Photography and Filming Policy Statement

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

protect children and young people who take part in the events or activities of Shropshire Junior Chess Club, specifically those where photographs and videos may be taken
set out the overarching principles that guide our approach to photographs/videos being taken of children and young people during our events and activities
to ensure that we operate in line with our values and within the law when creating, using and sharing images of children and young people

This policy statement applies to all volunteers and other adults associated with Shropshire Junior Chess Club.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. Summaries of key legislation and guidance is available on:

We believe that:

children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to take, share and use images of children safely.

We recognise that:

sharing photographs and films of our activities can help us celebrate the successes and achievements of the clubs children and young people, provide a record of our activities and raise awareness of our organisation
the welfare of the children and young people taking part in our activities is paramount
children, their parents and carers have a right to decide whether their images are taken and how these may be used, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation
consent to take images of children is only meaningful when children, their parents and carers understand how the images will be used and stored, and are fully aware of the potential risks associated with the use and distribution of these images
there are potential risks associated with sharing images of children online.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

Seeking written consent (via your introduction pack) before taking and using a child’s image
Where photos appear on our website or social media pages we will only use your child’s first name
never publishing personal information about individual children
reducing the risk of images being copied and used inappropriately including only using images of children in appropriate clothing
using images that positively reflect young people’s involvement in the activity

What images are used for

We will only ever use photographs and films of our activities to help us celebrate the successes and achievements of our members, provide a record of our activities and raise awareness of our organisation.

Storage of images

Images of children used on our website will be stored on the website server.
Any retained images (including those not used on the website but held for another legitimate purpose including for future promotional materials) will be stored following our data protection policies

Withdrawing consent

You may withdraw consent for your child’s image being used on our website or social media by submitting a request in writing
Note that it may not be possible to delete some images that have already been externally shared or published by 3rd parties

Photography and/or filming for personal use

We recognise that children themselves, parents or carers may take photographs of our activities for personal use.

If we feel that the taking of photographs is inappropriate that person will be asked to cease taking photos and possibly asked to leave the venue. If we feel a child is at risk at harm we will follow our child protection procedures.

To protect all children we ask that:

Consent is sought before you share photos of other children on social media
Parents check the privacy settings of their social media account to understand who else will be able to view any images they share

Professional Photographers

At key events in the year we will invite a photographer from a local newspaper to promote the club. To ensure children remain safe we will:

seek the name and address of the person using the camera
not allow the photographer unsupervised access to children
not allow the photographer to carry out sessions outside the event or at a child’s home
report concerns regarding inappropriate or intrusive photography following our child protection procedures.

Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our other organisational policies and procedures, including:

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

Date: 31st December 2021