Welcome to our safeguarding children page. Here you will find information for children & young people, parents & carers & information for professionals or volunteers.
I work or volunteer with Children & Young People
If you have safeguarding concerns about a child, referrals to Bury MASH can be made here.
The Bury Safeguarding Partnership is signed up, alongside others in Greater Manchester to use a standardised set of procedures and protocols.
Greater Manchester Safeguarding Children Procedures Manual details the latest protocols, policies and procedures in use across Greater Manchester and good practice from across the region.
The Continuum of Need can assist practitioners and managers to identify a child's level of need and/or likelihood of delayed development or harm and match that need to the right support, at the right time, by the right person and in the right place.
Early Help means identifying needs within families early and providing preventative support and intervention before they become difficult to address.
Early Help can be provided at any time in a child's or young person's life, pre-birth to adulthood.
Support can be delivered from a wide range of services depending on what is needed; people already working with your family might offer additional help or support so that you can access more specialist or targeted services.
Providing Early Help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later. Early Help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation years through to the teenage years.
Our Early Help Strategy sets out our approach in Bury and our overarching commitment and strategic aim to respond earlier to the needs of children and their families to prevent the need for higher level statutory interventions.
Please contact the Early Help Consultants on 0161-253-5200 or go to Bury Council - Early help family support plan for further information.
You can view more information on Early Help, guidance and supporting documents, or you can contact the Locality Teams via Bury Council
The Bury Safeguarding Children Partnership and accompanying toolkit and guidance is for all practitioners and partners who work with those children and families in Bury who are in need of help and support, with the aim of preventing child neglect and reducing the number of children experiencing neglect.
Prevention, Early Recognition and Accurate assessment is at the heart of our strategy, it will require action by all partner agencies - statutory and non-statutory - and collective commitment and leadership to address child neglect and drive the system, culture and process changes required to reduce the prevalence of child neglect in the borough.
Complex Safeguarding Strategy
The Complex Safeguarding Strategy describes how the Bury Safeguarding Children Partnership will identify complex and contextual safeguarding risk, how we will ensure we deliver services to reduce risk and how we know we’ve made a difference.
We use the term Complex Safeguarding to describe our approach to concerns of exploitation and/or safeguarding concerns beyond a domestic setting.
Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders
For more information regarding a two-year project on Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders, watch the research webinar, and to access resources including international findings, Safety Mapping with refuge girls in Germany and many more.
Visit: Contextual Safeguarding - Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders.
Allegations against professionals or volunteers who work with children
All allegations about people who work with children, in statutory, independent or voluntary organisations, must be referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).
A referral to the LADO must be made if there is information about a person indicating they have:
- Behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed a child
- Possibly committed a criminal offence against, or related to a child
- Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children
- Behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children
If there is an allegation with regard to someone who works with children about children they care for in another capacity then this potentially has implications for their professional role and must also be referred to the LADO.
Any allegation can require potentially three different enquiries; a police investigation; a child protection enquiry; and a disciplinary enquiry. The LADO will ensure that enquiries are managed appropriately and that information is shared between the police, children's social care and the employer. The LADO will discuss with the employer how the person who the allegation is about will be supported and managed whilst enquiries are being undertaken and how children will be kept safe whilst enquiries are ongoing. If it is evidenced that someone is unsafe to work with children the LADO will ensure required actions have been taken including, when necessary, referring to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
On occasions someone who works with children can behave in a way that causes their colleagues or management anxieties. Such behaviours may include the failure to understand or appreciate how his or her own actions or those of others could adversely impact up on the safety and well-being of a child; inability to make sound professional judgments which safeguard the welfare of children; failure to understand or recognise the need for clear personal and professional boundaries in his or her work; behaved in a way in his or her personal life which could put children at risk of harm; become the subject of criminal proceedings not relating to a child.
Anyone with concerns about a person's suitability to work with children should contact the LADO for advice and guidance.
