a relationship is itself a conduct breach.

Sexual or romantic conduct that is unwelcome, that is initiated through the use of a coach's authority, that involves any element of grooming or coercion, or that is directed towards an adult who lacks capacity to consent, is a serious safeguarding concern and may also be a criminal offence (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in respect of capacity, or under harassment and other criminal law). BMABA will treat such matters with the same seriousness as any other safeguarding concern of equivalent gravity.

Where an adult athlete is also an adult at risk as defined by the Care Act, the analysis tightens. Sexual contact with an adult at risk who lacks capacity to consent is a criminal offence, regardless of the relationship in which it occurs. The fact that the parties are both adults does not change this.

These expectations apply to sexual and romantic conduct between adult coaches and adult athletes. They also apply, with appropriate adaptation, to other relationships in which one party holds authority or influence over another within BMABA-recognised activity, including officials and competitors, examiners and grading candidates, mentors and mentees, and senior coaches and assistant instructors.

Clubs must actively challenge discriminatory behaviour, ensure all adult participants are treated equitably, and make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers to participation. Anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice is a positive duty. Clubs are expected to consider how culture, ethnicity, language, faith, disability, neurodivergence, gender identity, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background affect an adult's experience of martial arts and of safeguarding. Adults who have previously been unheard or dismissed by adult authority, whether because of who they are or because of their experience of services, may need particular invitation, time, and patience to trust a club with a concern.

The controls in this section are the practical day-to-day arrangements that reduce the chance of harm to adults at risk and that limit its severity if it occurs. They apply across all BMABA-recognised activity that includes adult participation. Where a club operates in a setting that is not directly addressed below, the principles still apply and the club should adapt them in consultation with the BMABA safeguarding team if needed.

Adult sessions, like child sessions, must be supervised by suitably qualified and vetted instructors, with ratios appropriate to the activity, the experience of participants, and the presence of adults at risk who may need additional attention. The application of strict ratios that are appropriate to children may be unnecessary or inappropriate for adult sessions, but the underlying principle that the instructor must be able to safely supervise the session applies in full.

Where a session includes adults at risk, additional staffing or supervisory attention may be needed. Clubs should consider in advance whether the session is appropriately structured for the participants who will attend, whether reasonable adjustments are needed (for example, accessible facilities, sensory considerations, structured breaks, alternative communication methods), and whether the carer or supporter accompanying the adult needs to be involved in the session in any way.

Accessibility is a safeguarding issue. A club that is inaccessible to disabled adults excludes them from the protective benefit of participation, and a club that admits disabled adults but cannot meet their needs creates avoidable risk.

Adult participants are generally responsible for their own arrangements in respect of changing rooms, travel, and overnight accommodation. The club's role is to ensure that the facilities and arrangements offered are safe, that they protect privacy, and that they accommodate adults at risk who may need additional support.

Where adults at risk are travelling with a club, including for residential events, camps, or competitions abroad, risk assessments must address supervision (where consented), accessibility, medication management, communication, and emergency arrangements. Where an adult is supported by a carer, the carer's role in the trip must be clear and agreed in advance.

Consent for the use of an adult's image must be obtained from the adult themselves where they have capacity, and through best interests decision-making (see Section 12) where they do not. Adult participants have the right to refuse photography or filming, and that refusal must be respected.

Particular care must be taken in respect of adults whose circumstances make image use sensitive, including adults in supported living, adults in refuge accommodation, adults whose location is confidential, and adults who have been the subject of harassment or stalking. Where a club is not certain whether image use is appropriate, the default should be restraint.

Equipment must be regularly inspected, maintained, and used in accordance with safety guidelines. Training and event environments must be risk assessed for hazards, suitability, and accessibility, including for disabled adults, neurodivergent adults, and older adults with mobility, sensory, or cognitive needs.

Clubs and organisers must ensure that first aid provision, medical cover, and emergency action plans are in place, proportionate to the activity and to the participants. Emergency action plans must consider the needs of adults at risk in evacuation or incident scenarios, including those who may need physical assistance, who may not understand verbal instruction, or who may be more vulnerable to stress responses.

