Club Affiliation 2022-2023 – Safeguarding Update

Jun 8, 2022

Mandatory Safeguarding Requirements 2022 – 2023

This section will inform you about some mandatory requirements Snowsport England will be implementing for 2022 – 2023 club affiliations. We are informing you early, to make sure you have sufficient time to make the necessary changes before we start processing affiliations later this year.

We have communicated these requirements before, but they become mandatory this year.  It is important to note that if they are not implemented, your club cannot complete their affiliation.  Non-compliance will result in the club not being insured and it won’t be listed as a club affiliated to Snowsport England.

We know our clubs are fully supportive of all safeguarding measures and the importance they have within sport. These measures are being implemented to ensure we are making Snowsport a safe place and help build a sport people want to be part of.

We are confident we have all done a good job of embedding safeguarding measures across the sport, but we still have a number of clubs that haven’t completed these very basic tasks.  Your Club Welfare Officer must comply with these measures, or your club will be failing in its duty of care to safeguard children and adults at risk.

Procedures to be completed for club affiliations that include children and young people:

  1. Club Welfare Officer (CWO) must be on your Sport:80 profile, as Club Welfare Officer (please also add any deputies, so they will receive safeguarding updates).
  2. The CWO needs to have a Snowsport England or Snowsport England approved DBS check.  They can apply for this, via their Snowsport England membership or email dbs@snowsportengland.org.uk.
  3. The CWO needs to have completed two safeguarding courses in the last 3 years and upload their certificates to their Sport:80 membership profile:
    1. A basic safeguarding course – we recommend the UK Coaching SPC online-classroom and will also accept the UK Coaching SPC e-learning if this is a refresher.    AND
    2. Time to Listen.  We arrange one to two courses per year.  Our next course is on 31 May and there are a few spaces left if you need to book.  You can check the CPSU website for courses or contact your local Active Partnership to see when their next course is.
    3.  If you have a new CWO they will have 3 months to complete the training.
  4. Your club needs to adopt our Safeguarding Policies in your Constitution and we suggest the following wording:

The Club will ensure a duty of care to all members of the club by adopting and implementing Snowsport England’s safeguarding policies; SnowSafe Children and Young People and SnowSafe Adults and any future versions of these Policies.

If your Club has no members under the age of 18, we would still expect the club to have the Safeguarding statement in their Constitution to show how adopting SnowSafe safeguards Children and Young People – but you may wish to change the wording slightly and we suggest the following amends:

The Club will ensure a duty of care to all members by adopting and implementing Snowsport England’s safeguarding policies; SnowSafe Children and Young People, where applicable, and SnowSafe Adults and any future versions of these Policies.

Your adult only Club Welfare Officer will need to complete the UK Coaching Safeguarding Adults course, instead of the other 2 courses above and upload this to their membership profile.

The recent reviews into abuse in sport have made recommendations regarding safeguarding training, and organisations demonstrating their commitment to safeguarding in their Constitutions.

The measures above are basic measures and must be adopted by all Snowsport England affiliated clubs.  Please remember, we are here to support you, please contact the Safeguarding Lead if you need help with any of the information above.

Affiliating to Snowsport England gives your club and your members benefits with real advantages. You are also helping to support the grassroots of Snowsport and provide opportunities for everyone to get involved, no matter their experience or location.

Supporting the sport we all love means that we can continue to provide education, support, and a safe, welcoming environment for current and future Snowsport enthusiasts across the country. Giving people the opportunity to nurture their talent and be the bast they can be, having fun along the way.

If you have any further questions or require more information, please contact us on info@snowsportengland.ork.co.uk.