Safeguarding & player welfare
Sussex County Women and Girls Football League (SCWGFL) fully recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people (defined as any person under the age of 18) involved in football which it organises or supervises and is committed to working to provide them with a safe environment. The League subscribes and endorses The Football Association’s Football Safeguarding Framework and is committed to assuring best-practice is encouraged and celebrated through our member clubs.
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 or carers is essential. - Clubs should 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. They should recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in their club.
Clubs should endorse and adopt The FA’s Child Protection and Best Practice Guidelines for Recruiting Volunteers and should:
- 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 DBS Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.
Key safeguarding contacts
League Welfare & Respect Officer
Paul Okei-Kwatia
Email: scgwflwelfare.com
Referee Welfare Officer
Josh Dunn
Email: scgwflrefwelfare@outlook.com
Social Media Officer
Email: scgwflsocialmedia@outlook.com
Other useful contacts
- Contact The FA’s Safeguarding Team on 0800 169 1863 or email safeguarding@TheFA.com
- Contact Sussex County FA safeguarding team by email safeguarding@sussexfa.com
- Call the NSPCC 24-hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or text 88858 or email help@nspcc.org.uk or visit their website: www.nspcc.org.uk
- Guidance and advice for parents about the internet: www.parentzone.org.uk
Childline – Call 0800 1111
Key FA safeguarding & Welfare links and policies
For more information and some useful documents for all your Safeguarding concerns please refer to the FA website and the downloadable documents below.
Other useful links and policies
A selection of handy documents that clubs can use for reference or as a resource
Get involved...
If you want to get involved in something worthwhile that promotes football for girls and women across Sussex, get in touch today. We’re always looking for dedicated volunteers to help run the league.