Falmouth Town AFC Football Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person directly connected with the club and is committed to providing a safe environment for all. We recognise that those aged 16/17 years-of-age are legally defined as children and therefore we have a responsibility to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.
As such we subscribe to The Football Association's (The FA) Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures.
Falmouth Town AFC Football Club endorses and adopts the following key safeguarding principles:
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. Falmouth Town AFC Football Club recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.
Falmouth Town AFC 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 FA's Safeguarding Children Regulations (see The FA Handbook, TheFA.com/football-rules-governance/lawsandrules/fa-handbook) apply to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity, including coaches/managers, volunteers, match officials, helpers on club tours, or medical staff or other club officials/helpers.
We endorse and adopt The FA's Safer Recruitment guidelines and we will:
All current Falmouth Town AFC Football Club members working in eligible roles with children and young people, such as coaches/managers and physiotherapists, are required to hold an in-date FA accepted DBS enhanced with barred list check as part of safer recruitment practice.
It is noted and accepted that The FA will consider the relevance and significance of the information obtained via the DBS process and that all suitability decisions will be made in accordance with legislation and in the best interests of children and young people.
If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of a club official who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of Falmouth Town AFC Football Club, guidance will be sought from the County FA.
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.
Falmouth Town AFC Football Club supports The FA's Whistleblowing policy (as described in this paragraph), which requires any adult or young person with concerns about an adult in a position of trust within football can 'whistleblow' by contacting The FA Safeguarding Team 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.
Falmouth Town AFC Football Club encourages everyone to know about The FA's Whistleblowing Policy and to utilise it if necessary.
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 access our anti-bullying policy and know that incidents will be dealt with appropriately. Incidents need to be reported in accordance with section 7 below.
In cases of serious bullying the CFA Designated Safeguarding Officer may be contacted.
Everyone who works or volunteers with children is responsible and accountable for the way in which they behave around and towards them and every child has a right to be treated with respect and dignity. We always require adults within our club to exhibit acceptable behaviour. We adopt The FA's 'Acceptable Behaviours When Working With Young People; Guidance for Grassroots Football (5.7)'.
Codes of conduct for Players, Parents/Spectators, Officials and Coaches have been implemented by our Club. To police these 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 CFA in more serious circumstances.
In this Club, Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, and we know that inaction is not an option and if anyone is worried about a child it is important that they report their concerns to the Club Welfare Officer (if there is one) or a member of the Club committee, who will deal with reported concerns as follows:
The CWO (Adult Teams) can be contacted as follows:
Name: Susan Little
Contact Details: 07768331353 or susanlittle546@btinternet.com
If the CWO or a member of the Club committee is not available at any time, or the matter is clearly serious, all our members should be aware that they can:
Falmouth Town AFC Football Club Committee understands and accepts our collective responsibility to adhere to our safeguarding children policy and procedures. We commit to ensuring our members are aware of and have access to our policies.
Chairperson: Dale McIntosh
Secretary: Wayne Pascoe
Club Welfare Officer (Adult Teams): Susan Little