Clubs offering online instruction or facilitating online communities for adults must apply the same safeguarding standards online as in person. This includes appropriate moderation, clear behavioural standards, and the protection of adult participants from harassment and exploitation. Adults at risk participating online may need additional support to engage safely; clubs should think about this in advance rather than respond to it after the fact.

BMABA may audit clubs and events to check compliance with safe practice controls in respect of adults and reserves the right to impose corrective actions or sanctions where standards are not met.

The three event safeguarding frameworks (NMESGF, NROS, and PASA) apply to events that include adult participation as well as to events involving children. The way they apply is adjusted to reflect the principle of adult autonomy.

NMESGF requirements apply in full to events that include adult participants. Every BMABA-recognised event must appoint an Event DSL with explicit responsibility for adult safeguarding as well as child safeguarding (where relevant). The medical provision requirements, risk assessment requirements, and emergency planning requirements apply to adult participants in the same way as to children. The presence of adult-only contests does not reduce the safeguarding burden on the organiser.

NROS officials at events involving adults must apply the same safeguarding-first principle. An adult competitor who appears injured, unsafe, or under undue pressure to continue must be removed from activity, and the official's authority to do so must be respected. Adults are entitled to safeguarding-first officiating just as children are. The fact that an adult has consented to participate does not extend to consenting to continue when continuing is unsafe.

The PASA function originated in the protection of children at events. It applies to adults differently, and the difference matters. For adults with full capacity, the PASA function should not be applied paternalistically; an adult competitor at a BMABA event has the right to make their own decisions about participation, and the PASA is not there to override that.

However, for adults at risk, the PASA function is fully applicable, and BMABA expects organisers to ensure that an adult at risk who is participating at a BMABA-recognised event has access to a PASA who can act as an independent advocate, raise welfare concerns, and where necessary withdraw the participant from activity. Where an adult at risk is supported by a carer or family member at the event, the PASA function complements, rather than replaces, that support.

The principle is straightforward: where capacity to make decisions about participation is unclear, where the adult has indicated that they would welcome an advocate, or where the adult's circumstances suggest that an additional independent welfare voice is needed, the PASA function should be deployed. Where an adult has full capacity and has not requested advocacy, the PASA function should not be imposed.

NMESGF, NROS, and the PASA function reinforce one another at events involving adults in the same way as at events involving children. Compliance is non-optional. BMABA reserves the right to audit, intervene, or revoke recognition where event safeguarding does not meet these standards.

The principle "If in doubt, sit them out" applies to adult participants as well as to children. The medical evidence on concussion does not change because the participant is over 18, and the long-term consequences of repeated head injury are well established across all age groups.

Any adult suspected of sustaining a concussion or serious head injury must be removed from play or training immediately. No same-day return is permitted. The welfare of the participant takes priority over competition outcome, training plans, and event schedules. An adult's consent to continue does not, in this context, override the safeguarding requirement to remove them.

Assessment must be conducted by a suitably qualified medical professional. Where an event or activity permits head contact, the presence of a qualified medic is mandatory. Clubs and organisers must ensure medical cover is planned, risk assessed, and proportionate to the activity.

Return to play must follow the staged timelines and protocols set out in BMABA's CHIMA policy, which align with national sport-sector guidance. Clearance to return must be provided by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. Adults who have sustained multiple concussions, or who have a history of head injury, may require extended timelines and additional medical input before returning to contact training.

All suspected concussions and head injuries must be documented, including details of the incident, the action taken, and the outcomes. The adult themselves, the club DSL, and BMABA where relevant must be informed promptly. Records must be kept securely.

Where an adult who has sustained a head injury lacks capacity to make informed decisions about their immediate care, those decisions must be made in the adult's best interests in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and emergency medical assistance should be sought without delay.

Compliance with CHIMA is mandatory for BMABA-recognised clubs and events, including in respect of adult participants. Failure to follow concussion protocols is a safeguarding breach.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is one of the most important pieces of legislation that BMABA clubs need to understand when working with adults. Many clubs will not work with adults who lack capacity in any significant way, and most adult safeguarding interactions will proceed on the assumption that the adult has the capacity to make the decisions in front of them. But the Act applies whenever a person aged 16 or over is considering whether someone else has the capacity to make a particular decision, and clubs need to know how it works.