To make a referral to the LADO, please complete the below form. If you are unsure if your concerns meet the threshold, the LADO in Bury can be contacted via email: lado@bury.gov.uk please provide your contact details and a brief outline of what the concern may be. The LADO will get back to you during weekdays (Monday and Friday) between 9am and 5pm for an initial conversation and if necessary, will send you a referral form to complete so the necessary action can be taken.
If the matter is about the immediate welfare of a child, please contact the Bury Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0161 253 5678 and they will assist you or Emergency Duty Team on 0161 253 6606 if outside 9am to 5pm on any day.
For further information, please read the Managing Allegations of Abuse Made Against Adults Who Work with Children and Young People policy
Please click here to view our 7 minute briefings & learning from local reviews.
The Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) is a service for women experiencing moderate-severe mental health problems in the perinatal period, and also for those with a past or family history of severe mental health difficulties. The service works with people during pregnancy and up to the first two years after baby is born. The service is for people for whom treatment from GP/ primary care services is not helping enough. The team can support those with Bipolar disorder Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Severe depression, Severe anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Perinatal services can support with the following:
- Advice about risk of developing a mental health problem in pregnancy or the postnatal period - and how to reduce this risk.
- Provide support to manage and recover from mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.
- Helping to weigh up the risks and benefits of using medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- Psychological treatments (talking therapies). This can be on an individual basis or in a group.
- Support and advice to help build both a positive relationship with baby and a sense of confidence in being a parent.
- Help to plan for care during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.
- Working closely with midwives, health visitors, adult mental health teams and GPs to ensure the right help is given at the right time.
- Work alongside other mental health services, if applicable, to ensure receipt of specialist advice alongside the existing support.
- Support to access specialist inpatient services (mother and baby unit), if this is required.
- Referrals to other services which offer practical help and support for families. This could be a local voluntary service or charity.
- Giving advice and information about mental health problems to partners and other family members, if this is agreed, to help them understand the problems and how best to provide support.
The referral form and where to send it to can be accessed here.
The devastating loss of a child has huge implications for the whole community and the ripples are far reaching. The immediate aim of Safer Sleeping work across the Borough is to reduce preventable child deaths; in doing so, we will also positively impact wider population health.
By working together as a safeguarding partnership, we want to embed the ethos of protecting children from harm before they are even born and in those first few important months. We want to work with family and community strengths to ensure the right message and support is available to individual families, at the right time.
A key priority identified for the safeguarding partnership is to embed the messages about safer sleeping, to reduce the risk of infant deaths. Our toolkit promotes the importance of safer sleep and can be used by professionals to support them having the right conversations at the right time with parents and carers to reduce risks.
We want Safer Sleeping to be everyone’s business and we’re asking all partners to deliver safer sleeping messages when working with families.
- doc file
Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated forensic, counselling and aftercare service to men, women and children living in the Greater Manchester area who have experienced rape or sexual assault, whether this has happened recently or in the past. They also offer immediate crisis support and a forensic service to Cheshire.
Services include:
- Immediate Crisis Support
- Forensic Medical Examination
- Access to Emergency Contraception
- Sexual Health Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Access to counselling support for as long as it is needed
- Access to an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor to provide support through any court action taken
Services can be accessed without making a report to the police or support can be provided when contacting the Police.
Further information for professionals can be found here.
St Mary's SARC services what we offer (youtube.com)
If you want to make a referral just follow the step-by-step guide in the ‘our services’ section of the website or call 0161 276 6515
St Mary’s SARC also offer free open mornings for professionals via Microsoft Teams. The current available dates are:
• 10th July 2024 • 18th September 2024 • 13th November 2024
To arrange to attend, please contact: 0161 276 6515
Child trafficking is the movement of children for the purpose of exploitation. A child has been trafficked if he or she has been moved within a country, town or city, or across borders whether by force or not, with the purpose of exploiting the child.
