MMSafe safeguarding service

The tailor-made child licensing service, making it easier for you to include young people in your performances

What is MMSafe?

Making Music's MMSafe service offers members access to a national BOPA (Body of Persons Approval) covering England and Wales, administered by Brass Bands England but for all types of music groups, as a low admin option. This comprehensive programme provides you with all the necessary resources, tools and training you need to navigate the challenges of safeguarding for your leisure-time music group.

Legislation around child performance licensing requires almost all performing children to be covered with either a licence or an exemption called a ‘Body of Persons Approval’ (BOPA). This legislation also applies to children who are performing as part of leisure-time music groups. A BOPA usually covers groups that include more than one child, and can be issued by the secretary of state for education, but in most cases, is issued by the local authority.

However, different local authorities can ask for different information or mandate the use of licensed chaperones, which means a lot of admin for leisure-time music groups.

BBE have been running a service since 2019, which was developed with the NSPCC and Department for Education, who issue the BOPA. The service also seeks to increase the level of safeguarding confidence in the sector by including training and support with policy writing. This essential training is a requirement to access the BOPA and is all included within the service.

How can MMSafe help my group? 

MMSafe offers:

• A policy-writing self-assessment tool.
• Safeguarding workshops to help you face any challenges that could rise in a leisure-time music group.
• Guidance in applying for a BBE-held BOPA an alternative to a Child Performance Licence (CPL) which covers performances in England and Wales. A BOPA ensures that you are a safe group for vulnerable members and is a hassle-free way to meet the legal requirements of CPL. To apply for this, members must complete a self-assessment tool, attend a safeguarding workshop, and have DBS checks done on the group’s supervising adults. 
• Resources to help your music group stay up-to-date with current legislation that could impact your music making. 

Watch our webinar that gives an overview about what MMSafe is and how it works, and find out more about MMSafe on the Brass Bands England website.

How to sign up for MMSafe

Making Music member groups have exclusive access this programme and do not need to be a BBE member. MMSafe costs £48 per year, including VAT. 

Sign up to MMSafe on BBE website

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.