Wycombe Hockey Welfare Officer
WHC welfare officer are volunteers and club members who will be able to support and guide members, players, parents / carers on issues and implementation of club welfare and good practice. We are here for you to voice your concerns to which will be acted on in confidence.
If you start working within our club either on a paid or voluntary basis you will need to compete a couple of welfare requirents.
(1) Complete a DBS (Data Barring Service) check.
Any one aged 16+ needs to complete.
A DBS (previously CRB) enables England Hockey and its clubs/associations to make informed recruitment decisions. Any individuals wishing to work with young people in hockey are required to undertake and enhanced DBS check and/or barred list check.
England Hockey use GBGroup Online Disclosures to process our checks, allowing a swift and efficient service.
Procedure: You will receive an email from gbg.onlinedisclosure.co.uk. Please click on the link within the email and open an account creating your own password. Add your personal information and once complete let Marco aware. A meeting will now need to be arranged to confirm your personal information you added onto the system’showing this ID (passport, driving licence and or bill) will complete the process. Once complete you will receive your DBS certificate in the post after approximately three weeks. This is valid for three years. Your DBS has to be completed by England Hockey. A school or another sport is not valid with EH.
(2) Complete the Safe Guarding and Protecting Young People course
To be completed by anyone 16+
It is essential that all people who work with under 18s in hockey receive training that is appropriate to their role.
Having suitably-trained people within our club provides a better experience for young people, on and off the pitch, and also protects coaches, umpires and volunteers.
Hockey relies on people with the right skills and knowledge working to inspire, encourage and nurture young people to play / participate to their maximum potential, in a fun and enjoyable environment.
Recruiting the people into the right role is an essential part of the process, ensuring that appropriate checks are completed. Once those people are in their role it’s important to assess their training needs.
The role of Welfare Officer
The key role of the Welfare Officer is to support the organisation to promote good safeguarding practice across the organisation, to be the named point of contact for all members of the Hockey Family, to implement England Hockey’s Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Hockey Policy & Procedures where a concern has been raised.
ROLE DESCRIPTION FOR WELFARE OFFICER (INCLUDING DBS ADMINISTRATION)
EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE
• Own organisations role and responsibilities to safeguard the welfare of young people – boundaries of the Welfare Officer role
• Knowledge of England Hockey’s Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Hockey Policy & Procedures and own organisation’s policy and procedures
• Basic knowledge of core legislation and government guidance This can be gained through welfare officer training
• Basic knowledge of roles and responsibilities of local statutory agencies (children’s services, police, Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). This can be gained through welfare officer training. The Welfare Officer must have full contact details for their local agencies
• Awareness of equality and safeguarding issues
SKILLS
• Child-focused
• Good listener and being non judgmental of any issues or concerns that are raised
• Basic administration*
• Basic safeguarding advice and support
• Communication (with all members of the organisation including young people and adults)
• Interpersonal skills and being calm and approachable at all times
• Maintaining accurate records of issues and concerns that have been raised
• Ability to promote organisation’s policy, procedures and resources
ADMINISTRATION
(the DBS administration role could be undertaken by a separate person working alongside the Welfare Officer)
• Administration is an essential skill where the Welfare Officer is fulfilling the role of administrating the DBS check. All England Hockey DBS checks are now completed online, so a basic level of IT skills are required.
• Liaising with relevant members of the organisation regarding the completion of their DBS check
• Verification of identity documents for relevant members completing their DBS check
• Maintaining an accurate register of in progress/completed DBS checks and coaching qualifications
TRAINING
• It is a requirement that Welfare Officers attend the Sports Coach UK ‘Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport’ workshop. For details of local workshops go to: www.sportscoachuk.org
• England Hockey deliver ‘Time to Listen’ (TTL) workshops. These hockey specific workshops, aimed in particular at Welfare Officers, build on the awareness of the Sports Coach UK workshop and focus on implementation of safeguarding at local level. For details of workshops please contact your Regional Office. The Sports Coach UK workshop is a prerequisite for attending the TTL workshop. It is a requirement that Welfare Officers attend TTL as part of the ClubsFirst accreditation process.
All clubs, associations and individuals are bound by England Hockey’s Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Hockey Policy. England Hockey’s revised policy shows commitment to creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment for all young people involved hockey.
This policy has been adopted within our club and is available on our club notice board at Cressex and a link to the booklet is below in this section for members to view.
Please take time to read the documents below.
If you have any questions or ANY concern relating to a member please contact us as soon as possible.
Welfare and safeguarding information and associated forms are available by clicking on the links below:
reference form for those working with young people
Education and training guidance for welfare and safeguarding