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1. Oyster Youth Football Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of everychild and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working toprovide a safe environment for all members. A child or young person is anyone under the age18 engaged in any club football activity. We subscribe to The Football Association’s child tection and best practice policy and procedures and endorse and adopt the policy contained in that document.
2. The key principles of The FA Child Protection Policy are that:
(a) The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration
(b) 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
(c) All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
(d) Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents or carers is essential.
(e) 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. Oyster Youth Football Club recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.
3. Oyster Youth 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 Football Association’s child protection regulation (see The FA Handbook) applies to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This includes those who are a volunteer, match official, helper on club tours, football coach, club official or medical staff.
4. We endorse and adopt The FA’s Child Protection and Best Practice Guidelines for Recruiting Volunteers and will:
(a) Develop a role profile
(b) Request identification documents
(c) As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where possible conduct interviews before appointing
• Require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.
All current Oyster Youth 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 concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of Oyster Youth 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 CRB 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 sexual or physical harm to children and to minimise the risk of ‘grooming’ within football.
5. Oyster Youth 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 FAChild Protection Manager on 0207 745 4771, by writing to The FA Case Manager at The Football Association, 25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA or by going direct to the police, social services or the NSPCC. Oyster Youth Football Club encourages everyone to know about it and utilise it if necessary.
6. Oyster Youth Football Club has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (CWO) in line with The FA’s role profile and required completion of the child protection and best practice workshop. The post holder will be involved with designated person’s training provided by The FA. 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. They will liaise directly with the CFA CPO and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any concerns. They will also play a proactive role in increasing an awareness of poor practice and abuse amongst club members.
7. 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, parents or guardians should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly.
Incidents need to be reported to the CWO, a member of the committee or, in cases of serious bullying contact the CFA CPO.
8. Codes of conduct for players, parents or spectators, officials and coaches have been implemented by Oyster Youth Football Club. These codes can be found on theclubs website and are available anytime on request n order to validate these codes of conduct the club has clear sanctions to deal with any isconduct at club level and acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctions which may e implemented by leagues or the CFA in more serious circumstances. All prospective members will be informed of these codes.
9. For further information on child protection matters Click here to Colchester and District League Child Protection
or you can contact
The County Football Association’s Child Protection Officer, whose details can be found in the County Handbook
The Football Association/NSPCC Child Protection
24-Hour Helpline 0808 800 5000
www.TheFA.com/Goal
The FA child protection team on 0207 745 4649.
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