Safeguarding Children Policy

1. Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person and is committed to providing a safe environment for all. We recognise that a child is anyone under the age of 18 and subscribe to The Football Association’s (The FA) Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures.

Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club endorses and adopts the following key safeguarding principles:

• 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, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status or civil partnership, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, ability or disability, pregnancy and maternity;
• all suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately; and
• 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.

Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.

2. Wilpshire Wanderers 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 FA’s Safeguarding Children Regulations (see The FA Handbook TheFA.com/football- rules-governance/lawsandrules/fa-handbook) apply to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity, including coaches/managers, volunteers, match officials, helpers on club tours, or medical staff or other club officials/helpers.

3. We endorse and adopt The FA’s Safer Recruitment guidelines and we will:

• Specify what the role is and what tasks it involves;
• Request identification 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; and
• Where eligible require an FA- accepted DBS enhanced with barred list Check, in line with The FA’s current Safeguarding Children Policy and Regulations.

All current Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club members working in eligible roles with children and young people, such as coaches/managers and physiotherapists, are required to hold an in-date FA accepted DBS enhanced with barred list check as part of safer recruitment practice.

If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club, guidance will be sought from the County Football Association (CFA). It is noted and accepted that The FA will consider the relevance and significance of the information obtained via the DBS process and that all suitability decisions will be made in accordance with legislation and 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.

4. Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club supports The FA’s Whistle Blowing policy (as described in this paragraph) which requires any adult or young person with concerns about an adult in a position of trust within football can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting The FA Safeguarding Team on 0800 169 1863, by writing to The FA Case Manager at The Football Association, Wembley Stadium, PO Box 1966, London SW1P 9EQ, by emailing Safeguarding@TheFA.com or alternatively by going direct to the Police, Children’s Social Care or the NSPCC.

Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club encourages everyone to know about The FA’s Whistle Blowing Policy and to utilise it if necessary.

5. Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (Youth Teams) (“CWO”) in line with The FA’s role profile who has completed the Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officers Workshop by the CWO. The post holder will be involved with ongoing Welfare Officer training provided by The FA and/or CFA. The CWO is the first point of contact for all club members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. The CWO will liaise directly with the CFA Designated Safeguarding Officer and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any concerns. The CWO will also play a proactive role in increasing awareness of respect, poor practice and abuse amongst club members.

6. 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 and parents/carers should be able to access our anti- bullying policy and know that incidents will be dealt with appropriately. Incidents need to be reported to the CWO and in cases of serious bullying the CFA Designated Safeguarding Officer may be contacted.

7. Codes of conduct for Players, Parents/ Spectators, Officials and Coaches (as required by the CPSU Safeguarding Standards) have been implemented by Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club. In order to police these 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 CFA in more serious circumstances.

8. In this Club, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and we know that inaction is not an option. If anyone is worried about a child, it is important that they report their concerns to the CWO, who will deal with reported concerns as follows:

1. Our CWO will manage poor practice and where necessary seek advice from the CFA Designated Safeguarding Officer (CFA DSO).
2. Our CWO will make referrals about more serious concerns to the CFA DSO, or in an emergency contact the Police or Children’s Social Care.
3. We will ensure that if the child needs immediate medical
4. treatment that we take them to a hospital or call an ambulance and tell them it is a child protection concern.
5. Our CWO will keep records of the actions taken and keep the CFA DSO informed.
6. If at any time our Club Welfare Officer is not available, or the matter is clearly serious, all our members should be aware that they can:
   • Contact the CFA DSO directly;
   • Contact The FA’s Safeguarding Team on 0800 169 1863 or Safeguarding@TheFA.com;
   • Contact the Police or Children’s Social Care; and/or
   • Call the NSPCC 24-hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or text 88858 or email help@nspcc.org.uk.

Wilpshire Wanderers Football Club Committee understands and accepts our collective responsibility to adhere to our safeguarding children policy and procedures.

We commit to ensuring our members are aware of and have access to our policies.