Northleach Junior Football Club 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 its members.

A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any football club activity. We subscribe to The Football 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 that:
• The child’s welfare is, and always must be, the paramount 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 or 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. Northleach Junior Football Club recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.

Northleach Junior Football Club has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, emotional or sexual harm and from neglect or bullying. It is noted and accepted that The Football Association’s Safeguarding Children Regulation (see The FA Handbook) applies to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This includes those who are volunteers, match officials, helpers on club tours, football coaches, club officials or medical staff.

We endorse and adopt The FA’s Safeguarding Children Guidelines for Recruiting Volunteers* and will:
• Develop a role profile
• Request identification documents where the volunteer is unknown
• As a minimum, meet and chat with the volunteers before appointing
• Request and follow up with references before appointing volunteers where they are not known to us
• Require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.

All current Northleach Junior Football Club 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 no concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of Northleach Junior Football Club 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 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 physical or sexual harm to children and to minimise the risk of “grooming” within football.

Northleach Junior Football Club 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 Manager on 0207 745 4912, by writing to The FA Case Manager at The Football Association, 25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA or by going directly to the Police, Social Services or the NSPCC. Northleach Junior Football Club encourages everyone to know about and use it if necessary.

Northleach Junior Football Club has appointed Paula Burrell as Club Welfare Officer (CWO) in line with The FA’s role profile and required completion of the Safeguarding Children Workshop. The CWO is the first point of contact for all club members and parents or guardians regarding concerns for the welfare of any child or young person. She will liaise directly with the GFA CPO (Gloucestershire FA Child Protection Officer) and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any concerns.

Northleach Junior Football Club acknowledges and endorses 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, parents or carers should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly.

Incidents need to be reported to the CWO, one of the club’s volunteers or, in cases of serious bullying, to the GFA CPO.

A Code of Conduct for Players, Parents, Coaches and Spectators has been implemented by our football club. In order to validate our Code of Conduct the club has clear sanctions to deal with any misconduct at club level and acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctions which may be implemented by leagues or the GFA in more serious circumstances. All prospective and existing members will be informed and re-informed of the Code of Conduct.

Further advice on Safeguarding Children matters can be obtained from:
• Gloucestershire FA’s Child Protection Officer, whose contact details can be found at www.gloucestershirefa.com
• The FA/NSPCC Child Protection 24 Hour Helpline 0808 800 5000
• www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding
• The FA Child Protection Team 0207 745 4895.