Bolney Cricket Club Safeguarding Policy
Bolney Cricket Club (The Club) is committed to ensuring all Children (i.e. all persons under the age of 18) participating in cricket have a safe and positive experience. We will do this by:
• Recognising all children participating in cricket (regardless of age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, ability or disability) have the right to have fun and be protected from harm in a safe environment.
• Ensuring individuals working within cricket at, or for, our club provide a welcoming, safe and fun experience for children.
• Adopting and implementing the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) “Safe Hands – Cricket’s Policy for Safeguarding Children” and any future versions of this policy.
• Appointing a Club Welfare Officer and ensuring they attend all current and future training modules required by the ECB.
• Ensuring all people who work in cricket at, or for, our club (such as staff, officials, volunteers, team managers, coaches and so on) have a responsibility for safeguarding children, and understand how the “Safe Hands Policy” applies to them.
• Ensuring all individuals working within cricket at, or for, the club are recruited and appointed in accordance with ECB guidelines and relevant legislation.
• Ensuring all individuals working within cricket at, or for, the club are provided with support, through education and training, so they are aware of, and can adhere to, good practice and Code of Conduct guidelines defined by the ECB, and the club.
• Ensuring the name and contact details of the Club Welfare Officer is available: – As the first point of contact for parents, children and volunteers/staff within the club. – As a local source of procedural advice for the club, its committee and members. – As the main point of contact within the club for the ECB County Welfare Officer and the ECB Safeguarding Team, and – As the main point of contact within the club for relevant external agencies in connection with child safeguarding.
• Ensuring correct and comprehensive reporting procedures exist for raising and managing child safeguarding concerns.
• Providing an environment where the views of children, parents and volunteers are sought and welcomed on a range of issues. This will help us create an environment where people have the opportunity to voice any concerns (about possible suspected child abuse/neglect, and/or about poor practice) to the Club Welfare Officer. The County Welfare Officer (eddie.hick@sussexcricket.co.uk) will be made available, in case the Club Welfare officer is unavailable, or the concern relates to the Club Welfare officer.
• Ensuring all suspicions concerns and allegations are taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.
• Ensuring access to confidential information relating to child safeguarding matters is restricted to those who need to know in order to safeguard children – including the Club Welfare Officer and the appropriate external authorities, such as the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), as specified within ECB child safeguarding procedures.
Bolney Cricket Club’s Welfare Officer is Dean Hamilton.
Bolney Cricket Club Inclusion and Diversity Policy
Bolney Cricket Club in all its activities, is fully committed to the principles of equality of opportunity in cricket, and to ensuring that its employees, members and all other individuals working or volunteering for Bolney Cricket Club, and participating in or watching Bolney Cricket Club’s activities are treated fairly and are able to conduct their activities free from discrimination, harassment or intimidation.
- Bolney Cricket Club in all its activities will not discriminate, or in any way treat anyone less favourably against on the grounds of age, gender, disability, race, parental or marital status, pregnancy, religion or belief or sexual orientation.
- Bolney Cricket Club will not tolerate harassment, bullying, abuse or victimisation of individuals
- Bolney Cricket Club will endeavour to create access and opportunities for all those individuals who wish to participate, and are lawfully eligible to participate, in its activities.
- Bolney Cricket Club will ensure that it complies with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that its employees, members and volunteers adhere to these requirements and this policy.
- This policy is fully supported by Bolney Cricket Club’s committee who are responsible for the implementation of this policy.
Bolney Cricket Club is committed to the investigation of any claims when brought to its attention, of discrimination, harassment, bullying, abuse or victimisation of an individual, and reserves the right to impose such sanction as it considers appropriate and proportionate, where such is found to be the case.
- In the event that any employee, member, volunteer, participant or spectator feels that they have suffered discrimination, harassment, bullying, abuse or victimisation, they should report the matter in writing to James Flower, Chairman of Bolney Cricket Club.
- Any such report should include: details of what occurred; when and where the occurrence took place; any witness details and copies of any witness statements.
- If the accused individual is a non-employee, the [management committee]:
- may decide (at its sole discretion) to uphold or dismiss the complaint without holding a hearing;
- may (at its sole discretion) hold a hearing at which both parties will be entitled to attend and present their case;
- will have the power to impose any one or more of the following sanctions on any person found to be in breach of any policy: (a) warn as to future conduct; (b) suspend from membership; (c) remove from membership; (d) exclude a non-member from the facility, either temporarily or permanently; and (e) turn down a non-member’s current and/or future membership application; and
- will provide both parties with written reasons for its decision.
- A party may appeal a decision of the [management committee] to the relevant County Cricket board by writing to the relevant County Cricket Board within 3 months of Bolney Cricket Club’s decision being notified to that party.
- If the nature of the complaint is with regard to the management committee of Bolney Cricket Club the complainant may report the complaint directly to the relevant County Cricket Board.