Child Welfare & Safeguarding

Our welfare team can be contacted at welfare@bartonunitedfc.com

Childline NSPCC CEOP

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Childline is a free, private and confidential service where you can be you.

> Contact Childline on 0800 1111
> Visit the Childline website
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The NSPCC Helpline is a free, 24-hour service which provides advice to anyone worried about a child.

> Contact NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, or text on 88858
> Visit the NSPCC website
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The Child Exploitation and Online Protection agency (CEOP) works with child protection partners across the UK and overseas. They identify the main threats to children and coordinates activity against these threats to bring offenders to account.

> Make a report to one of CEOP's Child Protection Advisors

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Barton United Football Club takes its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child, young person or vulnerable adult who has been entrusted to its care very seriously. Children and young people are the paramount consideration. All children have the right to take part in sports, and football should always be fun, inclusive and safe for any child. Therefore, the Club’s ethos is important; we believe that football should always be a positive experience, building our children’s confidence, encouraging teamwork and support.

The Club Welfare Officer (CWO) is responsible for dealing with any report of abuse. This includes protecting children from any kind of abuse including; discrimination, bullying, disability, illness, ethical behaviour, drugs and alcohol, and economic hardship, as they all have an impact on the player.

Child welfare is the responsibility of every adult in the Club, when it comes to protecting children from abuse. The CWO is there as a first point of contact for any player, parent, coach or volunteer who has concerns. Information on how to report these concerns and the contact details are contained in the downloadable Welfare Flow Chart.

How do Barton United Football Club protect our children?

Firstly, we ensure that all coaches and managers who work with children have criminal records checks (DBS, CRB) - there are no exceptions to this rule. Our club has approximatley 180 players spread across more than 11 teams of all age groups, both boys and girls as well as adult teams - so we have a special duty towards safeguarding given these large numbers.

Secondly, we are a ‘Charter Standard Community Club’ which means we must meet the highest safeguarding standards, and this includes each team having at least one ‘FA Level 1 in Coaching’ qualified coach, and any assistant must be qualified in First Aid and Safeguarding Children. We also have expert coaches and other professionals advising and mentoring the club on a regular basis.

Thirdly, the club takes the FA Respect campaign very seriously and implements it at all home matches. This is about respecting everyone in the game, and actively tackling the aggressive culture that has marred youth football in the past. This requires everyone to proactively encourage positive behaviours - especially spectators on the touchline, by standing behind the respect barriers, respecting referee decisions and supporting both sides in the spirit of fair play.

Finally, we must all stay vigilant. Any behaviour which leads to concerns of any sort should be reported to the CWO. A multi-agency approach is essential in safeguarding and Barton United Football Club works closely with the Welfare Team at our local FA, based in Witney, and also with the Police or other statutory agencies as necessary. Thankfully, most incidents are relatively minor, but please refer to the downloadable Welfare Flow Chart for all relevant agency contact details if ever needed. The welfare of our children is paramount. It is a core part of Barton United Football Club ethos that we value fair play over winning and believe in developing the skills of our young players. This depends on all of us adults involved with the club, both to maintain these standards and to ensure that football is played for the right reasons: for the fun of the game, and for the benefit of all the players on the pitch.

Luke Cuff
Club Welfare Officer
Email: welfare@bartonunitedfc.com
Last updated 27 May 2022

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Safeguarding Children Policy & Procedures

Download the complete Barton United Football Club Child Safeguarding Policy and Procedures (May 2022)

Download Poor Practice within a Football Setting (PDF)

Download Poor Practice outside a Football Setting

See all Barton United Football Club Safeguarding, Policy & Procedure documents

One of the most important aspects of grassroots football is safeguarding, particularly ensuring that all children and youth people under the age of 18 years can be involved and feel safe. You can read more on the Oxfordshire Youth Football League website or download the Oxfordshire Girls Football League Child Welfare and Protection Policy.

Complaints Procedure

Barton United Football Club wishes to ensure that any adult and child involved with the Club feels confident and secure enough to raise complaints of any nature with the Club. We endeavour to make sure that any complaints received are solved quickly, simply and fairly. It is important for us to seek to deal with any issues in a satisfactory manner.

Complaint Form WORD DOC
Complaint Form PDF

Barton United Football Club Complaint Procedure & Policy.
This policy is a guide to achieve this.

Complaint Form

Injuries

If someone has an accident and/or sustains an injury at training or a match, please complete the accident report form and email to welfare@bartonunitedfc.com.

> Download Accident Report Form (Word doc)

> Download Accident Report Form (PDF)

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