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The
Huddersfield RCD Junior League Safeguarding Children Policy |
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1...
The Huddersfield Junior League 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 Youth League 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. |
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2...
The key principles of The FA Safeguarding Children Policy are
that: |
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The
child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount
consideration |
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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 |
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All
suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously
and responded to swiftly and appropriately |
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Working
in partnership with other organisations, children and young
people and their parents/carers is essential. |
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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. |
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The
Huddersfield Junior League recognises that this is the
responsibility of every adult involved in our league. |
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3...
The Huddersfield Junior League 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 Associations
Child Protection Regulation (see The FA Handbook) applies to
everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This
means whether you are a volunteer, match official, helper on club
tours, football coach, club official or medical staff. |
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4...
We endorse and adopt The FA’s Responsible Recruitment guidelines
for recruiting volunteers and we will: |
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Develop
a role profile |
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Request
identification documents |
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As a
minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where
possible conduct interviews before appointing |
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Request
and follow up with 2 references before appointing |
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Require
an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line
with FA guidelines |
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All current
Huddersfield Junior League 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 the
Huddersfield Junior League 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 CRB Disclosure and that all
decisions will be made in the best interests of children and young
people. |
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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. |
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5...
The Huddersfield Junior League 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 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.
The Huddersfield Junior League encourages everyone to know about
it and utilise it if necessary. |
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6...
The Huddersfield Junior League has appointed a Youth League
Welfare Officer (YLWO) 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 CFA. The
YLWO is the first point of contact for all league committee
members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young
person. The YLWO will liaise directly with the 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 CWO and
their members and league committee members. |
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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 league. 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 relevant CWO or
YLWO or alternatively in cases of serious bullying we may contact
the CFA Welfare Officer. |
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8...
Respect codes of conduct for Players, Parents/ Spectators,
Officials and Coaches have been implemented by the Huddersfield
Junior League. In order to validate these Respect codes of
conduct the league 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
CFA in more serious circumstances. All registering clubs
will be required to adopt the Respect codes. |
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9...
Reporting your concerns about the welfare of a child or young
person |
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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. |
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i. If you
are worried about a child then you need to report your concerns to
the YLWO. |
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ii. If the
issue is one of poor practice they will either: |
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- deal with
the matter themselves or - seek advice from the County FA Welfare
Officer |
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iii. If the
concern is more serious – possible child abuse they will where
possible contact the County FA Welfare Officer first, then
immediately contact the Police or Children’s Services |
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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 County FA Welfare Officer know what action
you have taken. |
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v. If at any
time you are not able to contact your YLWO or the matter is
serious then you can either: |
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- contact
your County FA Welfare Officer directly or - call The FA/NSPCC 24
hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or |
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contact the Police or Children’s Services |
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NB - The
FA’s Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures available via www.TheFA.com/Footballsafe
click on the ‘downloads’ under Policy and Procedures, outlines
in detail what to do if you are concerned about the welfare of
a child and includes flow diagrams to describe this process. This
is also covered within the Safeguarding Children workshop, where
participants are given the opportunity to discuss how this feels
and how best they can prepare themselves to deal with such a
situation. |
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10. Further
advice on Safeguarding Children matters can be obtained from:
• www.TheFA.com/Footballsafe
• Your County Football
Association’s Welfare Officer
• The FA Safeguarding Children
enquiry line 0845 210 8080
• Emailing – Footballsafe@TheFA.com |
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