Carrickfergus Musical Festival Association

Hon Secretary (Speech & Drama) - Mrs Mary Muir Tel: 028 93366818

Hon Secretary (Music) - Mrs Audrey Stewart LTCL Tel: 028 93372043 aestewart@mail.com

Details of CMFA's Child Protection Policy can be found below and is also available to view and print as a pdf document by clicking on the link below.

Child Protection Policy (pdf file)

Purpose: The Association has been formed with the following objectives. To promote the study and cultivation of music. To encourage the art of elocution. To hold an annual musical festival on a date fixed by the committee.

The Festival Environment: Our festival is run entirely by volunteers and it is our aim to provide a safe environment as far as it is reasonably practicable in partnership with parents, guardians, carers, teachers and competitors. However, it should be noted that responsibility for children under 18 years of age and vulnerable adults (with learning difficulties) rests with parents, guardians, teachers and carers, not with festival volunteers. The festival does not accept responsibility for costumes, instruments, personal belongings and money.

This policy relates to children under the age of 18 years and those vulnerable adults of any age, who are identified to the organisers prior to their arrival at the festival. This should be done by contacting the address or telephone number on the enclosed letter. In recognising the needs of children from minority or ethnic groups and children who are disabled, the festival actively seeks to meet the needs notified to the festival by parents, guardians, carers and/or teachers.

Festival Personnel: Volunteers are recruited from festival membership and through personal recommendation. Names and addresses are retained centrally but during festival sessions volunteers will sign in and out in the designated book and will wear official badges to identify them clearly should help be required. We would expect parents and teachers to make competitors aware of this. All problems will be taken seriously and will be documented and dated.

Attendance at the Festival: Where parents, guardians and carers are not personally attending with their children, this policy requires them to be satisfied that their children will be accompanied to the festival and adequately supervised by responsible adults acting on their behalf.

Performance and changing areas: We are unable to provide changing facilities. In circumstances where a warm up room is available it is festival policy that only the competitor plus own accompanist are admitted and festival volunteers do not supervise this facility.

Photographs, Video recording and press photography: It is not permitted to use cameras either still or video.

The legislation and guidance that supports this policy: Protection of children and vulnerable adults (NI) order 2003; The protection of children act 1999; The court service act 2000; The care standard act 2000; Statutory instrument No. 417 (NI); Statutory instrument No. 439 (NI).

Policy review: The organisers will constantly review their policy, improving and enhancing it as necessary. In doing this they will look to the British & International Federation of Festivals for support and that body, in turn will look to other agencies for good practice, most notably the NSPCC and Arts Council of Northern Ireland policy guidelines.