The process of child trafficking is abusive in multiple ways and requires a child protection response. Child trafficking involves grooming, can involve significant international movement and different types of exploitation. This includes sexual exploitation, forced labour such as domestic servitude and forced criminality such as begging or cannabis cultivation. According to official data published by the National Crime Agency there were 3,266 potential victims of trafficking in 2015, 982 of them children. Children are coerced, deceived or forced into the control of others who seek to profit from their exploitation and suffering.
Identifying Trafficked Children
It may be difficult to identify trafficked children and young people due to them not showing obvious signs of distress or abuse. Some children and young people may try to hide the fact that they are trafficked and some may not be aware they are trafficked.
- Does not appear to have money but does have a mobile phone.
- Spends a lot of time doing household chores.
- Rarely leaves their house, has no freedom of movement and no time for playing.
- Is orphaned or living apart from their family, often in unregulated private foster care.
- Isn’t sure which country, city or town they’re in.
- Is unable or reluctant to give details of accommodation or personal details.
- Might not be registered with a school or a GP practice.
- Has no documents or has falsified documents.
- Has no access to their parents or guardians.
- Is seen in inappropriate places such as brothels or factories.
- Possesses unaccounted for money or goods.
- Is permanently deprived of a large part of their earnings, required to earn a minimum amount of money every day or pay off an exorbitant debt.
- Has injuries from workplace accidents.
Some children are internally trafficked from one area to another and can sometimes be children living in care or at home, some of the indicators may be:
- Physical symptoms indicating physical or sexual assault; the child persistently going missing sometimes for long periods.
- Returning looking well cared for despite having no known base.
- The child possessing large amounts of money; acquiring expensive clothes/mobile phones without plausible explanation.
- Low self-image, low self-esteem, self-harming behaviour; truancy and disengagement with education.
Practitioners should also be aware that children who are at risk of serious harm through child sexual exploitation, trafficking, forced marriage, honour based violence and female genital mutilation are often ‘hidden’ and may also be missing from education and/or care or home.
What should practitioners do?
Trafficking is first and foremost a safeguarding concern. Whenever a practitioner identifies that a child may have been trafficked, they should act promptly before the child goes missing or is abducted and assess the child’s level of need/risk of harm as set out in the above guidance. Any practitioner who believes that a child or young person is being trafficked or is at risk of this should submit a referral to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub.
If a child is in immediate danger, you should contact the Emergency Services on 999.
If you have any concerns or information about possible victims of Modern Slavery you can report this online to the Unseen Charity or you can call their helpline free on 08000 121 700 which is open 24 hours.
Further information can be found at:
Prevent is about Safeguarding and supporting those who are vulnerable to radicalisation. Prevent responds to the ideological challenge that we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threats that we face from those who promote these views. At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding children and adults and providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.
You can view a copy of Bury’s Prevent Handbook below.
You can find out more about the Prevent Duty including details of how to make a referral.
Our Safeguarding Against Radicalisation summary can be viewed below to support your learning and development on the Prevent Duty.
When professionals are working together in the complex business of safeguarding children there will inevitably be occasions when there are professional differences of opinion. Constructive challenge is an important component in positive partnership working, but where differences of opinion cannot be resolved quickly and easily, practitioners have a duty to take action to address professional disagreements in a way that is appropriate, timely and proportionate.
This process sets out the steps to be taken to address professional differences of opinion when the issue relates to the safeguarding needs of a child or young person.
This document must be read alongside the Greater Manchester Safeguarding Children Procedures Manual on resolving professional differences / escalation policy
Resolving professional differences / escalation procedure
Information for child minders can be found here Bury Council - Becoming a childminder in Bury.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Bury Safeguarding Team bsp@bury.gov.uk.
I am a Parent or Carer
This section of the website is designed to support you as a parent or carer. It gives you easy access to important guidance, information and resources. Please use the drop down boxes below to access the most common concerns you may have.
