Causes for Concern / Red Flags

SYSTEMATIC CHILD ABUSE 

A Welsh Government funded organisation (Play Wales) are providing subversive material to another Welsh Government funded organisation (Adult Learning Wales) who are educating the carers of children within the play education sector to systematically promote the physical and mental abuse of children in their care. This is defined as CHILD ABUSE by the UK Government in the publication "Working Together to Safeguard Children".

An unregulated organisation exists in Welsh Government.

This organisation's educational material can be seen to disadvantage and/or cause harm to children.

The organisation refuse to release or identify the sources of education material that endanger the lives of children.

Children have been or are to be placed in life threatening situations based upon a scientific misrepresentation. The UK Government defines this as 'child abuse'

BACKGROUND

In December 2016, I ( David Richards ) published my first book "Understanding the Origin an Evolution of Sport - Volume 1 - Rugby Union" which looks at the birth of the sport of Rugby Union. As part of the journey into understanding sport's origins, I conducted a reductive analysis of generic sport in order to define the principles of a sport. One of those principles is that a sport may have originated from the play activities of children. 

To help further research and make a start on writing volume 2 of the series. I took a job in the child care sector for a children's 'play' charity that was funded by the Children in Need programme. A requirement for the role was the completion of a Welsh government qualification. My wife was to help out as a volunteer with the same charity so we took a course together in order to gain the qualification. The course, Level 2 Award in Playwork Practice was funded by the Welsh Government.

During the course which was organised by Swansea Council Play Services we were taught to place children in situations where they could be physically abused by older children and told that intervention was an intrusion of the play process. Examples of this were shown in films, where children chased each other with burning objects and fought over the use of a hammer. The course tutor also showed a film in which she appeared and acted inappropriately in a sexual manner to a child. My wife and I were traumatised by the course content identifying it as child abuse, we have 4 children between us. We refused to complete the course and I immediately began to research the written course material. 

I met at a later date with the head of the Swansea Council Play Service and made a presentation to him identifying the methods of deception and manipulation (specific competitive strategies) used to substantiate the questionable course written material. 

Further research into the course material and recommended publications for continuous professional development identified the manipulation of subjective information to promote unnecessary risk and the use of methods of deception to avoid United Nations protective legislation for children to which the Welsh Government are signatories. 

Most alarmingly there can be seen in a publication currently on sale to the children's play community in which there is intent to deliberately endanger the lives of children on a daily basis as part of a structured play environment.

"Working Together to Safeguard Children"

A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children - July 2018 

I have highlighted the relevant aspects that relate to our concerns in the image. The introduction below shows how I as a 'practitioner' am able to work with the police in relation to the safeguarding of children. I can also confirm that I have followed protocol in relation to contacting the relevant government agencies and the local authority in expressing my concerns. The local authority have in their role as a government organisation failed to follow protocol in relation to the Children Act 1989, see below.

section 47 of the same Act requires local authorities to undertake enquiries if they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm.

Some relevant information from the publication "Working Together to Safeguard Children" published in July 2018

Introduction
Nothing is more important than children’s welfare. Children (1) who need help and protection deserve high quality and effective support as soon as a need is identified.

We want a system that responds to the needs and interests of children and families and not the other way around. In such a system, practitioners (2) [David Richards] will be clear about what is required of them individually, and how they need to work together in partnership with others.

Whilst it is parents and carers who have primary care for their children, local authorities, working with partner organisations and agencies, have specific duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area. The Children Acts of 1989 and 2004 set out specific duties: section 17 of the Children Act 1989 puts a duty on the local authority to provide services to children in need in their area, regardless of where they are found; section 47 of the same Act requires local authorities to undertake enquiries if they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm. The Director of Children’s Services and Lead Member for Children’s Services in local authorities are the key points of professional and political accountability, with responsibility for the effective delivery of these functions. These duties placed on the local authority can only be discharged with the full cooperation of other partners, many of whom have individual duties when carrying out their functions under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 (see chapter 2). Under section 10 of the same Act, the local authority is under a duty to make arrangements to promote cooperation between itself and organisations and agencies to improve the wellbeing of local children (see chapter 1). This co-operation should exist and be effective at all levels of an organisation, from strategic level through to operational delivery. The Children Act 2004, as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017, strengthens this already important relationship by placing new duties on key agencies in a local area. Specifically, the police, clinical commissioning groups and the local authority are under a duty to make arrangements to work together, and with other partners locally, to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as:
• protecting children from maltreatment
• preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

1 In this document, a child is defined as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. ‘Children’
therefore means ‘children and young people’ throughout.
2 The term ‘practitioners’ is used throughout the guidance to refer to individuals who work with children and
their families in any capacity.

Play Wales is the national charity for children's play.

Play Wales is an independent charity funded by the Welsh Government - our area of charitable remit is Wales.

We work to raise awareness of children and young people's need and right to play and to promote good practice at every level of decision making and in every place where children might play. We provide advice and guidance to support all those who have an interest in, or responsibility for providing for children's play so that one day Wales will be a place where we recognise and provide well for every child's play needs.

Cause for concern: We are concerned that the organisation Play Wales is a subversive government department whose role in government is to target and disadvantage children through the medium of play in support of criminal elements working within the Welsh Government. We see an example of a criminal element within the Welsh Government in 2018 when the Plaid Cymru AM Simon George Thomas resigned and was subsequently convicted of paedophile activity.

refusal to release and to clarify the source of educational course material.

Cause for concern: We are concerned that other organisations such as Adult Learning Wales are targeting children with systematic abuse. 

Intent to cause harm

CHILD ABUSE

as defined by the UK Government

This form of play is based on a clear 'scientific misrepresentation' by the author of the booklet. The document from which the play type 'deep play' originates is about adult male Balinese cock fighters who bet more than they can afford on cock fighting. There is no relevance to child's play in the original study from which the term 'deep play' is taken.

Suggested examples of play for children with the publication 'The First Claim' include:

"playing in front of traffic"

"riding a bike on the parapet of a bridge or through fire"

"high tree climbing, especially over rivers or the sea"

the publication states that:

"This type of play is essential for a child's personal development"

The book is still for sale on the Play Wales website 4 years after we identified the 'scientific misrepresentation' and reported the potential dangers to local and national governments. 

https://www.playwales.org.uk/eng/shop/1

Both local and national government organisations either ignored protocol or used inappropriate methods to avoid the information provided. Generally they cited generic legislation as the reason they could not take action. There is a clear intention by these organisations to turn a blind eye and to support the physical and mental abuse of children.

Cause for concern: During the course L2APP we were shown a video that included children taking unnecessary life threatening risks during play. In some instances what we witnessed was not play but children using survival actions in a prison type environment. We are concerned that children in Wales are deliberately being harmed and disadvantaged through the medium of play, subversive educational material published by Welsh Government funded organisations supports this.

An unregulated subversive organisation exists in Welsh Government.

This organisation's educational material can be seen to disadvantage and/or cause harm to children.

The organisation refuse to release or identify the sources of education material that endanger the lives of children.

Children have been or are to be placed in life threatening situations based upon a scientific misrepresentation.  The UK Government defines this as 'child abuse'