| At Gillingham Town Youth Football Club our number one concern is the safety and welfare of the children who play for the club and the adults who work with them. All our coaches have a valid DBS checks, are FA approved emergency first aid qualified and have attended the FA Safeguarding Children workshop. These are updated and refreshed periodically in line with FA guidelines. The Club’s Welfare Officer (CWO) is Sue O’Brien Email address: welfaregtyfc@gmail.com If you have any concerns about the welfare of any child at the club please contact the CWO. What does a Club Welfare Officer do? Club Welfare Officers have two key roles: To be informed and aware of the league or club’s responsibilities when running football activities for children and young people e.g., ensuring these responsibilities are well understood by others and developing best practice processes. Helping league and club personnel understand their ‘duty of care’ towards children and young people e.g., ensuring all relevant people complete The FA’s ‘Safeguarding Children’ training programme, helping to make sure trips away are organised properly and managing the roll out of FA CRB checks. The Club Welfare Officer sits on the Club Committee and knows all of the Club’s coaches and managers. If the CWO is unavailable there are listed below some alternative contact details: Designated Safeguarding Officer: Zoe Pollard Zoe.Pollard@dorsetfa.com or 01202 688281/ 07908 647054 Senior Safeguarding Lead: Kevin Pike Kevin.Pike@dorsetfa.com or 01202 688270/ 07903 574657 Deputising Designated Safeguarding Officer: Natalie Wood Natalie.Wood@dorsetfa.com or 01202 688273/ 07464 463447 Deputising Senior Safeguarding Lead: Sue Hough Sue.Hough@dorsetfa.com You could contact the Dorset Youth League Welfare Officer: Matt Lucas WO@dorsetyouthfootballleague.co.uk Or any member of the clubs’ committee who will be available to discuss issues and concerns you may have. Click here to view the Club’s Committee. Policies There are a number of policies we have in place to safeguard our players. There are also forms to complete on registration so make sure you read those carefully and ask your coach if you have any questions. If you can’t find what you are looking for, or have a concern then contact the Club Welfare Officer. GTYFC EQUALITY POLICY GTYFC ANTI-BULLYING POLICY GTYFC SAFEGUARDING POLICY Code of Conduct PDF Links: COVID-19Please remember that if you, or anyone in your household, is showing any Coronavirus symptoms, please do not attend training or matches. See the government website https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus to get a test, and self-isolate for at least 10 days after a positive test result.· If your child has been asked to self-isolate by their school, please let their coach know and do not attend training.· If your child has a positive test result, please inform the club. The Clubhouse/Changing Rooms are currently closed. Please make sure your child attends training and matches in appropriate kit.· All players should have their own hand sanitiser and use it regularly.· Please encourage your child to use the toilet before leaving home as the facilities at Kington Magna and Gillingham School are limited and use will be restricted.· Spectating at training (and matches when they resume) is currently allowed. However, spectators must stand in the allocated space on the same side as their team’s coach. Please remember to socially distance. For up to date guidance from the FA, please click here: https://www.thefa.com/news/2020/jul/17/grassroots-guidance-for-competitive-football-restart-in-england-170720 For guidance from the Dorset League please click here: http://www.dorsetyouthfootballleague.co.uk/return-to-football/ Interested in volunteering? We are always looking for new faces to join the GTYFC community. There are lots of roles too- so if you are not a footballer, don’t worry! As well as coaches and assistants, we are on the lookout for people to run the lines, café servers (and cake makers!), support with maintaining the grounds and help with administrative jobs. All volunteers regularly working with children are provided with a CRB check and safeguarding course run by the FA. Interested in coaching? If you are interested in coaching or supporting a coach, The FA has launched a new, entry-level football course for both current and future volunteers in the grassroots game – The FA Playmaker supported by BT. It’s open to anyone aged 14+, completely free to sign up, and requires no previous football experience or qualifications before signing up. Spread over five modules, the course focuses on the brilliant basics of football providing a toolkit anyone can use to get involved and help create fun, safe and inclusive experiences in the game. Click here to sign up: https://www.thefa.com/bootroom/learning/qualifications/fa-playmaker Useful links: Kids Pitch – https://www.dorsetfa.com/players/kids-pitch ThinkUKNow – www.thinkuknow.co.uk Thinkuknow is the education programme from NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children both online and offline. NSPCC – www.nspcc.org.uk / 0808 800 500 Childline – www.childline.org.uk / 0800 1111 FA Online Safety – https://www.thefa.com/news/2019/feb/05/safer-internet-day-050219 CEOP – Information for parents about child exploitation and online safety – https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/ In an emergency child welfare situation we would encourage you to contact the police. |