The Safeguarding Fundamentals Quality Mark is an innovative standard focused on improving the safety and wellbeing of children across organisations that work with young people. It has been developed by Antonia Noble, a senior barrister with an international reputation in safeguarding, alongside former England international footballer Paul Stewart.
Safeguarding Fundamentals works with a wide range of organisations that support children and young people. The system is designed to complement existing governing body safeguarding requirements, helping schools and organisations prepare for inspections, strengthen cross sector collaboration, and demonstrate best practice in safeguarding and child protection.
Lokkaroom has chosen to partner with Safeguarding Fundamentals because it shares a commitment to elevating the standard of child protection and welfare across all organisations working with young people. Lokkaroom recognises that effective safeguarding requires more than compliance; it demands a structured, consistent approach supported by expertise, clarity and practical tools that can be embedded into everyday practice.
https://safeguardingfundamentals.com/
Our Official Safeguarding Partner
Lokkaroom is proud to be partnered with Safeguarding Fundamentals as our official safeguarding partner, reinforcing our commitment to the highest standards of child safety and welfare across sport.
Paul Stewart
Paul Stewart is a former England international footballer and a leading advocate for safeguarding in sport. Following a successful professional career at the highest level of the game, Paul has become one of the most influential voices in child protection, using his lived experience to drive meaningful change across sport and wider society.
Through his partnership with Lokkaroom, Paul is supporting our mission to embed best-practice safeguarding across the sports teams, clubs, and organisations we work with. Together, we are focused on helping create safer environments, improving standards, and ensuring safeguarding is approached with the seriousness, care, and accountability it deserves.
Safeguarding Fundamentals
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Paul Stewart
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The Safeguarding Union
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DBS Checker Tools
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Safeguarding Fundamentals Quality Mark
Paul Stewart
Paul Stewart is a former England international footballer whose career at the highest levels of the professional game gives him a deep understanding of the environments in which children and young people develop as athletes. Having experienced elite sport from a young age.
Following his retirement from football, Paul has become a powerful and respected advocate for safeguarding. Drawing carefully on his own experiences of abuse during his childhood in the sport, he has chosen to speak out to help ensure that others are better protected. His work is driven by a determination to turn personal adversity into positive change, using his voice and platform to raise awareness, challenge harmful cultures, and improve safeguarding standards.
Today, Paul works in safeguarding to help organisations create safer environments where children are listened to, respected, and protected. His involvement in Safeguarding Fundamentals is rooted in a belief that effective safeguarding must be practical, informed by lived experience, and embedded into everyday practice, ensuring that no child is left without the protection and support they deserve.
Through talks and workshops delivered in sports clubs, schools, and community settings, Paul engages directly with children, parents, coaches, and professionals. His sessions focus on raising awareness, encouraging open conversations, and reinforcing the importance of listening to children and taking concerns seriously.
The Safeguarding Union
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First Advantage & SafeHub
First Advantage is a global provider of background screening, identity verification and risk-management solutions that help organisations make more informed and compliant hiring decisions. The company uses data, technology and analytics to deliver criminal record checks, DBS checks, identity verification, employment and reference checks, and other screening services that support safer recruitment and workforce compliance in sectors including sport, education and healthcare. First Advantage’s tools are designed to streamline the screening process while helping organisations build confidence in their hiring decisions.
Safehub is a comprehensive DBS checking platform designed to make safeguarding easier for organisations of all kinds. Beyond instant background checks, it provides full software for policy management, staff updates, and ongoing safety checks, ensuring your team stays compliant and informed. Safehub also includes a library of educational resources, helping organisations build safer, more confident environments for everyone they support.
We're partnering with both to ensure all clubs, teams and organisations have access to the best software for safeguarding and policy management
Lokkaroom recommends both First Advantage and SafeHub as trusted screening partners for safeguarding compliance and actively promote both throughout our sports ecosystem.
GET DBS CHECKS:
First Advantage – https://fadv.co.uk/
SafeHub – https://www.safe-hub.co.uk/
Free Safeguarding in Sport Course
This Safeguarding in Sport course will allow all adults, sports clubs and organisations to ensure a commitment to excellence in safeguarding. It will provide you with the knowledge and tools needed to help keep children safe. Written by safeguarding and child protection experts, the course covers the key types of abuse to be aware of, how to identify them, and how to report and record your concerns.
Throughout the course, former Professional Footballer and CSA & CPA Survivor, Paul Stewart, uses his personal experience of abuse in a sports setting to highlight what can be done to prevent abuse from taking place. Alongside this unique survivor-led approach, the course will help you to recognise the best practices your sports club should follow to keep children safe.
Click "Take the Course" to start your free safeguarding course.
Course Contributors
Supporting the Course
Gary Lineker
Kelly Cates
Karen Leach
Brian Moore
Kevin Sinfield
June Kelly
Marilyn Okoro
