The FA and the Surrey County FA firmly believe that all children and young people have a right to be protected and enjoy football without the risk of being abused. This is why it is now imperative that all youth clubs employ a Child Welfare Officer, whose responsibility it is to ensure that their club consistently promotes and fulfils its responsibilities for Child and Young Persons Welfare.
The Club Welfare Officer will act as the first point of contact for any club members (staff, parents, volunteers, children) who have concerns about child abuse and/or poor practices resulting in possible abuse where adults are working with children, and will be expected to deal with poor practice in line with their clubs own disciplinary process, while also taking responsibility to report more serious offences to the Surrey County Welfare Officer. However, the Club Welfare Officers should not be viewed as experts. It is not their responsibility to judge whether or not a child is being abused, but it is their responsibility to act if they have any concerns.
The Surrey County FA recommend that club’s select their Club Welfare Officers based on the following qualities:
They should be:
• A good listener
• Calm and reassuring
• Friendly and approachable
• Honest
• Experienced in working with children
It is also imperative that the Club Welfare Officer has:
• Completed an CRB Enhanced Disclosure via the FA CRB Unit
• Attended an FA Safeguarding Children Workshop
• Attended an FA Welfare Officer Workshop
Details on all of the forthcoming Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officer workshops can be found under the ‘related links’ section on the right hand-side of this page.
Available on this page are all of the resources and materials that a Club Welfare Officer will require to fulfil this role, however if you have any further questions or queries on any aspects of the Club Welfare Officer role, then please contact the Surrey County Welfare Officer, Mark Walter either by email at mark.walter@surreyfa.com or by phone on 01372 384 745.