Whilst exceptionally rare at parkrun events, it is possible that event teams may encounter a child who has been separated from their parents in some way. In these situations children can become extremely distressed and, at this point, should be considered to be in the care of the event team.
In these circumstances, event teams should:
- Inform the Run Director
- Ensuring all other children at the event are being looked after properly, two volunteers should find out the child’s name, age and any contact details of parents if known
- The Run Director should call the parents/carers/family if possible
- If this is not possible, the Run Director should call the parkrun Critical Incident Line to obtain the child’s emergency contact number
- In the meantime, two volunteers should stay with the child while another searches the immediate area for the parent
- If, after 20 minutes, the parent can’t be located or contacted by telephone, your local law enforcement agency should be called
- At no time should the child be left alone; two volunteers should stay with the child until law enforcement or other official bodies such as social services arrive
- An incident report should be submitted via EMS
- The Run or Event Director, in consultation with parkrun HQ, should address repeated incidents of non-collection