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I'm delighted to welcome you all to Edgbaston for this,
the start of our celebration event,
which marks 10 years of the partnership
between the NSPCC and Sport England.
It's great to have you at Edgbaston,
one of the most famous cricket grounds worldwide,
steeped in history.
We couldn't have got to where we have today without everybody in this room
and many more thousands out in the community working together.
It's about making sure that what we're doing
is creating respectful, fear-free environments that are open and safe
where children and adults feel that they are safe,
and in which children have a voice.
Over the last 10 years,
the most important thing is that we've got everybody moving together
in the same direction.
When we first started working,
people were working individually or in sports silos.
Now, we have a sense of everyone working together
in children's best interests.
What we're doing at the moment, and where people hope to go,
gives us all a shared understanding of what we're aiming for, really,
and we're all working off the same hymn sheet.
I hope that people take away the research
and start looking at their own practices
and imbed some of that learning from the research
and have shared positive experiences from the presenters.
I'm here to celebrate with the NSPCC and the CPSU
the fact that at a time when it was not very sexy
to have this kind of emphasis on safeguarding children,
the NSPCC came together, brought partnerships together,
that let's face it, at that time, seemed really unlikely
to make sure that children have a safer, more nurturing experience.
It's easy to lose sight of what makes sport
and safeguarding children in sport work at all, and it's people.
On our elite track, we want to win. It's a good lesson. Fine.
But what we want to produce is introspective...
..emotionally literate, intellectually curious young people
who can communicate with their peers
as well as adults with equal aplomb.
Come on. What turned you towards the golf course, then?
What was it? You went out with your cousins...
What finally made you pick that club up?
I always enjoyed it when I was young.
I went out with my cousins and had a few shots.
Ever since then, I've been addicted to it and kept doing it.
We need to respond across sport.
We need to respond corporately and say,
"This is unacceptable, and we're going to work together
"to set out what is acceptable behaviour."
We are able to give advice when people enquire.
People ring up with enquiries,
and people are able to give advice over the phone.
We're able to actually give people briefing papers, briefing notes,
do training with them, engage with them,
give them that support that they need,
so that in itself is part of what this 10-year celebration is about.
All of that is a support and the way in which things have changed
and the difference that has made.
What's important for the future
is that we continue to maintain safeguarding standards,
but also that we're able to further embed safeguarding practice
where children directly experience sport.
Next year's agenda for the Olympics and the Paralympics
also means we're looking at greater inclusion of children in sport,
and a particular focus next year will be the inclusion and safeguarding
of deaf and disabled children.
The key bit is ensuring that leeches its way down to ground level
to ensure it's children's experiences
that are changing for the better.
So maintaining what we manage to achieve and embedding some of that in
in terms of children's experience at club or activity level
is the key, really.
I just wanted to say before I start, this is a massive experience for me.
You represent these organisations that can make a change,
so I am challenging you today to make a difference
for young people with disabilities.