Safeguarding
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You may be aware that Bowls England have advised that it is in your club's best interest to have a Welfare/Safeguarding Officer. Bowls England are working with the EIBA and the BDA to safeguard all those who participate in our sport. This is not the same role as that of the Health and Safety Officer.
This role is to Safeguard Children and Vulnerable Adults. The Club Safeguarding Officer (CSO) is the first point of contact for all safeguarding issues within their club. They are responsible for giving advice about the wellbeing, safeguarding and protection of young people, promoting good practice, ensuring the reporting process is clearly communicated and understood within the club, and helping the club create a safe and enjoyable environment where everyone understands their safeguarding responsibilities. The CSO is the person to take appropriate action on receipt of any concerns or referrals and liaise with the County Safeguarding Officer.
The contact details of both the Club Safeguarding Officer and the County Safeguarding Officer should be clearly displayed within your club along with the Club Safeguarding Policy.
I attach the Policy and Guideline documents that you may need to have for a better understanding of the requirements of your club and your Welfare/Safeguarding Officer.
All these documents are also available on the Bowls England website:
https://www.bowlsengland.com/search/safeguarding
Bowls England are recommending that all clubs send Coaches, Welfare/Safeguarding Officers and other relevant volunteers to a Sports Coach UK course and a Safeguarding in Bowls 'Time to Listen' course. Even if your club does not currently have any junior members these courses also raise the awareness of Vulnerable Adults.
These courses are run by Bowls Development Alliance and details of the courses and the bursaries available can also be found on the Bowls England website.
Your club may well require a supervisor to have a Criminal Records Bureau/Disclosure and Barring Service check. This is an Enhanced Criminal Record with Children Barred List (coaches without a DBS check, cannot coach Children or Vulnerable Adults without being supervised by a person with these credentials) this can be obtained via Bowls England and the details are attached.
Clubs are advised to check that their coaches are covered by the relevant insurance.
I think I have given you a lot of information to digest and discuss with your club and realise that this will not happen overnight, but hopefully we can work together to ensure this is implemented in a timely fashion. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries you may have and I will try and assist you.
Stuart Rigby
Richmond (Yorks) Safeguarding Officer
Email: stuart5229@outlook.com
Mobile phone: 07810 281192
Safeguarding - useful documents
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* Richmond (Yorks) Bowls Club Safeguarding Policy
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* Code of Conduct for Club Members
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* Code of Conduct for Club Officials and Volunteers
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* Safeguarding Adults in Bowls
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* Safeguarding Children in Bowls
