Safeguarding Policy

1. Blyth Spartans Juniors as an FA Charter Standard 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 members. A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any Club football activity. We subscribe to The Football Association's Safeguarding Children Policies and Procedures and endorse and adopt the Policy Statement contained in that document.

2. The key principles of The FA Safeguarding Children Policy are that:

  • 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, 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/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.

3. Blyth Spartans Juniors recognises that safeguarding children is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.

Blyth Spartans Juniors 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 Association's 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.

4. Blyth Spartans Juniors endorses and adopts The FA's Responsible Recruitment guidelines for recruiting volunteers and we will:

  • Develop a role profile
  • Request identification documents
  • As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where possible conduct interviews before appointing
  • Request and follow up with two references before appointing
  • Require an FA approved DBS Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines. All our current members who are regularly caring for, supervising, training or being in sole charge of children and young people will be required to complete a DBS Enhanced Disclosure via The DBS disclosure unit and renew every 3 years

If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of our 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 Enhanced DBS Disclosure and that all decisions will be made in the best interests of children and young people.

Blyth Spartans Juniors 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.

5. Blyth Spartans Juniors supports The FA's Whistle blowing Policy. Any adult or young person with concerns about a colleague can 'whistle blow' by contacting The FA Safeguarding Team by writing to The FA Case Manager at:

The Football Association, Wembley Stadium, PO Box 1966, London SW10 9EQ

Email [email protected] or telephone 0800 1691863 and ask for the FA Safeguarding team or alternatively by going direct to the Police, Children's Social Care or the NSPCC. Our club encourages everyone to know about this information and utilise it if necessary.

6. Blyth Spartans Juniors has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (CWO) 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 CWO is the first point of contact for all Club committee members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. The CWO will liaise directly with the County FA (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 their Club members.

7. At Blyth Spartans Juniors we acknowledge and endorse The FA's identification of bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind is not acceptable in our club. 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 CWO or alternatively, in cases of serious bullying, we may contact the CFA Welfare Officer.

8. Respect codes of conduct for Players, Parents/Spectators, Officials and Coaches have been implemented by our Club. To validate these Respect 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. All registering members will be required to adopt the Respect codes.

9. Reporting your concerns about the welfare of a child or young person - 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.

  • If you are worried about a child then you need to report your concerns to the CWO
  • If the issue is one of poor practice they will either:
    • Deal with the matter themselves or
    • Seek advice from the CFA Welfare Officer
  • If the concern is more serious - possible child abuse - they will, where possible, contact the CFA Welfare Officer first, then immediately contact the Police or Children's Services
  • 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 CFA Welfare Officer know what action you have taken
  • If at any time you are not able to contact your Club Welfare Officer, or the matter is clearly serious then you can either:

To contact the club welfare officer email [email protected].

For further advice on safeguarding matters view the Northumberland FA Handbook or email them the FA at [email protected].