UNDER 18s

Modified on Tue, 29 Jul at 2:36 PM

Under 18s -

It is possible that you will have students below the age of 18 interested in, or members of, your club or society.

It is worth being aware of the ICU Safeguarding Code of Practice.

	18+	Ages 16-17	Under 16s
Membership of Student Groups	Yes	Yes, except for high risk	No
Participation in High Risk Activities (view your risk rating)	Yes	No	No
Participation in Residential Activities	Yes	No	No
Participation in Activities Outside the UK	Yes	No	No
Cinema	Yes	No attending screenings of films with a British Board of Film Classification of 18 years of age	No attending screenings of films with a British Board of Film Classification more than their age
Consumption of alcohol	Yes	No	No

Committee Member Responsibilities

Committee members have a duty of care towards all their members and must take extra precautions with members under 18.
Student Groups' activities sometimes involve students who aren’t paid members. It is expected that Chairs/Presidents will monitor the involvement of non-members in their activities and inform the Union of any non-member under 18s.
Chairs/Presidents are expected to ensure that:
- Risk assessments make consideration of members aged sixteen or seventeen where necessary.
- Members aged sixteen or seventeen are not unduly excluded from their activities.

Events - alcohol

Some events organised by clubs and societies include access to alcohol. It is important you make events including alcohol accessible to all members, including those who cannot consume alcohol and under 18s. See alcohol training article for guidance.

Ensure planning and risk assessment covers:

Mandatory registration
Under 18s being easily identifiable to reduce risk of alcohol being served e.g. specific coloured wristband.

Events – teaching sessions

Many clubs and societies run successful teaching and mentoring programmes and activities for under 18s.

It is important to consider safeguarding for these activities and, if you would like any support, submit a ticket to the Activities Team.

Some things you must consider as control measures within your risk assessment of these activities include:

No 1-1 supervision with under 18s.
Under 18s must be accompanied by a parent, guardian, teacher or sponsor at all times.
DBS checks are not required of committee members, as a parent, guardian, teacher or sponsor must be in attendance.
Mandatory registration.

Make sure you read the guidance provided by the university as we will always follow this.