If you have a baby that cries a lot, it can be exhausting and lonely. You are not alone.
Crying is normal. It is not your fault. It's ok to take a time out when you feel overwhelmed.
Keep baby safe, keep yourself safe.
Abusive head trauma can occur in any environment when a parent or carer is on the edge due to infant crying.
Make sure anyone looking after your child knows the ICON principles. ICON Cope - Parents advice.
It’s tough when your baby won’t stop crying. You may worry something is wrong with your child, that you’ll lose your cool or that your parenting skills aren’t up to the job. But you can handle it.
- Take a break
- Ask for help
- Never shake your baby
Why do babies cry?
Babies cry when they need a parent or a carer to help them. This is their way of asking for help. Babies can cry for many reasons. It could be their way of telling you they are tired, hungry, wet or simply cannot settle.
Experts suggest that after the age of 5 months a baby is more likely to be crying for a specific reason.
A crying baby is normal and babies start to cry more frequently from 2 weeks of age.
How to sooth a baby
There are some simple calming techniques, some of these may work and some may not. This can be frustrating for you, but stay calm and understand this is normal and this phase will pass.
Try the following:
- Talk calmly to your baby
- Stroke them rhythmically
- Hum or sing to them
- Hold them close
- Walk around while gently rocking your baby, if you can go outside take them for a walk in their pushchair or baby sling
- A dummy, bottle or sucking a breast can also sooth a baby
- Give them a warm bath.
Remember not all of these will work with your baby but don't be disheartened, stay calm this will pass.
If your baby crying is getting to you put your baby in a safe and calm environment and just walk away. Once you are calm, go back and check on your baby.
Never, ever shake a baby it can cause lasting brain damage or death. Further information and YouTube videos can be found at ICON Cope - Never shake a baby.
Further videos available:
- Vimeo - ICON: How to comfort your baby
- YouTube - ICON: Dads please talk
- Vimeo - ICON: Parent relaxation
ICON - Babies Cry, You Can Cope programme supports parents and carers manage normal infant crying and to prevent abusive head trauma injuries to babies caused by shaking, also referred to as ‘shaken baby syndrome’.
ICON is an evidenced-based programme designed to help parents and carers understand the normal crying pattern of young infants and to help them develop successful coping mechanisms to deal with this.
The ICON programme delivers four simple messages before the birth and in the first few months of a baby’s life:
I - Infant crying is normal.
C - Comforting methods can help.
O - It’s OK to walk away.
N - Never, ever shake a baby.
These ICON messages have been demonstrated to help parents and carers manage the stresses which can be caused by normal infant crying. Midwives, Health Visitors and other professionals across the region have developed ICON expertise to help give parents and carers the tools they need to help keep their babies safe. It’s always OK to ask for help. If you are worried about a crying baby speak to:
- friends and family
- Health Visitor
- GP
- Midwife
- local children’s centre
Remember: Never, ever shake or hurt a baby. It can cause lasting brain damage and death.
More information and resources to support the ICON programme are available on the dedicated ICON Cope website.
What can I do as a parent or carer to help stop children and young people from being sexually exploited?
As a parent or carer, it is important to discuss with children the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships to help highlight potential risks to them.
There are also a number of practical steps you can take to protect children such as:
- Staying alert to changes in behaviour or any physical signs of abuse such as bruising
- Being aware of new, unexplained gifts or possessions and carefully monitoring any episodes of staying out late or not returning home
- Being aware of more secretive behaviour, especially around a child's use of a mobile and on-line technology
- Exercising caution around older friends your child may have, or relationships with other young people where there appears to be a power imbalance
- Making sure you understand the risks associated with your child being online and putting measures in place to minimise these risks.
For further information, please visit It's Not Okay
What can I do as a parent or carer to help stop children and young people from being sexually exploited?
