Finding A Good Club For Your Child
What is a good club?
A good club will:
- Have a club welfare officer
- Have a safeguarding children policy
- Welcome questions about their activities
- To work with children
- Have a written code of conduct for club officials, players and spectators
- Offer support and training to volunteers and staff
- Have a qualified coach
- Have a qualified first aider
- Have an equality policy
- Have a club complaints procedure
Choosing the right club
Choosing a club that has achieved Clubmark will ensure that all of the above are in place. More information on Clubmark clubs can be found in the Club section.
Remember:
All affiliated clubs must have a Safeguarding Children Policy and a Club Welfare Officer in place. If you want to know more about how a club operates or to get involved with volunteering at a club just ask. A good club will be happy to let you now how they organise things. Most clubs are looking for new members and especially volunteers.
You have a right and a responsibility to ensure that your children are safe at all times.
What should you be wary of?
The following list is courtesy of the NSPCC’s A Guide to Help Parents and Carers Choose Children’s Activities, 2006:
- Activities where parents are discouraged from staying to watch or become involved
- Behaviour or activities that encourage rough play, sexual innuendo or humiliating punishments
- Individuals who take charge and operate independently of organisational guidelines
- Individuals who show favouritism or personally reward specific children
- Encouragement of inappropriate physical contact
- Poor communication and lack of parental involvement, leaving you feeling uneasy
- Children who drop out or stop going for no apparent reason
- Invitations for children to spend time alone with staff or volunteers (or even visit their home)
