2. Safeguarding Children Policy

Football Club Safeguarding Children Policy
1. Leiston 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 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 (The FA) Safeguarding Children – Policy
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, race, sexual orientation, faith or belief
• 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.
Leiston Football Club
recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult
involved in our club.

3. Leiston 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
Safeguarding Children Regulations (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. We endorse and adopt The FA’s Responsible Recruitment
guidelines for recruiting volunteers and we will:
• specify what the role is and what tasks it involves
• request identification documents
• as a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s)
and where possible interview people before
appointing them
• ask for and follow up with 2 references before
appointing someone
• where eligible require an FA accepted Enhanced
Criminal Record Check (CRC) with Barring List Check
in line with current FA policy and regulations.
All current Leiston Football
Club members working in eligible roles, with children
and young people - such as managers and coaches are
required to hold an in-date FA accepted Enhanced
CRC with Barring List check as part of responsible
recruitment practice1
.
If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an
individual who is already involved or who has approached
us to become part of Leiston
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 CRC Process and that all suitability
decisions will be made in accordance with legislation and
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.Leiston Football Club
supports The FA’s Whistle Blowing Policy. Any adult or
young person with concerns about a adult in a position
of trust with football can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting
The FA Safeguarding Team on 0800 169 1863, by writing
to The FA Case Manager at The Football Association,
Wembley Stadium, PO Box 1966, London SW1P 9EQ,
by emailing Safeguarding@TheFA.com or alternatively
by going direct to the Police, Children’s Social Care or
the NSPCC.
Leiston Football Club
encourages everyone to know about The FA’s Whistle
Blowing Policy and to utilise it if necessary.
6. Leiston Football Club
has appointed a Club Welfare Officer 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 County FA. The
Club Welfare Officer is the first point of contact for all
club members regarding concerns about the welfare of
any child or young person. The Club Welfare Officer 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 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 or parents/carers should be able to tell
and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly.
Incidents need to be reported to the Club Welfare
Officer in cases of serious bullying the CFA Welfare
Officer may be contacted.

8. Respect codes of conduct for Players, Parents/
Spectators, Officials and Coaches have been
implemented by
Football Club. In order 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 County FA in more
serious circumstances.

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.
i. If you are worried about a child then you need to
report your concerns to the Club Welfare Officer.
ii. If the issue is one of poor practice the Club Welfare
Officer will either:
• deal with the matter themselves or
• seek advice from the CFA Welfare Officer
iii.If the concern is more serious – possible child abuse,
where possible, contact the CFA Welfare Officer first,
then immediately contact the Police or Children’s
Social Care.
iv.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 Club
Welfare Officer know what action you have taken, they
in turn will inform the CFA Welfare Officer.
v. If at any time you are not able to contact your Club
Welfare Officer or the matter is clearly serious then
you can either:
• contact your CFA Welfare Officer directly
• contact The FA Safeguarding Team on
0800 169 1863 or Safeguarding@TheFA.com
• contact the Police or Children’s Social Care
• call the NSPCC 24 hour Helpline for advice on
0808 800 5000 or text 88858 or email
help@nspcc.org.uk
NB – The FA’s Safeguarding Children Policy and
Procedures are available via – www.TheFA.com/footballrules-governance/safeguarding – click on ‘Raising
Awareness – Best Practice Downloads’, the Policy and
Procedures document is within the resources area. The
policy outlines in detail what to do if you are concerned
about the welfare of a child and includes flow diagrams
which describe this process. How to make a referral is
also covered in the Safeguarding Children workshop.
Participants are given the opportunity to discuss how
this feels and how best they can prepare themselves to
deal with such a situation. For more information on this
workshop contact your County Welfare Officer.
10. Further advice on Safeguarding Children matters can
be obtained from:
• Alastair Browning
T: 07753 815001
E: welfare.officer@leistonfc.co.uk
•
County Football Association’s Welfare Officer
T: 01449 616006
E: CountyWO@suffolkfa.com
• www.TheFA.com/football-rules-governance/
safeguarding
• Emailing – Safeguarding@TheFA.com
• The FA Safeguarding Children general enquiry line
0845 210 8080