As a parent or carer, it is important to discuss with children the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships to help highlight potential risks to them.
There are also a number of practical steps you can take to protect children such as:
- Staying alert to changes in behaviour or any physical signs of abuse such as bruising
- Being aware of new, unexplained gifts or possessions and carefully monitoring any episodes of staying out late or not returning home
- Being aware of more secretive behaviour, especially around a child's use of a mobile and on-line technology
- Exercising caution around older friends your child may have, or relationships with other young people where there appears to be a power imbalance
- Making sure you understand the risks associated with your child being online and putting measures in place to minimise these risks.
For further information, please see the CSE leaflet below and visit It's Not Okay.
A free online course can also be downloaded from Virtual college - Keep them safe.
- pdf file
Under the Children Act 1989, there is a legal requirement for local authorities to be notified of any private fostering arrangements. Children's Social Care, within the local authority, has a duty to undertake assessments and checks, and also provide support and advice to the child and to the private foster carer.
Definition
Private fostering is when a child under the age of 16 (or under 18 if the child is disabled) is cared for by someone who is not their parent or a 'close relative'. This is a private arrangement made between a parent and a carer, for 28 days or more. 'Close relatives' are defined as step-parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts (whether of full blood, half blood or by marriage).
People become private foster carers for all sorts of reasons. Private foster carers can be a friend of the child's family, or be someone who is willing to care for a child of a family they do not know. It is not a private fostering arrangement if the placement was made by a social worker who has intervened on behalf of the local authority.
Private fostering legislation
The duties of local authorities in relation to privately fostered children are laid out in Part IX of the Children Act 1989. The Act places a duty on parents and private foster carers to notify the local authorities of a private fostering arrangement. It also states that the local authority has a responsibility to satisfy itself that the child is being safeguarded and their welfare promoted, and that their carers are given appropriate advice and support.
Examples of private fostering arrangements
- A child from overseas who is sent to live with a family in this country for health care or education.
- A teenager living with a friend's family because of a breakdown in relationship with their own family.
- Teenagers living with the family of a boyfriend or girlfriend.
- A child staying with friends because their parent is in hospital and there is no one else to look after them.
- Children living with a family as a result of parental separation or divorce.
The majority of private fostering arrangements will not place a child at risk, some will not ensure that a child is properly safeguarded. Therefore the Children Act 2004 made amendments to the Children Act 1989 to tighten up notification requirements and the duties of local authorities. This now includes promoting awareness in their area of the notification requirements, and monitoring their effectiveness in responding to notifications.
There is a legal obligation to inform a local authority or a private fostering arrangement. If you want further advice or to tell us about your private fostering arrangement or know of anyone in a private fostering arrangement please contact: Children's Social Care MASH Team on 0161 253 5678.
The online world is now an integral part of everyday life, especially for young people. As with the real world, there are risks online and it's important that you teach your child how to manage them.
The internet brings great opportunity to communicate and learn. Unfortunately there are individuals who will use the internet to make inappropriate contact with young people for the purposes of scams, bullying, sexual grooming or abuse. It is our responsibility as parents or carers to ensure that we know what our children are doing on the internet and how to keep them safe.
The answer is not to panic and think it's all too dangerous. Parents and carers can help their children to recognise the danger signs and teach them how to keep themselves safe.
This information, provided by Bury Integrated Safeguarding Partnership, is to help you to teach your children the basics of staying safe online or when using mobile phones.
If you are a parent or carer
Help your child to understand that they should never give out personal details to online friends
This includes their messenger ID, email address, mobile phone number and any pictures of themselves, their family or friends. If your child publishes a picture or video online, anyone can change it or share it. Remind them that anyone may be looking at their picture. Any personal information put on sites like Facebook must be protected by privacy settings.
If your child receives spam/junk email and texts, remind them never to believe them, reply to them or use them
It's not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they do not know. They could contain a virus, or worse an inappropriate image or film. Help your child to understand that some people lie online. Remember that a child or young person could chat with someone for months and still never know who they really are. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they can trust coming too.