The Mental Capacity Act sets out five statutory principles that must be applied to every capacity question. They are simple to state and demanding to apply.

First, a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that they lack capacity. The starting point is always presumption of capacity. The burden is on the person who claims that capacity is lacking to demonstrate it.

Second, a person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help them have been taken without success. This means using accessible communication, allowing time, finding the right environment, involving people the adult trusts, using visual aids or interpreters if needed, and waiting for a moment when the adult is best placed to engage. Capacity is not assessed once and then assumed for ever; it is supported actively.

Third, a person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because they make an unwise decision. An adult who chooses to spar at a level that others consider unwise, who continues to train with an injury, or who declines a safeguarding referral, is not, by virtue of those choices alone, lacking capacity. Capacity is about the ability to make a decision, not about the wisdom of the decision made.

Fourth, an act done, or a decision made, on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done in their best interests. Best interests is a structured concept; it requires consideration of the person's past and present wishes and feelings, their values and beliefs, the views of those who care for them, and the least restrictive option that achieves the purpose.

Fifth, before any act is done, regard must be had to whether the purpose can be effectively achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person's rights and freedom of action. The least restrictive option is always the preferred one.

In martial arts settings, the capacity questions that most often arise are these. Does the adult have capacity to consent to participation in this activity, knowing what it involves? Does the adult have capacity to consent to physical contact of the kind required for sparring or grappling? Does the adult have capacity to consent to the sharing of information about them, for example with a carer or with their GP? Does the adult have capacity to make decisions about their immediate medical care after injury?

In most cases the answer to these questions is yes, capacity is present, and the activity proceeds on the basis of the adult's informed consent. Where there is reason to believe capacity may be lacking, the question must be approached using the Act's principles, with all practicable steps taken to support the adult to make the decision, with the help of those who know the adult and (where appropriate) of the relevant clinicians.

Where an adult lacks capacity to make a particular decision, decisions must be made in their best interests. Where an adult has previously made an advance decision, has appointed a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare, or has a court-appointed deputy, those arrangements take precedence within their scope. Where there is no one to consult, an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) may be required by statute for certain serious decisions.

A particular question that arises in adult safeguarding is whether the adult has capacity to consent to a safeguarding referral or response. Where the adult has capacity and declines to consent, that decision must be respected, unless one of the following overriding factors applies: there is a risk of serious harm to others; there is an imminent risk to the adult's life; a criminal offence has been or may have been committed; the adult lacks capacity in respect of this particular decision; or there is a duty to act under another legal framework (for example, mandatory reporting of FGM in respect of someone connected to the adult).

In practice, where an adult with capacity declines a safeguarding response, BMABA expects the DSL to work with the adult to find a response that they will accept, to ensure the adult has the information they need to keep themselves safe, to be available if the adult changes their mind, and to escalate to the BMABA national DSL or the Local Authority for advice if there is doubt.

The Care Act statutory guidance lists ten categories of abuse and neglect that may affect adults at risk. Recognising any of them in a martial arts context is the first step towards responding. As with the equivalent section of the Child Safeguarding Policy, this is not a diagnostic manual; the purpose of recognising indicators is to know when to escalate, not to investigate.

Physical abuse includes hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, the misuse of medication, restraint, or inappropriate physical sanctions. In a martial arts context, physical abuse may overlap with normal training activity in ways that are easy to misread; the question is whether what is happening is appropriate to the technical purpose, freely consented to by the adult, and within the limits of the adult's capacity and ability. Excessive use of force on an adult at risk who cannot effectively decline is physical abuse, regardless of how it is presented.

Sexual abuse includes rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual photography, subjection to pornography or witnessing sexual acts, sexual teasing or innuendo, sexual assault, and any sexual act to which the adult has not consented or could not consent. Sexual abuse of an adult at risk is a criminal offence and a serious safeguarding matter.

