Welfare Requirements at Affiliation
As you should now know, every Youth Football League, every Youth Football Club and any Club that has players under the age of 18 or vulnerable adults, MUST have a qualified Welfare Officer in place. This means that they must be FA CRB cleared and have attended both a Safe-guarding Children and Welfare Officer Workshop within the last three years.
CRBs
The Berks & Bucks FA, together with the FA believe that football should be safe and enjoyable for all children and has introduced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks to help in this process.
The link above will take you to the FA website, where you will find guidance notes and templates for the FA Criminal Record Bureau.
Clubs now also have the opportunity to conduct CRB checks online. For more information, please take a look at the attachment below.
Safeguarding & Welfare Courses
Berks & Bucks FA offer both the 3 hr Safeguarding Children course and the specific Welfare Officers Workshop (3hrs) Please click on the link above for information on courses available near to you.
Improved online service now available for welfare officers
The service is accessed through your Members Service on this website and includes the following new tools:
•Receive updates from the Equality & Children Protection (ECP) department via the Safeguarding page
•View the CRB and SCW Certificate via the Club Status screen
•Filter records by CRB Status (Accepted, In Progress or Not Started)
•Remove individuals who are no longer involved with the club
•Add Individuals missing from the club records
•Print the Safeguarding records of individuals at the club
•View the Safeguarding profile of an individual by clicking on an individual’s FAN via the Club Status page.
•This includes their CRB, SCW and WOW records along with the contact details we have on record.
The service is available to all volunteer Club and Youth League Welfare Officers only.
We hope that you find the new tools beneficial in your important role within affiliated football. Please help us to help you keep your records up to date by removing individuals no longer at your club.
To get started download the Online Safeguarding Service resource document at the bottom of this page.
Respect
Respect is The FA’s programme to address unacceptable behaviour in football – on and off the pitch. Berks & Bucks FA are committed to the programme. If you would like to arrange for a Respect Presentation at your club or league please contact Lisa.Welling@Berks-BucksFA.com
Welfare Officers
All Youth Football Clubs now have a Welfare Officer in place.
Every Youth Football Club who are affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA now have a fully qualified Welfare Officer attached to them. If you don't know who yours is, please ask your Club Secretary. In addition, Berks & Bucks FA have ensured that all affiliated Youth Leagues also have a League Welfare Officer who can offer help and guidance.
If you require more information on the role and responsibilities of your Welfare Officer, contact Maria.Ready@Berks-BucksFA.com
Good Practice
If you have an good practice examples within Welfare and Respect then we want to hear from you. If you feel others could benefit from what you or your club/league have put in place then let us know.
If you can not find what you are looking for, please contact Maria.Ready@Berks-BucksFA.com
