Safeguarding Children 

The RYA Board has approved an action plan to develop the resources and the support the RYA offers clubs to help them fulfil their responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children

With the school holidays rapidly approaching, if your club is organising children’s training or activities, don’t forget to make sure the name and contact details of the club’s child protection or welfare officer are clearly displayed so that all children, parents and members know who to contact if they have any concerns.

If you don’t already have one, a Club Code of Conduct can help to clarify the responsibilities of young people, parents and volunteers. An example can be downloaded from the Safeguarding and Child Protection Guidelines page of the website.

A priority over the next year is to make safeguarding training more widely available in a practical and cost-effective way through a combination of e-learning and workshops, to instructors, coaches, club volunteers and welfare officers.

The other focus for the current year is to increase the involvement of young people in the development of resources and information designed for them, such as web pages and posters and to find ways to enable them to contribute their views. This may already be happening at club level and if you have any examples of involving and consulting young people, perhaps through a youth committee or forum, we would love to hear from you so that we can share good practice. Please contact Jackie Reid, RYA Safeguarding Co-ordinator, at jackie.reid@rya.org.uk

For more information about safeguarding and child protection visit http://www.rya.org.uk/infoadvice/childprotection/Pages/default.aspx