Psychological or emotional abuse includes threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling behaviour, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation, or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or supportive networks.

Financial or material abuse includes theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult's financial affairs or arrangements, the misuse of property, possessions or benefits, and the misuse of an adult's funds. In a martial arts context, financial abuse can take specific forms: the imposition of fees beyond what was agreed; pressure to upgrade memberships, gradings, or licences; pressure to purchase equipment beyond what is needed; the diversion of competition winnings or sponsorship; and the misuse of an adult's funds by a coach or club.

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and domestic servitude. In sport contexts, indicators can include adults who are always accompanied by a controlling person, who do not hold their own identity documents, who appear unable to make their own decisions about training or travel, and whose competition or coaching arrangements appear to be controlled by another.

Discriminatory abuse includes forms of harassment, slurs, or similar treatment because of race, gender, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation, or religion. Discriminatory abuse of an adult at risk in a martial arts setting requires both a response to the conduct itself and consideration of the safeguarding implications for the individual.

Organisational or institutional abuse includes neglect and poor care practice within an organisation, which can range from one-off incidents to ongoing ill-treatment. It can include failure to ensure that adults at risk are safe, neglect of basic needs, inappropriate restrictions, and a culture that does not respect adults' dignity. A club whose treatment of adults at risk is patterned, dismissive, or harmful is engaging in organisational abuse, regardless of intent.

Neglect and acts of omission include ignoring medical, emotional, or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care, and support or educational services, and the withholding of the necessities of life such as medication, adequate nutrition, and heating. In a martial arts context this can include failure to respond to an adult's communicated need, failure to make reasonable adjustments, and failure to ensure that an adult at risk participating in activity is being adequately supported.

Self-neglect covers a wide range of behaviour: neglecting to care for one's personal hygiene, health, or surroundings, and includes behaviour such as hoarding. Self-neglect is recognised in adult safeguarding because it is often associated with mental health conditions, with disability, with grief, or with declining cognitive function, and it can lead to serious harm. A club that observes a long-standing adult member who is increasingly unable to care for themselves should respond with concern, not judgement.

Domestic abuse includes psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse, as well as so-called honour-based violence. Following the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, domestic abuse is a defined statutory concept and includes coercive and controlling behaviour. An adult at risk who is experiencing domestic abuse may show signs at the club: unexplained injuries, the controlling presence of a partner or family member, sudden financial difficulty, withdrawal from activity, or disclosures (sometimes oblique) of fear or harm at home. The club's role is to be a place where disclosure is possible, where information is held safely, and where escalation through the DSL is available.

The categories overlap, and an adult may be experiencing more than one form of abuse at the same time, often from the same source. The principle of recognising multiple and simultaneous harms applies to adult safeguarding as it does to child safeguarding.

The voice of the adult is the foundation of adult safeguarding. Making Safeguarding Personal is not a tagline; it is the working method. Where an adult safeguarding concern arises, the first and most important question is "what does this adult want to happen?". The adult's wishes, feelings, and desired outcomes shape the response. Where the adult has capacity, those wishes carry decisive weight. Where capacity is in question, the adult's wishes still carry weight, alongside the structured best interests assessment set out in Section 12.

Clubs are expected to create routine opportunities for adult participants to give feedback, raise concerns, and shape their experience of training and competition. Adults at risk may need additional support to do this, including accessible communication, the involvement of a trusted person, or anonymous routes for raising concerns.

Trauma-informed practice applies to adults as well as to children. Many adults who participate in martial arts have lived experience of trauma, and that experience may shape how they engage with the club, with coaches, with physical contact, with conflict, and with safeguarding processes. An adult who responds to correction with disproportionate distress, who finds particular movements or holds intolerable, who flinches at unexpected contact, or whose attendance is unpredictable for reasons that are not explained, may be carrying experiences that the club cannot see. Trauma-informed practice in an adult context means offering choice and control wherever possible, being predictable and consistent, avoiding the use of authority in ways that mirror previous abuse, and being patient with disclosures that may come gradually or indirectly.

