 |
||||
| HOME | ||||
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN POLICY |
||||
|
The
aim of the Beverley WhiteStar Safeguarding Children Policy is to provide a
clear and explicit framework of rules and responsibilities for everyone
involved in the Club, in order to ensure that a safe environment is
provided for all children within the Club. The
key points of the Policy are:
1.
Club responsibilities Beverley
WhiteStar Football Club acknowledges its responsibilities 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 child
protection and best practice policy and procedures and endorse and adopt
the policy statement contained in that document. 2.
The FA Safeguarding Children Policy The
key principles of the FA Safeguarding Children
Policy are that:
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.
Beverley WhiteStar Football Club recognizes that this is the
responsibility of every adult involved in our Club. 3.
Safeguarding of Children Beverley
WhiteStar Football Club has a role to play in the 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 child protection regulation (see the FA
handbook) applies to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary
capacity. This includes those who are a volunteer, a match official,
helper on club tours, football coach, club official or medical staff. 4.
Volunteers We
endorse and adopt the FA’s Child Protection and Best Practice Guidelines
for Recruiting Volunteers and will: -
Develop a role profile -
request identifying documents -
As a minimum, meet and chat with the applicants and where possible,
conduct interviews before appointing. -
request and follow up with two references before appointing -
require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure, where appropriate, in line
with FA Guidelines All
current Beverley WhiteStar Football Club members with direct access to
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 Beverley WhiteStar Football Club, guidance
will be sought from the Football Association. All
Managers and coaches and committee members of Beverley WhiteStar Football
Club will be required to complete Safeguarding Children
training of some nature at the earliest opportunity of joining the
Club and receive refresher training every 3 years. All
other Committee members and Volunteer members of Beverley WhiteStar
Football Club will be made aware of the Club’s policies and procedures
regarding safeguarding children and young people and directed to The FA
Safeguarding Children Policy. All
Managers and coaches, Club committee members and volunteers will be
required to complete a Hull Boys Sunday Football League Child Protection
– Self Declaration Form, and to carry their Registered Official card
with them when attending matches and being in the presence of children and
young persons connected to Beverley WhiteStar Football Club. It
is noted and accepted that the FA will consider the relevance and
significance of the information obtained via The FA CRB Unit Enhanced CRB
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 and young
people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children
or young people. This is to prevent direct sexual and physical harm to
children and to minimise the risk of ‘grooming’ within football. 5.
Whistle blowing Beverley
WhiteStar 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 Child Protection Manager on 0207 745 4771, by
writing to The FA Case Manager
at The Football Association, 25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA or by going
direct to the police, social services or the NSPCC. Beverley WhiteStar
Football Club encourages everyone to know about it and utilize it if
necessary. 6.
Club Welfare Officer (CWO) Beverley
WhiteStar Football Club has appointed a Club Welfare officer (CWO) in line
with The FA’s role profile and required completion of the child
protection and best practice workshop. The post holder will be involved
with designated person’s training provided by The FA. The CWO is the
first point of contact for all Club members and parents or guardians
regarding concerns for the welfare of any child or young person. They will
liaise directly with the CFA CPO and will be familiar with the procedures
for referring any concerns. They will also play a proactive in increasing
an awareness of poor practice and abuse amongst Club members. Each
team
in Beverley WhiteStar Football Club will appoint a designated Welfare Co-ordinator
as a point of contact for parents and children, and with whom the CWO will
liaise, and ensure that everyone is kept up to date with any changes in
policy or practice. All Welfare Co-ordinators, as a minimum, will be made
aware of the Club’s policies and procedures regarding safeguarding
children and young people and directed to The FA Child Protection Policy
at www.TheFa.com , and ideally undergo
Child Protection training. 7.
Bullying 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, parents or guardians should be
able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly.
Incidents need to be reported to the CWO, a member of the committee
or in cases of serious bullying, contact the CFA CPO. An incident form is
available as part of this policy (see below) 8.
Codes of conducts Codes
of conducts for players, parents or spectators, officials and coaches have
been implemented by Beverley WhiteStar Football Club. These codes are
available from each Team Manager, a member of the Executive Committee or
from the Beverley WhiteStar Football Club website at www.beverleywhitestar.co.uk In
order to validate these codes of conduct, the Club has clear sanctions to
deal with any misconduct at club level and acknowledges the possibility of
potential sanctions which may be implemented by leagues or the CFA in more
serious circumstances. All
prospective members will be informed of these codes. 9.
Incident or Concern Reporting Reporting
of any incidents or concerns should be made promptly by those concerned,
on the attached Concern Form, in order that the issue can be dealt with
correctly and swiftly. The
reporting procedure is as follows 1.
Inform the designated CWO of the concern immediately. 2.
Complete a Concern Form (see below) as quickly and as fully
as possible and return it to the CWO within 48 hours. If a form is not
immediately available, jot down important details whilst the incident is
fresh in the mind trying to distinguish fact from hearsay. 3.
The CWO will keep all Concern Forms and ensure they are acted
upon within 24hours seeking advice from and involving appropriate agencies
(such as FA/NSPCC helpline). 10.
Investigation The CWO will lead any investigations that are initiated, and
recruit one committee member and one manager onto the investigation team. In order to resolve any issues within the Club, the necessary
people will be involved/ informed strictly on a ‘need to know’ basis,
as determined by the CWO. All information relating to any investigated case will be
kept confidential until an appropriate communication is issued by the
Club. Anyone involved in a child protection allegation will be
suspended from the Club until the issue is investigated and resolved, in
order to protect the interests of the children and young persons of Beverley
WhiteStar Football Club. An
Investigation Report, including actions and recommendations, will be
issued by the CWO at the earliest opportunity, and all documentation and
notes relating to the case will be retained by the CWO. 11.
Further advice Further
advice on child protection matters can be obtained from: -
the County Football Associations Child Protection Officer, whose details
can be found in the County handbook. -
the football association/NSPCC child protection. -
24 hour helpline 0808 800 5000. -
the FA child protection team 0207 7454649 12.
Beverley WhiteStar key contacts Club
Welfare Officer:
01482
870637 Club
Secretary:
Michael Burton -
01482 887692 Club
Chairman:
Rod Hulme - 7, 01482
866711
Please
do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or concerns relating
to child protection issues within Beverley WhiteStar Football Club. We
want it to be a safe and happy place for everyone. Thanks
for your co-operation. |
||||