Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

Fillable Printable Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

TheFA.com/Footballsafe

Club Template

Using this Policy

This policy template is provided so that you can add

your club name to the relevant sections. It is important

that this policy is discussed by the committee. The club

needs to be sure it is clear about its responsibilities and

that it adheres to this policy in full. Having a proactive Club

Welfare Ofﬁcer is an integral requirement of this policy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Football Club Safeguarding Children Policy

1. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Football Club

acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the

welfare of every child and young person who has been

entrusted to its care and is committed to working to

provide a safe environment for all members. A child or

young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged

in any club football activity. We subscribe to The

Football Association’s (The FA) Safeguarding Children

– Policy and Procedures and endorse and adopt the

Policy Statement contained in that document.

2. The key principles of The FA Safeguarding Children

Policy are that:

• thechild’swelfareis,andmustalwaysbe,

the paramount consideration

• allchildrenandyoungpeoplehavearighttobe

protectedfromabuseregardlessoftheirage,gender,

disability,race,sexualorientation,faithorbelief

• allsuspicionsandallegationsofabusewillbetaken

seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately

• workinginpartnershipwithotherorganisations,

children and young people and their parents/carers

is essential.

We acknowledge that every child or young person

who plays or participates in football should be able

to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment

and be protected from poor practice and abuse.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Football Club

recognises that this is the responsibility of every

adult involved in our club.

3. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Football Club

has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all

children and young people by protecting them from

physical,sexualoremotionalharmandfromneglect

or bullying. It is noted and accepted that The Football

Association’s Safeguarding Children Regulations

(see The FA Handbook) applies to everyone in football

whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This means

whetheryouareavolunteer,matchofcial,helperon

clubtours,footballcoach,clubofcialormedicalstaff.

4. We endorse and adopt The FA’s Responsible

Recruitment guidelines for recruiting volunteers

and we will:

• Specifywhattheroleisandwhattasksitinvolves

• Requestidenticationdocuments

• Asaminimummeetandchatwiththeapplicant(s)

and where possible interview people before

appointing them

• Askforandfollowupwith2referencesbefore

appointing someone

• RequireanFACRBUnitEnhancedDisclosurewhere

appropriate in line with FA guidelines.

All current xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Football

Clubmemberswhoareregularlycaringfor,supervising,

training or being in sole charge of children and young

peoplewillberequiredtocompleteaCRBEnhanced

DisclosureviaTheFACRBUnit

If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an

individual who is already involved or who has approached

us to become part of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Football Club guidance will be sought from The

Football Association. It is noted and accepted that

The FA will consider the relevance and signiﬁcance

oftheinformationobtainedviaTheFACRBUnit

EnhancedDisclosureandthatalldecisionswillbemade

in the best interests of children and young people.

It is accepted that The FA aims to prevent people with

a history of relevant and signiﬁcant offending from

having contact with children or young people and the

Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

Let’s make football safe – not sorry

(INSERT NAME HERE)

TheFA.com/Footballsafe Let’s make football safe – not sorry

Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

opportunity to inﬂuence policies or practice with

children or young people. This is to prevent direct

sexual or physical harm to children and to minimise

the risk of ‘grooming’ within football.

5. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Football Club

supports The FA’s Whistle blowing Policy. Any adult

or young person with concerns about a colleague

can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting The FA Safeguarding

Teamon02077454787,bywritingtoTheFACase

ManageratTheFootballAssociation,25SohoSquare,

W1D4FAoralternativelybygoingdirecttothe

Police,Children’sServicesortheNSPCC.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Football Club

encourages everyone to know about it and utilise

it if necessary.

6. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFootball Club

has appointed a Club Welfare Ofﬁcer in line with

The FA’s role proﬁle and required completion

of the Safeguarding Children and Welfare Ofﬁcers

Workshop. The post holder will be involved with

Welfare Ofﬁcer training provided by The FA and/or

County FA. The Club Welfare Ofﬁcer is the ﬁrst point

of contact for all club members regarding concerns

about the welfare of any child or young person.

The Club Welfare Ofﬁcer will liaise directly with the

County FA (CFA) Welfare Ofﬁcer and will be familiar

with the procedures for referring any concerns. They

will also play a proactive role in increasing awareness

of Respect,poorpracticeandabuseamongst

club members.

7. We acknowledge and endorse The FA’s identiﬁcation

ofbullyingasacategoryofabuse.Bullyingofany

kind is not acceptable at our club. If bullying does

occur,allplayersorparents/carersshouldbeable

to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with

promptly. Incidents need to be reported to the Club

Welfare Ofﬁcer in cases of serious bullying the CFA

Welfare Ofﬁcer may be contacted.

8. RespectcodesofconductforPlayers,Parents/

Spectators,OfcialsandCoacheshavebeen

implemented by xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Football Club. In order to validate these Respect

codes of conduct the club has clear actions it will take

regarding repeated or serious misconduct at club level

and acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctions

which may be implemented by the County FA in more

serious circumstances.

9. Reporting your concerns about the welfare of a child

or young person. Safeguarding is everyone’s

responsibility if you are worried about a child it is

important that you report your concerns – no action

is not an option.

i. If you are worried about a child then you need to

report your concerns to the Club Welfare Ofﬁcer.

ii. If the issue is one of poor practice the Club Welfare

Ofﬁcer will either:

 • dealwiththematterthemselvesor

 • seekadvicefromtheCFAWelfareOfcer

iii. If the concern is more serious – possible child

abuse,wherepossible,contacttheCFAWelfare

Ofcerrst,thenimmediatelycontactthePolice

or Children’s Services

iv. If the child needs immediate medical treatment take

them to a hospital or call an ambulance and tell them

this is a child protection concern. Let your Club Welfare

Ofcerknowwhatactionyouhavetaken,theyinturn

will inform the CFA Welfare Ofﬁcer.

v. If at any time you are not able to contact your Club

Welfare Ofﬁcer or the matter is clearly serious then

you can either:

 • contactyourCFAWelfareOfcerdirectly

 • contactthePoliceorChildren’sServices

 • callTheFA/NSPCC24hourHelplineforadvice

on08088005000orDeafuserstextphone

08000560566

NB–TheFA’sSafeguardingChildrenPolicyandProcedures

are available via www.TheFA.com/Footballsafe – click on

the ‘downloads’ under Policy and Procedures. The policy

outlines in detail what to do if you are concerned about the

welfare of a child and includes ﬂow diagrams which describe

this process. How to make a referral is also covered in the

Safeguarding Children workshop. Participants are given the

opportunity to discuss how this feels and how best they

can prepare themselves to deal with such a situation.

For more information on this workshop contact your

County Welfare Ofﬁcer.

1 0 . Further advice on Safeguarding Children matters

can be obtained from:

• xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

T: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 E:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

• xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

County Football Association’s Welfare Ofﬁcer

T: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 E:CountyWO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

• www.TheFA.com/Footballsafe

• Emailing–Footballsafe@TheFA.com

• TheFASafeguardingChildrengeneralenquiry

line08452108080

ThepolicyonCRBEnhancedDisclosureswillbesubjecttochange,inlight

oftheimplementationoftheSafeguardingVulnerableGroupsAct,2006

duetocomeintoeffectinJuly2010.Furtherinformationwillbe

provided on this via TheFA.com and via the County FA Welfare Ofﬁcers.

(INSERT NAME HERE)

(INSERT NAME OF CLUB WELFARE OFFICER HERE)

(INSERT NUMBER HERE)

(INSERT EMAIL HERE)

(INSERT NAME HERE)

(INSERT NUMBER HERE)

(INSERT EMAIL HERE)