Disclosures from adults, like disclosures from children, may not arrive in a single conversation. An adult who tests a coach with a small disclosure to see how it is received, before deciding whether to disclose more, is doing something rational and protective. The coach's response to the small disclosure determines whether the larger one will ever follow.

This section sets out what to do when an adult safeguarding concern arises. It is the most operationally important part of the policy. Members are expected to know where this section is and what it requires.

If an adult discloses a concern, the receiving person must do six things, in order: listen, reassure, be honest about what will happen next, avoid interrogating, record, and ask the adult what they want to happen.

Listen carefully and allow the adult to speak in their own words. Do not interrupt, do not minimise, do not reframe. Allow silence.

Reassure the adult that they have done the right thing in telling someone. Take what they are saying seriously.

Be honest about what will happen next. This is where adult safeguarding diverges from the child equivalent. With an adult who has capacity, the next step is not automatic. Tell the adult that the concern needs to be discussed with the club DSL, that the DSL will work with them to decide what to do, and that, except in defined circumstances, the adult's own wishes will determine the response.

Avoid leading questions. Do not investigate. Use clarifying questions only where strictly necessary to understand what the adult is saying.

Record the conversation in writing as soon as possible afterwards, in the adult's own words where possible, noting who was involved, what was said or seen, when and where it happened, and who else was present. Distinguish clearly between what the adult said, what was observed, and any opinion the recorder is offering.

Ask the adult what they want to happen. Making Safeguarding Personal starts here. An adult who has disclosed harm has the right to be involved in shaping the response. Their wishes may not always be followed (see Section 12.3 on overriding factors), but they must always be sought, recorded, and given weight.

Concerns must be reported to the club Designated Safeguarding Lead without delay, and in any case the same day. Where there is a conflict of interest with the club DSL, where the concern is about the club DSL, or where the club DSL is unavailable, the concern must be raised directly with the BMABA DSL.

If an adult is in immediate danger, call 999 without delay. Where a referral to the Local Authority is appropriate, this should be made to the relevant Adult Social Care or Safeguarding Adults Team for the area in which the adult lives. Local authorities have a statutory duty under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 to make enquiries where they have reasonable cause to suspect that an adult at risk is experiencing or is at risk of abuse or neglect. For events, concerns must be reported to the appointed Event DSL, PASA where relevant, referee, or organiser, who will escalate in line with NMESGF and NROS.

BMABA reserves the right to escalate concerns directly to statutory agencies, with or without notifying the club, if adult safety requires urgent action, including in circumstances where the adult lacks capacity to consent to the referral and a best interests judgement justifies acting.

To report a concern to BMABA, contact the BMABA DSL at [email protected] or use the secure form at bmaba.org.uk/safeguarding.

Records of adult safeguarding concerns, actions, and outcomes must be accurate, contemporaneous, factual, dated, and signed. Records must include the adult's expressed wishes and the rationale for the response taken. Records must be stored securely with restricted access, in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and retained in line with BMABA's safeguarding retention standard set out in Section 19.

Where an allegation is made that an adult who works with adults at risk has caused or may have caused harm to an adult at risk, has possibly committed a criminal offence against an adult at risk, has behaved towards an adult at risk in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm, or has behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with adults at risk, then this is an allegation that must be handled in accordance with this section.

The framing here differs from the child framework in one important respect: the criminal "position of trust" offence does not apply in the same form to adult athletes. But the safeguarding logic of investigating allegations against people in positions of influence over adults at risk is the same. Patterns of allegations, breaches of professional boundaries, and conduct that suggests grooming or coercion of adults at risk must all be taken seriously, regardless of whether a criminal threshold has been crossed.

Up to three processes may run in parallel: a criminal investigation led by the police where a potential offence has been committed; an adult safeguarding enquiry led by the Local Authority under Section 42 of the Care Act; and an internal disciplinary or conduct process led by the club and BMABA. BMABA and clubs must cooperate fully with statutory agencies and must not act in ways that compromise criminal or statutory enquiries.