Teach your child how to block someone online and how to report them if they feel uncomfortable
Most social networking sites have tools for blocking, flagging or reporting, and you should also use the 'report abuse' button from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to make sure people trying to make inappropriate contact with your child get caught.
Talk with your child about their internet use
Be part of their online life; involve the whole family and show an interest. Ask your child to show you what sites they use and how they work. By learning with your child they will be more likely to come to you if they have any problems. Encourage your child to tell you if they feel uncomfortable, upset or threatened online.
Try and keep all equipment that connects to the internet in a family space
Use the computer and games consoles in a family room. Monitor the sites your child is using and be there for them if they stumble across something they don't want to see. Be vigilant if your child has a webcam, check who they are 'chatting' to and warn them about the dangers of uploading images of themselves. Remember that most mobile phones are mini computers. Does your child need to take the phone to bed with them?
Learn about internet safety with your child
The CEOP Think U Know? site has films, games and advice for children from age five to sixteen. These cover social networking sites and "sexting", the sending of indecent images over the internet or by mobile phone.
The links on this webpage are all services to help parents and children be informed and safe on the internet.
Some children can be bullied and others can be bullies. Cyberbullying is when someone uses social networking, online games or mobile phones to bully others.
Above all teach your children to Be S.M.A.R.T.
- Safe
Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal info including full name and e-mail address to people you don't really know - Meeting
Meeting up with someone who you have only met on line can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents/carers permission and even then only when they can be present - Accepting
Accepting e-mails, IM messages or opening files from people you don't know can be dangerous - they may contain viruses or nasty messages - Reliable
Someone on line may be lying about who they are and information they provide on the internet may not be true. Check information and advice on other websites or in books or ask someone who may know - Tell
Tell your parent/carer or teacher if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried or you or someone you know is being cyberbullied.
Due to the number of different platforms available, it can feel daunting, however you do not need to be an expert; there are lots of useful resources available to support you.
Many things can affect how you feel about your baby and yourself. Having a baby or young child can be difficult at the best of times. Sometimes mental health problems, events from the past or present, can affect how you feel about your baby, and you may feel worried about some of the feelings you have. All of these problems can affect anyone.
The Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team is a service across Greater Manchester for women experiencing moderate-severe mental health problems in the perinatal period, and for those with a past or family history of moderate to severe mental health difficulties.
The team are there to provide extra support to you and your baby or child so that your relationship is a strong foundation for your future lives.
You can usually be referred by any professional involved in your care, such as: GP, Midwife, Health Visitor, Obstetrician, Psychiatrist, Care co-ordinator (community mental health team.
They will be required to complete a referral form, which is available online: http://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/perinatal-community
Please access the below leaflets for yourself and your family to read more information about the service.
What can I do as a parent/carer if I am experiencing domestic abuse or my child is in an abusive relationship?
- If you or your child/ren are in immediate danger, please ring the police on 999.
- If you are concerned about the impact of domestic abuse on your child, please contact the MASH Team on 0161 253 5678.
For further information on agencies which provide support for victims of domestic abuse, please visit:
Bury Council Domestic Violence and Abuse
Greater Manchester Police Domestic Abuse
Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides a counselling and aftercare service to men, women and children living in the Greater Manchester area who have experienced rape or sexual assault, whether this has happened recently or in the past. They also offer immediate crisis support and a forensic service to Cheshire.
Services include:
- Immediate Crisis Support
- Forensic Medical Examination
- Access to Emergency Contraception
- Sexual Health Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Access to counselling support for as long as it is needed
- Access to an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor to provide support through any court action taken
You can access the service directly - you do not need to be referred.
Services can be accessed without making a report to the police or support can be provided when contacting the Police. However, if you have reported sexual assault to the Police you should automatically be offered support via the centre as part of their response to sexual violence.
