Club Welfare Officer Support Clinic
Monthly clinics to review concerns, policies and establishing a safe culture in clubs with CWOs. Offering monthly support, advice & CPD. Second Tuesday of each month, 17.00-18.00 and starting in November 2023. Use following link to join:
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Meeting ID: 332 575 435 569
Passcode: tPoADB
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Club Welfare Officer
All British Judo Association Clubs with under 18-year-old members should have a Club Welfare Officer (CWO) by April 2024 to ensure children’s welfare is prioritised at their club. In addition, we encourage all clubs to have a CWO in all clubs to extend our safeguarding of both adults and children.
The CWO needs to be well supported by the club and have a formal role on the club’s management committee. It is the whole club’s responsibility to ensure children’s welfare, and everyone has a role to play.
The CWO plays a key role in advising the committee on its approach and ensuring that this is monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Due to the nature of this role all CWO will not be related to a Coach. In the interests of best practice, the CWO ideally should be a separate role from coaching.
Download / View the Club Welfare Officer Profile
Download / View BJA Information for CWOs (May 2024)
What does the Club Welfare Officer do?
- Assist the club to fulfil its responsibilities to safeguard children and young people.
- Assist the club to implement its child protection plan.
- Be the first point of contact regarding concerns about children’s welfare, poor practice or child abuse.
- The CWO is responsible for following the British Judo Association’s policy and procedures especially in relation to safeguarding and in particular the reporting procedures.
- Maintaining appropriate records and assessing information promptly and carefully, clarifying or obtaining more information about the matter as appropriate.
- Initially discuss your concerns with the British Judo Association Lead Child Protection Officer in England and Wales or the Judo Scotland Lead Child Protection Officer in Scotland
- Consult initially with a statutory child protection agency such as the local social services department or health board, or the NSPCC, to test out any doubts or uncertainty about the concerns as soon as possible, in agreement with the BJA Safeguarding Manager.
- Make a formal referral to a statutory child protection agency e.g. social services department or the police (by telephoning by 101 for non-emergency, or 999 in an emergency) without delay. It is NOT the role of the club to decide whether a child has been abused or not. This is the task of the social services department and the police or NSPCC.
- In Scotland, there is also a legal requirement to make a referral to disclosure Scotland if a person shows harmful behaviour and they’re :
- Dismissed as a result
- Would or might have been dismissed but left before they could be
- Permanently moved away from work with Children or protected adults
- If any of these actions were taken, the club must make a referral to Disclosure Scotland within 3 months of making the decision
- Examples of harmful behaviour include:
- Harming a Child or protected adult
- Placing a Child or protected adult at risk of harm
- Inappropriate behaviour involving pornography
- Inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature involving a child or protected adult
- Giving inappropriate medical treatment to a child or protected adult
- This applies regardless of any action or decision by Police or social worker if the criteria above have been met
- Advice on whether you need to make a referral can be found by emailing customerengagement@disclosurescotland.gov.scot
- Be the first point of contact with the National Lead Child Protection Officer.
- Maintain contact details for local Social Services, Police, and how to obtain the Area Child Protection Committee’s policy/procedures. Contact details for local/national help lines should also be maintained and publicised within the club.
- Promote the clubs best practice guidance/code of conduct within the club in line with the club’s plans. This may involve working with children/young people and parents on developing the club’s approach to the best behaviour of everyone at the club.
- Promote and ensure adherence to the club’s child protection training plan.
- The CWO will need to ensure that everyone is aware of what training is available and work with the club management committee to ensure that training requirements are met.
- Ensure confidentiality is maintained alongside the club’s management committee.
- Promote anti-discriminatory practice. The club must ensure that it has made clear its commitment to anti-discriminatory practice in its policy, procedures and plans for safeguarding children and young people’s welfare. The club should also have an Equity policy.
Who is best suited to be a Club Welfare Officer?
Club Welfare Officer roles are suited to those people who want to volunteer on a regular basis.
They are ideal for existing club members, parents who want to get more involved with a few spare hours each week as well as people who already work in social services or the police.
What skills are required to be a Club Welfare Officer?
A CWO requires a certain level of observation, self-awareness and critical thinking. They also need to be patient with good communication skills and able to adapt to a range of varied age groups.
Why should you get involved?
Ensuring the safety of children and vulnerable members of a judo club is very rewarding. People interested in becoming CWO should also get involved if you want to:
- Make a positive difference in the community
- Ensure safeguarding policies and guidelines are followed
How can I get involved?
In order to become a CWO you will need to complete the following:
- Safeguarding and Protection of Child (SPC) course in England and Wales or Child wellbeing and protection in sport courses in Scotland
- in England and Wales a Time to Listen (TTL) course or in Scotland a sportscotland Child wellbeing and Protection in Sport Officer (CWPO) training course
- Complete a Club Welfare Officer Registration Form
- in England and Wales a Disclosure and Barring service (DBS) check or in Scotland a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) check
- Read the Access to Data agreement
Please be advised the SPC, TTL (CWPS and CWPO in Scotland) and DBS/PVG are valid for three years. It is the CWO’s duty to keep the requirements up to date failing to do so will invalidate their CWO status.
Once you have completed all of the above you will be sent a Membership Application. As a CWO you will be entitled to a free of charge one year recreational license or £20.00 off a full British Judo Association membership if you would like to go through the grading system.
CWO Application Process
CWO recruitment & validation:
If club member is interested in becoming a CWO, contact the Deputy Safeguarding Manager (DSM) Safeguarding@britishjudo.org.uk who will issue to the prospective CWO:
• An application form (completed & returned to DSM)
DSM initiates the completion of the following for CWO validation:
• Safeguarding Course (Face to Face or alternatively interactive online classroom courses (L2) for first validation). As good practice, we would prefer CWO to attend a FtF class where possible, but will accept an interactive online classroom course if this isn’t possible.
• Time to Listen (online course)
• DBS (enhanced with barring list for children)
After these have been checked as complete:
• DSM to inform BJA membership for validation as CWO confirmation on BJA CRMS myMA
Renewal of validation for CWOs:
• Safeguarding Course (online course every alternate revalidation otherwise Face to Face or interactive online classroom courses (L2) )
• Time to Listen (online course)
• DBS (enhanced with barring list for children)
Volunteering Q&A | Sport England
Active Partnerships Sport Welfare Officer Network
Active Partnerships have published a new press release about the progress of the SWO network which you may wish to share with your clubs. Sport Welfare Officer Network strengthened by new recruits | Active Partnerships
A full list of SWOs with their contact details is now available on the Active Partnerships National Organisation website. This list will be updated weekly as new SWOs come into post. Sport Welfare Officer Network | Active Partnerships
Sport Welfare Officer overview for clubs
Sport Welfare Officer overview for partners
