Safeguarding The Hockey Family

South Berkshire Hockey Club is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment for all young people and adults involved in hockey; we embrace and apply the framework and guidelines set by England Hockey to make sure we are using the most up-to-date and appropriate process to look after our Players.

All parents, club officers, coaches, and any club volunteer or agent over the age of 18 who has contact with Junior players (under the age of 18) must be familiar with and agree to our policies regarding safeguarding.

Information for all
Parents registering Junior Players must read and agree to the policies listed below as must all Club officers, coaches and volunteers working with young people:

• Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Hockey Policy
• Photo Consent Form for Club Activities

Please also look at the following England Hockey guidance and make sure you are aware of the policy, procedures and best practice guidance:
Recognising Poor Practice and Abuse

• Recognising Poor Practice and Abuse
• Reporting Procedures
• Best Practice Guidance: Good Practice
• Best Practice Guidance: Anti-bullying
• Best Practice Guidance: Social Media
• Best Practice Guidance: Photography

Parents, please also make note of the following documents that include...

• Child Protection Organisation Contact Details
• Role Description for the Welfare Officer
• Club Safeguarding Commitment
• Safeguarding Referral Form
• Application form for positions working with young people
• Role Acceptance form
• Reference form for positions working with young people
• Photo consent form for clubs
• Photo consent form for events
• Parent Guide
• Young Person Handout
• Recruitment Guide

Information for Club Officers and Helpers
If you are a coach, assistant coach, team manager, committee or management team member, captain or vice captain of any team or any type of volunteer who has regular contact with anyone under 18 you must get a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. Junior helpers age 16 or above must also be DBS checked.

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) have merged into the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) so that what used to be referred to as a 'CRB check' is now a 'DBS check.'

*Please note that a DBS is specific to the organisation for which you are having it done - if you have a CRB/DBS from another organisation, you will still need one for South Berkshire Hockey Club. This is a characteristic of the DBS system, not South Berkshire Hockey Club.

Our DBS Liaison Officer, can help guide you through the DBS process. You can see what documents you will need to provide on the DBS website.

Guide to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
In addition to the policies and forms listed above, the following policies and forms need to be read, agreed to and completed for those needing to complete their DBS for South Berkshire Hockey club:

A further list of resource documents from England Hockey covering child protection is here below. It is important that all coaches, team captains and anyone working with Juniors read these carefully:

• Care of young People
• Guidelines on use of changing rooms and facilities
• How to implement anti-bullying procedures at the local level
• Best practice for planning trips involving junior players
• Best practices to ensure your recruitment is as safe as possible
• Safeguarding and protecting young people at local level
• Think before you post - Rules for the use of Social Networking sites
• Supervising and communicating with young people
• Ensure safe and legitimate photography around young people
• How to create a safe environment for the transportation of young people

DBS Guidance

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Eligibility Guidance
• Vetting checks for overseas coaches
• DBS Portability Form

The process for getting a DBS Check for South Berkshire HC

1. The first step is to email our Welfare Officer with your name as shown in your ID.
2. We create an online application with the online ‘GBG Online Disclosure’ service using your full name and email address (you cannot do this yourself, it has to go through our GBG Online Disclosure administrator for SBHC). 
3. You will receive an email from GBG Online Disclosure with a link to your online application form.
4. Click on the link, fill in the form and submit it to TMG. 
5. We are notified by the system that the application has been activated and will let you know.
6. You need to see our DB Liaison Officer in person within 28 days of the application being activated in order to verify the ID document that was used in filling the online form and to make a payment of £8.80 using a credit or debit card. The payment can be reclaimed from the club if desired; a card must be used for payment (this is part of the TMG CRB process, not something the club imposes).
7. You will receive a paper copy of the DBS in the post.
*If the in-person verification is not carried out within 28 days of the application being activated, the whole process needs to start again. After 28 days an applicant who has not been verified in person will be deleted from the GBG online system automatically.

Contact Details:
welfare@southberkshirehockeyclub.org.uk

England Hockey Online Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Hockey Course
This course is specifically aimed at coaches, umpires, team captains and volunteers who are working with or responsible for persons under 18 within hockey.

What does the course involved?
This course provides a basic level of awareness to help safeguard children and young people within hockey. The course is hockey specific explaining best practice and what to do if you have a concern regarding child protection. This course takes approximately 45mins to complete and after completion you can save and print your certificate instantly. The cost has been subsidised by England Hockey and therefore requires an online payment of only £10.  Please click here to access the course.

Why should my club/organisation be interested in safeguarding?
It is essential that all people that work with under 18s in hockey receive training that is appropriate to their role. Having suitably trained people within your club/organisation provides a better experience for young people, on and off the pitch and also protects coaches, umpires and all who volunteer. England Hockey strongly advise the following Club roles take the course: all Level 1 Coaches, Development Coordinators, Club Chairperson, Umpires and other CRB/DBS roles e.g. junior coordinators, assistant coaches, squad managers, etc.

The England Hockey SafeD Programme
England Hockey launched a revised programme called SafeD in Winter 2015 which offers user-friendly support across a range of subjects. It is designed to provide the Hockey Family with expert advice on how to create an environment that is young-people focused while minimising risk and maximising enjoyment for all involved.
For more information or to see the SafeD information on the England Hockey website here.