Clubs have a moral and legal duty of care to safeguard children. Working Together to Safeguard Children (WTSC) 2018 is statutory guidance and the new 2018 edition specifically includes sports clubs. WTSC states everyone working in organisations including sports clubs, are subject to the same safeguarding responsibilities, whether paid or a volunteer. You must all have policies and procedures in place to safeguard children and everyone involved must be aware of their responsibilities, how to respond to a child protection concern and make a referral. If you are following the advice in SnowSafe, listening to children, and reporting any concerns you may have to the Safeguarding Lead at Snowsport England, it is likely you are compliant with the requirements.

1.  Have a named person on the Committee responsible for safeguarding?  This is likely to be you – the Club Welfare Officer
2. Have a child-centred approach?  This means keeping the child in focus when making decisions, based on what is best for children (not the coaches, instructors or Committee)
3. See and speak to children, listen to what they say, take their views seriously, let them be involved in decisions that affect them?  This can be as simple as asking them what they enjoyed about the session, what they didn’t, what they think would benefit them?
4. Have safeguarding as an agenda item for all meetings?  The CWO should report the good safeguarding practice they do at the club including a simple safeguarding induction for new coaches and volunteers; chat to new members explaining who they are and what their role is; introduction to new parents (face to face or e mail); ensure all coaches and especially young ones know the boundaries and communication/social media policy of the club; that all the relevant DBS disclosures have been done.  A CWO who always reports “Nothing to Report” is not proactively safeguarding children at the club or if they are, they are not reporting it to the Committee.
5. Abide by, and has adopted SnowSafe; Snowsport England’s policy for safeguarding children and young people.