RYA Child Protection Policy and Guidelines
RYANI follow the RYA Child Protection Policy
Update for Clubs December 2016
The recent coverage of allegations of
historical sexual abuse in football has raised everyone’s awareness of the need
to ensure that safeguarding policies and procedures are as robust as possible. Now is an excellent time to review your club’s
procedures in readiness for the 2017 season.
Parents and children need to feel confident that clubs are safe places
and that any concerns will be taken seriously and acted on appropriately.
The RYA
strongly recommends that all clubs with members or participants aged under 18
adopt a safeguarding policy and some straightforward supporting procedures, and
make all members aware of them. All RYA
Recognised Training Centres offering training to under-18s are required to have
a safeguarding policy and procedures in place.
If the Training Centre is part of a Club, the policy should be adopted
by the club as a whole.
The essential
points to be covered are:
- A child’s right to be safe and protected from harm
- Contact details for your Welfare/Safeguarding Officer – they don’t need
to be an expert, the RYA can provide access to training and support, but they
do need to be someone children and parents will find approachable
- Good practice guidelines for those volunteering or working with children
- A Club Code of Conduct explaining the standards of behaviour expected of
children, parents and other adults – this could be linked to the RYA Racing
Charter and Racing Rule 69
- Policies on matters such as access to showers and changing rooms, taking
and publishing images of children, etc
- Clear procedures to be followed if there are concerns about a child’s
welfare.
The RYA
publishes guidelines (above link) to help you draw up your policy and procedures. These can be found on the website: www.rya.org.uk/go/safeguarding The guidance is currently under annual
review and an updated version will be published in early January. The RYA also acts as an ‘umbrella body’
registered with AccessNI to enable you to request criminal records checks for
relevant staff/volunteers.
If you have
any questions about your safeguarding procedures, please contact the RYA’s
Safeguarding and Equality Manager, Jackie Reid, at safeguarding@rya.org.uk or on 023 8060 4104.
Resources/ Templates
Sample Attendance Register
safeguarding@rya.org.uk
Code of Conduct for Children and Young People
Useful Links
The Child Protection in Sport Unit
For further details on Child Protection, please contact the RYANI Child Protection Officer Paul Bunting dsco.ryani@gmail.com 028 9038 3812
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