Call SARC now on: 0161 276 6515 (lines open 24 hours a day 7 days per week)
St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre
St Mary's SARC services what we offer (youtube.com)
Dad Matters aim to help dads have successful relationships with their families, and to support dads with anxiety, stress and mental health issues.
They aim to to get dads engaged with services that have traditionally been targeted at mums, and to train & support volunteer dads to work with the service.
In Greater Manchester Dad Matters offer Outreach services/drop-ins at maternity centres, and community venues, Provide 1:1 peer support to dads, Signpost and support dads to access services and information to help make sense of being a dad and supporting dads with anxiety, stress and mental health awareness
I am a Child or Young Person
This section of the website gives you easy access to important information to help you to stay safe. Please click on the relevant links located below.
Are you living with a friend, neighbour or another family?
Or do you know a child or young person who is being cared for by someone else? If so, you can download the leaflet.
To find out more about Private Fostering or to tell someone that you think you are privately fostered you can call the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0161 253 5678 or email childwellbeing@bury.gov.uk.
For more information you can also visit Coram BAAF - Private Fostering (you will need to login or create an account to use this site).
Be aware, stay alert, keep safe! How to keep you and your friends safe from exploitation
Three top tips to keep safe:
- Trust yourself to know when something is wrong. If someone makes you feel unsafe, pressured or frightened, follow your instincts and seek help.
- Don't trust people you don't know, even if they seem friendly - and make sure you know who you are talking to online. Never give away personal details or agree to meet someone who you have only talked to online.
- Don't be tricked into doing things that are unsafe, even if they seem like fun. What might look exciting at first could be more dangerous than you realise.
If you are worried about a situation that you or a friend is in, talk to an adult that you trust as soon as you can. People who can help you include teachers, parents, carers and social workers.
For further information, please see the leaflet below which can be downloaded and visit It's Not Okay.
The internet is a great thing. You are able to chat with friends on Facebook, play online games like Moshi Monsters, use game consoles online like Xbox, Wii or DS to connect with others. Mobile phones let you text, talk and share photos.
However you need to keep yourself safe when using these things to talk to people. Anyone can put anything on the internet and pretend to be someone else. On social networking sites there are always people who pretend to be someone that they are not and they are dangerous. They may try to contact you by pretending to be your age or saying that they know one of your friends. They may try to trick you into sending photos or telling them things about yourself that are private.
If you are talking on the internet to someone who you have never actually met in person don't give out your full name, school, address or mobile phone number.
Be S.M.A.R.T.
- Safe
Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal info including full name and e-mail address to people you don't really know - Meeting
Meeting up with someone who you have only met on line can be dangerous. Only do so with your parents/carers permission and even then only when they can be present - Accepting
Accepting e-mails, IM messages or opening files from people you don't know can be dangerous - they may contain viruses or nasty messages - Reliable
Someone on line may be lying about who they are and information they provide on the internet may not be true. Check information and advice on other websites or in books or ask someone who may know - Tell
Tell your parent/carer or teacher if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried or you or someone you know is being cyberbullied.
Thinkuknow has advice for young people on internet safety, sex and relationships.
Bullying can happen to anyone at any age, at school, at home, on the bus, in the street, online, or on your mobile phone. It might be that someone pushes you around, talks about you, teases you, makes fun of you, hits you or calls you names.
No one has the right to hurt you or make you feel bad, and if you are being bullied you don't have to put up with it.
Talk to a teacher, your mum, your dad, or someone else in your family. If there is no one at home or at school you can talk to then you can talk confidentially at Childline.
Childline has lots of information about types of bullying and helpful resources.
Support and information about sex, and where to find help with contraception, STI's and pregnancy.
Are you thinking of running away from home?
If you've run away, been forced to leave home, are thinking about it or are worried about someone, whatever the reasons for leaving home there is help available. If you have run away and are now frightened call 999, Greater Manchester Police will come for you and protect you.
