For the last couple of seasons, our Designated Safeguarding Officer, Graham Fisher, has been running monthly online support sessions for all BBFA Club and League Welfare Officers and Assistant Welfare Officers. 

The sessions combine a mixture of updates, networking and training. Graham also covers matters that arise regularly in the inboxes at County FA and provides answers around problems that Welfare Officers face within their roles.

During season 2021-22, Welfare Officers from seventy different clubs and three different leagues attended at least one of the live sessions. This is a great number and an increase of over twenty clubs from the previous season.

However, across Berks & Bucks there are 285 clubs with youth teams and 12 youth leagues providing affiliated football so there is still work to be done in terms of reaching as many of our Welfare Officers as possible to be able to provide them with more support, guidance and assistance. 

We are very aware and understand the demands on volunteers' time and so do appreciate people attending (or catching up on the recordings when they can) but we would like to continue growing these sessions and see attendances increase wherever possible so that more Welfare Officers can get access to support and guidance that can help them with the demands of the role.