Safeguarding and welfare is a priority for Swaffham Golf Club. We want to ensure that all players, visitors, staff, and volunteers understand what they need to do to create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

Government guidance makes it clear that ‘Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility’, and we all have a part to play. It is essential that every sector in the golfing community, including players, officials and club staff take safety of all seriously.

We should all be talking about safeguarding and contributing to meeting our overall duty of care.

Safeguarding Children and Young People

There are five main types of abuse:

* Neglect - something as simple as failing to provide adequate food and weather appropriate clothing.
* Physical Abuse - examples in sports may be when the nature and intensity of competition exceeds the capacity of the child or young person’s immature and growing body.
* Sexual Abuse - this could include inadvertently showing children or young people inappropriate material/images.
* Emotional Abuse - examples in sport may include children or young people who are subjected to criticism or pressure to perform to unrealistically high expectations.
* Bullying by Peers - example in sports could be a child or young person who actively seeks to make sports a difficult or unhappy experience for others.

Anyone who has a negative experience of golf at a young age is less likely to become a long-term participant. It is important for the future of the sport and every golf club that children and young people have an enjoyable experience of golf.

Safeguarding Adults

‘Safeguarding adults involves prevention, and creating a safe culture and environment, where people feel able to raise concerns and understand the process of how to go about it and who to go to.”

Types of harm:

* Self-neglect
* Modern Slavery
* Domestic Abuse
* Discriminatory
* Organisational
* Physical
* Sexual
* Financial or material
* Neglect/Acts of omission
* Emotional or psychological
* Cyber Bullying
* Forced marriage
* Hate crime
* Radicalisation

SafeGolf

In 2018 England Golf launched a national standalone safeguarding accreditation called SafeGolf. SafeGolf is a partnership of UK bodies committed to promoting a safe and positive environment for all those participating, working and volunteering in the sport of golf.

The safeguarding standards of SafeGolf include the following:

* Adopting the England Golf safeguarding policy.
* Communicating this to members, visitors, staff, volunteers and parents.
* Ensuring the appropriate safeguarding procedures are in place for the recruitment and deployment of staff and volunteers who work with children and young people.
* Appointing a Club Welfare Officer, with a clear role description and training.
* Providing regular training in safeguarding and child protection for professionals, staff and volunteers who regularly work with children and young people.

We hold the SafeGolf accreditation.

This is not a child and young person welfare policy, it is a club welfare policy put in place for the protection of All members.

Click below to view the policies.

Sally Palmer – Club Welfare Officer

Safeguardig Officer
Safeguarding Adults Policy - Brief Policy
Safeguarding Children & Young Persons Policy