There can be many reasons why you feel that running away from home is the only way you can deal with your problems. But there are places you can go for help and people you can talk to for advice. You are not alone.
Call or text the free runaway helpline on 116 000 24/7 or email 116000@missingpeople.org.uk
Young people in danger at home
Get help immediately if someone in your home is being violent or abusive towards you. Call the police on 999 if you are in danger. If you feel you have to leave immediately, try to arrange somewhere to stay before you leave, for example with a friend or relative, in a refuge, hostel or bed and breakfast hotel. Make sure you take a few necessities with you.
Get more information from:
- Shelter
- Women's Aid
- Refuge
- ChildLine
- NSPCC
- National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247
Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides a counselling and aftercare service to men, women and children living in the Greater Manchester area who have experienced rape or sexual assault, whether this has happened recently or in the past. They also offer immediate crisis support and a forensic service to Cheshire.
Services include:
- Immediate Crisis Support
- Forensic Medical Examination
- Access to Emergency Contraception
- Sexual Health Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Access to counselling support for as long as it is needed
- Access to an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor to provide support through any court action taken
You can access the service directly - you do not need to be referred.
Services can be accessed without making a report to the police or support can be provided when contacting the Police. However, if you have reported sexual assault to the Police you should automatically be offered support via the centre as part of their response to sexual violence.
Call SARC now on: 0161 276 6515 (lines open 24 hours a day 7 days per week)
St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre
St Mary's SARC services what we offer (youtube.com)
Rapid Review and Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews
A function of the Bury Safeguarding Partnership (BSP) is to conduct a review after a child whose permanent residence is within Bury, has died or is seriously harmed as a result of abuse or neglect, in accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
The criteria is as follows:
Abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected and either:
i) the child has died
ii) the child has been seriously harmed and there is cause for concern as to the way in which the authority, their Board partners or relevant persons have worked together to safeguard the child.
If an agency feels that a case meets the criteria for a Rapid Review, they should submit a Safeguarding Children Referral Form to bsp@bury.gov.uk within 5 working days of the incident.
The purpose of reviews of serious child safeguarding cases, at both local and national level, is to identify improvements to be made to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Reviews seek to prevent or reduce the risk of recurrence of similar incidents. They are not conducted to hold individuals, organisations or agencies to account.
'Serious child safeguarding cases' are those in which:
- (a) abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected and
- (b) the child has died or been seriously harmed
Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) states that serious harm includes (but is not limited to) serious and/or long-term impairment of a child's mental health or intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. It should also cover impairment of physical health. This is not an exhaustive list. When making decisions, judgment should be exercised in cases where impairment is likely to be long-term, even if this is not immediately certain. Even if a child recovers, including from a one-off incident, serious harm may still have occurred.
Meeting the criteria does not mean that Bury Safeguarding Partnership must automatically carry out a local child safeguarding practice review. Locally it is for the statutory representatives on the Case Review Subgroup, to determine whether a review is appropriate, taking into account that the overall purpose of a review is to identify improvements to practice.
Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews reports are published on our website to enable the sharing of learning across the children's workforce. All reports are anonymised for publication.
Professionals should discuss the case with their agency’s designated safeguarding lead/officer to help gather the information for the referral. You can access the referral form below.
Please note, this is not a referral to MASH. If you need to refer to MASH you can do so here.
- doc file
- Referral Flow Chart[232KB]pdf file
Sadly the cases of Daniel Pelka, Keanu Williams and Hamza Khan have raised the profile of Serious Case Reviews nationally. The national repository of published case reviews is a collaboration between the NSPCC and the Association of Independent LSCB Chairs. The aim is to hold all case reviews in a central location, so the learning contained within them is easier to access. Access to the electronic versions of the case review reports stored by the NSPCC is available by accessing Learning.NSPCC - Library and information service.