Blackpool Tower – Sat 31st October & Sun 1st November 2026

A Body of Persons Approval (BOPA) has been issued for this event by Blackpool Council. Under BOPA conditions, the priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of all event participants, with particular attention to children up to school-leaving age. This should be considered a team effort between

• Event Organisers
• Event Staff
• Licensed Chaperones
• Dance School Teachers/Leaders
• Parents/Guardians/Responsible Adults

It would be much appreciated if all attendees could take note of the following information….

PARTICIPANT SIGN IN/SIGN OUT PROCEDURE
On arrival and departure, event participants are asked to inform their teacher/group lead so that they can record attendance times at the event.

PARTICIPANT SUPERVISION
Under BOPA conditions, it is a requirement that all participants up to school-leaving age are supervised by their parent/guardian at all times. Participants of this age will not be permitted to pass our door/security team without their parent/guardian accompanying them.

FIRST AID
Should anyone require medical assistance at any time during their visit, a First Aid team will be available in the Ballroom. They will be located on the ground floor on the right-hand side of the stage (near to the merchandise stall)

CHANGING ROOMS
Changing facilities will be available at the venue. Please ask a member of Cheerdance UK staff if you wish to use these. For safeguarding reasons, participants up to school-leaving age must be accompanied their parent/guardian into the changing area. It is strictly prohibited to take photos/videos in this area. Changing is not permitted in public areas unless the participant is wearing a base layer i.e. leotard, sports crop top/shorts etc.

CLOTHING/FOOTWEAR
⭐️ Please ensure that costume, hair & make up choices are appropriate for the age of the participant.
⭐️ Please ensure that shoe laces are fastened and secured.
⭐️ Please remove or cover all jewellery.
⭐️ If short skirts are being worn, please ensure that shorts providing adequate coverage are worn underneath.

FOOD/CHEWING GUM
Participants are not permitted to eat food or chew gum during warm up or competition.

AISLES/GANGWAYS/SEATING ON FLOOR
Please ensure that aisles & gangways are kept clear at all times. If participants are sitting on the side of the dance floor, please ensure that feet are kept tucked in.

PHOTOGRAPHY/FILMING OF SOLO/PAIRS EVENTS AND ALL AWARDS PRESENTATIONS
As this is a private event for event participants and their family/friends, our organisation would like to be able to permit the use of cameras to capture these special memories. We would however like to bring your attention to the following:

⭐️ If you are intending to upload photos/videos of your participant to social media, it is recommended that you consider your privacy settings so that you limit your audience to close friends & family.
⭐️ Where possible try to focus the camera on your own participant. Please bear in mind that for safeguarding reasons or personal preference, some fellow participants might not want to appear on social media. Please consider this if uploading to online platforms. There are some great editing tools available to blur/crop images so that you can eliminate other participants that might appear.
⭐️ If anyone does have any concerns/objections to this or would like us to make adjustments for any particular event, please speak to your dance school lead who will communicate this with our events team.

PHOTOGRAPHY/FILMING OF SQUAD EVENTS
One nominated person from the dance school performing their squad routine may video the routine from the front. It is strictly prohibited for anyone else in the venue to take a video recording. It is then at the teachers’ discretion where that recording gets shared. This is so that the teacher can decide who has access to their choreography and also for safeguarding reasons which are considered different to a solos/pairs type event. Still photographs are permitted but please consider the points highlighted in the solos/pairs sections above.

CHEERDANCE UK SOCIAL MEDIA
From time to time, our social media team may take photographs or short videos of the competitions for use on Cheerdance UK online platforms. Our team will avoid any ‘close up’ photos/videos of individual dancers, with the focus being on the full event space/larger groups of participants. If anyone does have any concerns/objections to this, please speak to your dance school lead who will communicate this with our events team.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE
On arrival, please familiarise yourself with the emergency exits in the venue.
Blackpool Tower has a two-stage alarm system. Stage 1 is an intermittent sounding alarm indicating that attendees should prepare to evacuate. Stage 2 is a more continuous sounding alarm indicating that attendees should proceed to their nearest emergency exit.
The assembly point for Blackpool Tower is on Bank Hey Street (the street that runs between the Tower and Hounds Hill shopping centre).

If you are a responsible adult accompanying an event participant, if safe to do so, please try to locate your dance school lead person at the assembly point to let them know that you have safely evacuated the building.

CHILD PROTECTION & SAFEGUARDING POLICY
Click here to view our child protection/safeguarding policy

REPORTING SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS
The Designated Safeguarding Lead for Cheerdance UK is Gemma Bynert.
Gemma will be in attendance for the duration of the event and will be based on the stage. Alternatively, you can email info@cheerdance.co.uk