Pending the outcome of an investigation, interim measures may be required to protect adults at risk. These may include temporary suspension from BMABA membership or registration, removal from a role or duties, adjustments to supervision or working arrangements, or restrictions on participation in certain activities or events. Interim measures are not a presumption of guilt; they are a precautionary step taken to ensure the safety of adults at risk while the position is investigated. Interim measures must be communicated in writing, must explain the basis on which they have been imposed, and must be reviewed regularly.

Following investigation and due process, outcomes may include no further action, advice or mentoring requirements, mandatory training or re-training, formal warnings, suspension or removal from BMABA membership, and referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service for consideration of barring under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in respect of adults. All decisions must be documented, proportionate, and capable of audit. Where a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service is required, BMABA will make that referral; the duty to refer is statutory.

The same framework that applies to low-level concerns about adults working with children (Policy 1, Section 15.1) applies, in adapted form, to adults working with adults at risk. Patterns of low-level concerns about an individual or about a setting, raised, recorded, and reviewed over time, are an early warning system that BMABA expects clubs to operate. The serious case review evidence is consistent: serious harm is preceded by lower-level signals that, if joined together, would have prompted earlier action. The same logic applies to adult safeguarding.

BMABA's whistleblowing arrangements apply to adult safeguarding concerns in the same way they apply to child safeguarding concerns. The reasoning is the same: the most important safeguarding information often comes from people who hold less power than those they are raising concerns about.

Individuals who raise adult safeguarding concerns in good faith are protected and must not suffer reprisal, exclusion, or detriment for doing so. Concerns may be raised internally to the club DSL or directly to the BMABA DSL at [email protected]. Where a person believes a concern has not been acted upon, or where a concern relates to BMABA itself, the concern can be escalated externally to Ann Craft Trust for safeguarding adults in sport, to the Local Authority Adult Safeguarding Team for the area in which the adult lives, or directly to the Care Quality Commission where the concern relates to a regulated service. Concerns may also be raised through the Care Act whistleblowing arrangements that operate in the local authority area.

Concerns raised maliciously, vexatiously, or in bad faith will be treated as misconduct. The bar for treating a concern as malicious is high; a concern that turns out to be unfounded is not necessarily malicious. Any attempt to pressurise BMABA, its staff, or volunteers into not acting on an adult safeguarding concern will be treated as misconduct, with the same range of sanctions and referrals as set out in the equivalent section of Policy 1.

Adult safeguarding information sharing balances the duty to protect with the right of the adult to control information about themselves. This balance is more nuanced than in child safeguarding, because adults with capacity are presumed to be the decision-makers about what is shared and with whom.

The principles of need-to-know, accuracy, transparency, and proportionality apply as set out in the equivalent section of Policy 1. In adult safeguarding, two additional considerations are particularly important.

Consent. Where an adult has capacity, they are entitled to control whether information about them is shared. The adult's consent should be sought before information is shared with statutory agencies or other parties. Where the adult declines to consent, that refusal must be respected, unless one of the overriding factors set out in Section 12.3 applies.

Capacity. Where an adult lacks capacity in respect of decisions about information sharing, decisions must be made in their best interests, with the involvement of those who care for them and, where required, of an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate.

In all cases where information is shared without consent, the rationale must be documented clearly, with the date, the decision-maker, and the reasoning recorded. The legal basis for sharing (whether under the Care Act, the Mental Capacity Act, the public interest, or a vital interests basis under UK GDPR) must be identified and recorded.

Adult safeguarding records are sensitive and must be handled accordingly. They must be stored securely with access restricted to designated safeguarding personnel, processed in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and retained in line with BMABA's safeguarding retention standard.

For adults, BMABA's retention standard for safeguarding records is a minimum of seven years from the date of the last entry. Where a record relates to a serious case, an allegation against an adult in a position of influence, or any matter that may have ongoing safeguarding significance, longer retention applies in line with statutory and sector guidance. Where a Safeguarding Adults Review has been undertaken or contemplated, retention extends for the duration required by the review and any consequential actions.

Records must be capable of audit by BMABA, by statutory agencies (including local Safeguarding Adults Boards), and by inspection bodies. Failure to maintain appropriate records is itself a safeguarding breach.

