Send United FC 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 Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures and endorse and adopt the Policy Statement contained in that document.
The key principles of The FA Safeguarding Children Policy are:
• The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the primary consideration
• All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual orientation
• 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.
Send United FC recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.
Send United FC 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 FA’s Child Protection Regulation applies to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity, including volunteers, match officials, helpers on club tours, football coaches, club officials or medical staff.
We endorse and adopt The FA’s Responsible Recruitment guidelines for recruiting volunteers and we will:
• Develop a role profile
• Request identification documents
• As a minimum, meet and chat with the applicant(s)and, where possible, conduct interviews before appointing
• Request and follow up with two references before appointing
• Require an FA DBS Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.
All current Send United FC members who regularly care for, supervise, train or are in sole charge of children and young people will be required to complete a DBS Enhanced Disclosure via The FA DBS Unit.
If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of Send United FC guidance will be sought from The FA.
It is noted and accepted that The FA will consider the relevance and significance of the information obtained via The FA DBS Unit Enhanced DBS 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 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.
Send United FC 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 Team on 0207 745 4787, by writing to The FA Welfare Manager at The Football Association, 25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA, or alternatively by going direct to the Police, Children’s Services or the NSPCC. Send United FC encourages everyone to know about this policy and utilise it if necessary
Send United FC has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (CWO) in line with The FA’s role profile and requires the obligatory completion of The FA’s Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officers Workshop. The post holder will be involved with ongoing Welfare Officer training provided by The FA and/or Surrey FA. The CWO is the first point of contact for all Club committee members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. The CWO will liaise directly with the Surrey FA 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 their Club members.
We acknowledge and endorse The FA’s identification of bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind is not acceptable in our league. If bullying does occur, all players or parents/carers should be able to report it and be confident that any incident will be dealt with promptly. Incidents should be reported to the CWO or alternatively, in cases of serious bullying, we may contact the Surrey FA Welfare Officer.
Respect codes of conduct for players, parents/spectators, officials and coaches have been implemented by Send United FC. 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 Surrey FA in
more serious circumstances. All registering members will be required to adopt the Respect codes.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. If you are worried about a child it is important that you report your concerns to the CWO – no action is not an option. We want you to feel confident in football and to know that your child will have fun and be safe.
You can refer a safeguarding or welfare concern via your club, league or County FA – all will have a designated safeguarding officer (DSO). Alternatively, you can email the FA directly via safeguarding@thefa.com.
If the matter is urgent and you cannot contact your Club or County FA designated safeguarding officer, you can call The NSPCC 24-hour helpline on 0808 800 5000 – or if it is an emergency because a child or children are at immediate risk, then call the police or children’s social care in your area.
If you are concerned that someone may be behaving inappropriately or seeking to groom a child in an online environment, please report this to CEOPS at the National Crime Agency: https://www.ceop.police.uk/Ceop-Report/ as well as informing your County FA or The FA via safeguarding@thefa.com
Further information and guidance can be obtained from the FA Safeguarding web pages http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding/reporting-concerns
Send United Football Club 