To help make their members feel more comfortable to raise any safeguarding concerns, Welsh Athletics recently made it mandatory for all athletics clubs in Wales to have both a male and female welfare officer. And it’s a move that other sports may also want to consider too.
The simple step of having someone of their own gender to talk to might make the difference between an adult or child feeling comfortable to disclose an issue, or not.
Welsh Athletics have taken a zero tolerance approach to implementing this rule, and have supported more than 200 Club Welfare Officers to undergo training during the last year.
Commending Welsh Athletics, Clare Skidmore, Sport Wales’ Governance Development Officer, said: “I’m pleased to share this example of good practice with the rest of the Welsh sport sector. It’s great to see how Welsh Athletics have given so much thought to creating better environments and a culture in which people feel comfortable in identifying and reporting poor behaviour so that we stop abuse and harm from happening.
“Having both male and female Club Welfare Officers is a really positive step forward and it is something that I would certainly encourage other mixed gender sports clubs to consider. In circumstances where this may not be possible due to the size of a club, it may be worth smaller clubs considering how they might share their safeguarding support with another local club so that they can pool their male and female resources.”
Welsh Athletics have also increased the amount of training that their welfare officers receive, as Carl Williams, Welsh Athletics Safeguarding Lead Officer, explains: “In 2020, the five athletics governing bodies in the UK commissioned Christopher Quinlan QC to undertake a widespread review of the sport.
“His report identified that our previous safeguarding training programme wasn’t fit for purpose, so we’ve made it compulsory for all Club Welfare Officers to firstly take a ‘Safeguarding in Athletics’ NSPCC course, followed by a supplementary ‘Time to Listen’ course delivered through the Welsh Sports Association.
“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from Club Welfare Officers who were impressed by the additional course and how it gave them the confidence, tools and knowledge to perform the role.”
Clare Skidmore added: “The fact that all Club Welfare Officers within athletics receive such thorough mandatory training is excellent practice. It really helps them to understand their role and deal with any disclosures.
“It’s always encouraging to see just how much desire there is among our partners who want to make sport as safe as possible rather than seeing the role of a safeguarding lead just being a ‘name on a piece of paper’ and tick boxing. I also think that Welsh Athletics’ collaboration with the WSA is something to highlight and celebrate.”
All Sport Wales partners can access support around safeguarding from both the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit and Ann Craft Trust (for adult safeguarding). Partners can also join our Safeguarding Forum which is facilitated by both organisations and is proving to be a useful way of partners networking, learning, collaborating and sharing good practice.
If you have any queries about safeguarding, please contact Clare Skidmore, Sport Wales’ Governance Development Officer, by emailing [javascript protected email address]