The transition from childhood to adulthood is the most legally and practically complex period in safeguarding. Young people in their late teens and early twenties may have ongoing risks that began in childhood, may face new risks particular to early adulthood, and may move between services that operate to different legal frameworks.

In BMABA's context, this matters in two ways, mirroring the equivalent section in Policy 1. Clubs working with 16 to 18 year olds must apply the Child Safeguarding Policy, including the legal protections that apply to under-18s and the offences that apply to adults in a position of trust. Clubs working with 18 to 25 year olds should apply this Adult Safeguarding Policy, drawing on the Care Act principles where relevant, and should be alert to the way that childhood adversity continues to shape risk into early adulthood.

Where there is doubt about which framework applies, clubs should apply the more protective standard and seek advice from the BMABA DSL. DSLs working with this age group must be confident in working across both child and adult safeguarding frameworks.

BMABA's governance and assurance arrangements for adult safeguarding mirror those for child safeguarding. The structures are the same, the standards are the same, and the expectation that safeguarding is lived as well as written is the same.

Every BMABA-affiliated club working with adults at risk must be able to evidence safeguarding in practice. This means a current adult safeguarding policy consistent with this national policy; the appointment of a suitably trained and vetted DSL with adult safeguarding competence; evidence of safer recruitment and vetting for all instructors, staff, and volunteers working with adults at risk; records of completed adult safeguarding training and refresher cycles; incident and concern logs with clear actions and outcomes recorded; and the integration of adult safeguarding into day-to-day practice, risk assessments, and club culture.

At national level, BMABA monitors and assures compliance through Regulation Ready and Club Colours, which serve as structured compliance and quality benchmarks for clubs. BMABA conducts spot checks, audits, and thematic reviews to test adult safeguarding practice across the membership. BMABA investigates adult safeguarding concerns, enforces corrective actions, and applies sanctions where necessary. BMABA collects and reviews adult safeguarding data to identify trends, risks, and areas for improvement. BMABA requires clubs to cooperate with audits and to provide evidence of adult safeguarding measures on request, and treats refusal to cooperate as itself a safeguarding concern.

BMABA's Quality Management System is certified to ISO 9001:2015, UKAS-accredited via the British Assessment Bureau, and underpins adult safeguarding assurance processes. Lessons learned from adult safeguarding incidents, near misses, Safeguarding Adults Reviews, and member feedback are systematically captured and fed back into training, policy updates, and guidance. Standards are benchmarked against the Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults in Sport and Activity Standards and against other current statutory and sector guidance.

Adult safeguarding standards are mandatory and non-negotiable. BMABA reserves the right to investigate and to take action against any individual, club, or partner found to be in breach of this policy or of related frameworks.

The investigation, sanction, aggravating factors, appeals, and publication arrangements set out in the equivalent section of the Child Safeguarding Policy (Policy 1, Section 21) apply to adult safeguarding breaches in the same way. The range of sanctions, the proportionality requirement, the right of appeal, and the right of BMABA to publish outcomes where this is necessary to protect the public, all apply.

Where a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service is required under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in respect of adults, BMABA will make that referral. Adult safeguarding outcomes are reflected on BMABA's national registers in the same way as child safeguarding outcomes, and the same transparency principles apply: the right to be forgotten or to have entries removed from BMABA's safeguarding records or registers does not apply where public safety is at stake.

This policy will undergo a formal annual review, led by the BMABA DSL and the Senior Leadership Team. The review will seek input from clubs, safeguarding partners, adult participants, carers and supporters, and statutory agencies where appropriate, and will test alignment against the Care Act statutory guidance, the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice, the Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults in Sport and Activity Standards, and other current statutory and sector guidance.

Interim updates will be made immediately where changes in law, statutory guidance, sector standards, concussion guidance, or insurance requirements require earlier action. Interim updates take effect as soon as they are published and communicated, and clubs are responsible for reflecting them in their own local procedures.

Updates are communicated to members via the BMABA Handbook, official notices, and digital member communications. Clubs are responsible for updating their own local adult safeguarding policies and procedures to remain consistent with BMABA's national standards. This review and update process forms part of BMABA's ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System and is auditable, documented, and continuously improved.

