Club Welfare Officer Bulletin

Issue No. 2:  NOVEMBER 2018

Dear

Welcome to the second British Orienteering Club Welfare Officer Bulletin.

British Orienteering has committed to communicating to Club Welfare Officers on a regular basis to ensure that they stay up to date with the latest safeguarding policies and practices. If there is someone else in your club that you feel it is appropriate to send this bulletin to as well please let us know as we are committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of all those involved in the sport of orienteering.  If you are no longer the safeguarding officer and would like to be removed from the list please let us know.

In this bulletin:

·      CPSU Annual Review – Welfare Audit
·      Overnight Accommodation
·      Welfare & Safeguarding Groups
·      Training Opportunities
·      British Orienteering Safeguarding Email Address

CPSU Annual Review – Welfare Officer Audit

In the last Bulletin we informed you about Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) Annual Review of British Orienteering’s Safeguarding Practices.

One of the Action Points is that we are required to carry out a full audit of safeguarding at all clubs affiliated to British Orienteering to:

• Find out the level of training that the Club Welfare Officers have, and
   
• To establish what level of support that we need to offer to these Officers.

The aim is to have all affiliated clubs having an appointed and trained Welfare Officer.

You can enter the information here via Survey Monkey. 
Alternatively please email: info@britishorienteering.org.uk

Please can you provide this information by 15th November 2018.

Thank you for your assistance.

Overnight Accommodation Guidelines

In the last bulletin, we highlighted that members have requested further guidance around young athletes and overnight accommodation. Although this is referred to in the O-Safe policy we accept that further guidance would be useful to ensure that trip organisers are fully aware of the potential safeguarding risks to both young people and accompanying adults. The Guidelines can be found in the O Safe policy, Appendix 11.

Welfare & Safeguarding Group

British Orienteering Board will be reviewing the Terms of Reference for the Welfare & Safeguarding Group and widening it's brief to include Case Management of allegations, incidents, or referrals related to safeguarding of children and young people.  The new Terms of Reference will be considered at the December 2018 Board Meeting.

British Orienteering will be looking to extend the current range of expertise on the Welfare & Safeguarding Group by appointing new (volunteer) members to the group, including a new Chair.

After the meeting in December we will be recruiting for members of this group.
However, if you are interested in being involved please let us know by emailing:  safeguarding@britishorienteering.org.uk

The commitment we are looking for is:

• Meetings as required (approximately 3 times per year, normally 1-2 hours via videoconference), and
   
• To respond to electronic communication and case information within a short time frame.
   
• Whilst this is not a role with a significant time commitment, the time required may vary significantly throughout the year depending on the nature and volume of concerns received by the group.

Training Opportunities

If you need support in identifying relevant training for individuals in your Club or Association then the 'Child Protection in Sport' website is a good place to start and it offers a variety of different resources for individuals and clubs.

Courses that we can recommend to coaches, club volunteers or committee members involved in delivering youth sport are:

1. The e-learning course – this is a free course. 
   
   The link to this course is here.
    
2. If you are the Club Welfare Officer and have not attended any training we can recommend you log in to the Basic Safeguarding Training. This course/module outlines the core principles of safeguarding good practice, responding to concerns and legislation. There is a cost of £20 for this training.
   
   The link to this course is here.  

British Orienteering Safeguarding Email Address

British Orienteering's primary responsibility is to ensure that concerns and any relevant information are reported and where appropriate passed on to the Police and Children’s Social Care without delay. These organisations have the statutory responsibility to make enquiries to establish if a child is at risk of harm.

One of the mechanisms that British Orienteering has to facilitate the reporting of potential safeguarding concerns is a British Orienteering safeguarding email address. This email allows individuals to report safeguarding concerns directly to the Lead Safeguarding Officer. Reports could include any concerns about the welfare of children either within orienteering or outside of orienteering and any concerns over adult behaviour related to the welfare of children, including those away from the sport that involve members or participants. Please could you ensure that all your club members are aware of this email address and where possible that it is publicised at events.

The British Orienteering safeguarding email address is: safeguarding@britishorienteering.org.uk

Many thanks to those that responded to the earlier communication requesting National Office Support with safeguarding. 

We are very grateful for this. The individuals have been contacted and have already been given a task to do! If you or someone else you are in contact with have any safeguarding expertise to offer then we would love to hear from you. 

Please contact: info@britishorienteering.org.uk