If an adult is in immediate danger, call 999.

To raise a safeguarding concern with BMABA's qualified DSL team, where the concern relates to an instructor, club, event, or activity licensed or recognised by BMABA, please use the secure form at:

bmaba.org.uk/safeguarding

For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply.

Adult. Any person aged 18 or over.

Adult at Risk. As defined by the Care Act 2014: a person aged 18 or over who has needs for care and support (whether or not these are being met), is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves from the abuse, neglect, or risk of it.

Care Act 2014. The principal piece of legislation governing adult safeguarding in England, including the Six Safeguarding Adults Principles and the Section 42 enquiry duty.

Mental Capacity Act 2005. Legislation that sets out the framework for assessing whether a person has the capacity to make a particular decision and how decisions are to be made on behalf of a person who lacks capacity. The Act applies to people aged 16 and over.

Capacity. The ability to make a particular decision at a particular time. Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific, not a global attribute of a person.

Best Interests. The structured framework in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for making decisions on behalf of an adult who lacks capacity, taking into account their past and present wishes and feelings, beliefs and values, and the views of those who care for them.

Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP). The approach, embedded in adult safeguarding statutory practice, of putting the adult at the centre of the safeguarding response, asking what they want to happen, and shaping the response around their desired outcomes.

Six Safeguarding Adults Principles. Empowerment, Prevention, Proportionality, Protection, Partnership, and Accountability. The principles are set out in the Care Act statutory guidance and adopted in full by BMABA.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). The individual appointed at club, event, or BMABA national level to take lead responsibility for safeguarding, including managing concerns, making referrals, and supporting safe practice. In most BMABA contexts the DSL holds responsibility for both child and adult safeguarding.

Section 42 Enquiry. A statutory enquiry under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014, made by a Local Authority where there is reasonable cause to suspect that an adult at risk is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect.

Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA). A statutory role that provides independent advocacy for an adult who lacks capacity in respect of certain serious decisions and who has no one else to consult.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). A legal instrument by which an adult appoints another person to make decisions on their behalf, either in respect of property and finances or in respect of health and welfare.

Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR). A statutory review undertaken by a Safeguarding Adults Board where an adult at risk has died or been seriously harmed and there is concern about how agencies worked together to safeguard them.

Coercive and Controlling Behaviour. An offence under the Serious Crime Act 2015 in respect of intimate or family relationships; behaviour that is designed to make a person dependent on another by isolating them, exploiting their resources, depriving them of independence, regulating their everyday behaviour, or repeatedly engaging in actions designed to cause fear of violence or to humiliate.

Modern Slavery. Slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and domestic servitude as defined under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Self-Neglect. Neglecting to care for one's own personal hygiene, health, or surroundings, including hoarding behaviour. Recognised in adult safeguarding statutory guidance as a form of harm requiring response.

Mate Crime. A form of abuse in which an adult at risk is befriended by an individual or group who then exploit them, often financially or sexually. The term reflects the fact that the perpetrator presents themselves as a friend.

Participant Advocate and Safe Adult (PASA). A designated responsible adult at BMABA-recognised events who acts as an independent advocate for one or more participants and is empowered to withdraw participants from competition or activity where welfare is compromised. The PASA function applies to adults at risk in line with Section 10.3 above.

NMESGF. National Martial Arts Event Safety and Governance Framework.

NROS. National Refereeing and Officiating Standards.

CHIMA. Concussion and Head Injury Management Awareness.

Regulated Activity (Adults). Activity defined as such under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in respect of adults, including the provision of personal care, healthcare, social work, assistance with general household matters, conveying, and assistance in the conduct of an adult's own affairs. The definition is narrower than the equivalent for children.

Safeguarding. The proactive measures taken to protect adults at risk and children from abuse, neglect, or exploitation, and to promote safe, inclusive participation.

Trauma-Informed Practice. An approach that recognises the prevalence of trauma and adversity, prioritises safety, choice, and trust, and avoids re-traumatisation.