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Safeguarding & Welfare
This page is dedicated to all useful resources for anyone who is involved in Children's Football, whether as an under 18 player, a parent, or supporting the training sessions or matches as a Manager, Coach, Assistant Coach, Referee, or Linesperson.
All who participate in Oakley Football Club should be aware of the location and content of this page.
NOTE: There are MANDATORY TRAINING requirements for anyone actively involved in training or match days, and there are links to FA RECOMMENDED COURSES FOR PARENTS
Oakley FC is an official FA Charter Standard Club
As an official FA Charter Standard Club, we take safeguarding your children very seriously.
Our Policies and Procedures are publicly available on this website at the following location:
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Further advice on Safeguarding Children matters can be obtained from the following people or organization's:
Oakley Youth Football Club Welfare Officers
Name: Steven Lock & Jason Yau
Email: cwo@oakleyfootball.club
Phone: 01256 672225
Oakley Youth Football Club Management Committee
Contacts: Oakley Football Club
County Football Safeguarding Team
Email: Safeguarding@HampshireFA.com 8:30am-5:15pm (Monday-Friday)
Hampshire Football Association’s Designated Safeguarding Team
Website: Safeguarding, Respect and Welfare - Hampshire FA
Opening times to contact the Safeguarding Team: 8:30am-5:15pm (Monday-Friday)
Safeguarding Lead Contact
Name: Shantell Woodward
Email: Shantell.Woodward@HampshireFA.com
Phone: 01256 853012
The FA Safeguarding Children Team
Website: www.TheFA.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding
Email: Safeguarding@TheFA.com
Phone: 0845 210 8080 - General Enquiry Line
If your problem is urgent and you cannot contact your club or the Hampshire FA Designated Safeguarding Officer, you should contact any of the following:
The NSPCC: 0808 800 5000 (24-hours)
For emergencies: Call the Police: 999
Internet Safety related concerns regarding Child Safeguarding, such as inappropriate use of media or images relating to children from any FA football clubs, should be reported to CEOP by clicking here: https://www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/ & also let Hampshire Safeguarding Team (Safeguarding@HampshireFA.com) & the FA Safeguarding Team (Safeguarding@TheFA.com) know.
Resources for Parents
There is now an FA recommendation for all parents to take the newly published "Safeguarding Awareness for Parents" online course , this is a free online course for parents and carers and takes less than 30 minutes to complete:
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/safeguarding/safeguarding-awareness-for-parents-and-carers
Resources for Everybody
The government has now launched a campaign called "Together we can tackle child abuse". The resources, aimed at everyone in the community, include four very short videos explaining physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and online abuse. The simple ABC concept (Appearance, Behaviour, Communication) is used to remind people that they should look for changes in these three areas. The webpage also has a search engine to find out where to report abuse: Please visit:
https://tacklechildabuse.campaign.gov.uk/
The FA - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - Together we can end hate in football
Poor behaviour in football is increasing. Prejudice is on the rise. All forms of discrimination – including racist, sexist and homophobic abuse – is ruining our game. We’re targeting discriminatory abuse in all its forms with a range of punishments.
Tell us when it happens, and we’ll tackle it. Together we can put an end to discrimination in the grassroots game.
For more information please visit the FA Reporting Discrimination website:
https://www.englandfootball.com/participate/explore/Reporting-Discrimination
Resources for Children
CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection command, which is part of the National Crime Agency) has created a new website for teenagers called "The Internet, relationships & you" and offers advice on socialising online, online safety, getting support and sexual content online.
Please share this with your teenagers to provide them with the latest advice
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_18
Resources for 16 & 17 Year Olds
The FA has a guide for 16- and 17-year-olds called 'Know Your Rights in Football'. It's there to support them with knowing their rights, reporting concerns and finding help.
Where to Find More Information
If any children have any concerns or worries, they can visit the Oakley Football Club website for these, and other useful links and advice on who to contact:
DBS Checks - Who needs a DBS Check?
Any volunteers over the age of 16, who are involved in regulated activity. These roles include managing, training, coaching, supervising or refereeing. They include people giving advice or guidance on well-being, caring for children or driving a vehicle solely for children on behalf of a club or organization.
- ANY football coach working with Under 18 players (includes all coaches in open age football with 16/17 year old players) - this includes ALL coachers, whether they have assistant in the title or not.
- Football Team Managers working with Under 18 players (this includes those working in open-age football with 16/17 year old players)
- Club Welfare Officer (Recommended all of the Management Committee of a club are checked)
- Under 18 Chaperone (e.g. for tours with overnight stays for under 18s)
- Regular Club Drivers only transporting children (does not cover private arrangements between parents)
- First Aider/Medic working with Under 18s
- Referees (Youth Football)
Any new volunteers must be approved by the Club Committee.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
DBS Checks can complete in less than 2 weeks, but always allow 2 months for these to complete!!
PLAN AHEAD!!
You cannot be involved in coaching, training or matches without a valid DBS check...
Want to get involved and help train your children?
Starting a DBS Check
To get started with a DBS Check to help support the club, please in the first instance ensure you have an FA Number (FAN)
If you don't have a FAN you will need to register with the FA at:
https://www.thefa.com/account/signin and select "Create an Account"
You will need to provide your Full Legal Name, Home Address, Mobile Number, E-mail address, Date of Birth and your FA Number (FAN), as required information, plus additional useful information. Please provide this information in the application form which can be found here:
Oakley Youth Football Club - Volunteer Application Form
Please then email your completed form to the Club Welfare Officer, stating which Team & Manager you will be helping with, and also your interest in the club (i.e. "your son/daughter plays for team X", and provide your child's name)
We will not accept helpers or volunteers who do not have a child already playing for the same team within the club.
The Club Welfare Officer, after accepting your application, will start the "DBS Applicant" process from the FA WholeGame System (WGS). This will activate an application form on your homepage at the FA website.
Please login to the WGS website using your previously registered FAN Number and password
and on the left hand side of this page you will see a "My DBS" tab. There will be a button in here to start the process, which will send you an email from FADV Online Disclosures to complete your application.
Please complete the application form, and provide the required information from 3 suitable and valid forms of identity documents.
You will then need to meet with the Club Welfare Officer who will need visibility of your selected 3 documents to verify they are real and valid, and to capture some information from these documents.
Phases of the DBS Check
Once an application is verified it is processed by the "DBS Service" via "First Advantage"
Checks go through a 5-stage external process:
- Application Form received and validated
- Police National Computer searched
- DBS Children, DBS Adults and List 99 searched
- Records held by the Police Search
- Certificate Printed and posted to applicant, and electronically shared with FA
At Stage 5, First Advantage will report an application as green,
BUT THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE FA PROCESS.
If there is not content on the report, then the certificate is automatically accepted by the FA, and this is reported to the Club Welfare Officer as a Pass, and shows Green on the FA WholeGame System (WGS) website
If there is content, the FA Disclosures team will request the certificate from the applicant, and will review the details to decide if to accept.
A DBS IS ONLY FA ACCEPTED WHEN IT IS GREEN ON THE WGS WEBSITE.
Until this point no one can be accepted as cleared to work with children.
Whilst in most circumstances a DBS check will complete in approximately 10 days, they can take in excess of 8 weeks, so please ensure you allow plenty of time before committing to support training.
FA Training for Football Coaching & Safeguarding
The current FA training courses for people involved in Football can be found at the following links:
NOTE: we have identified some issues using Safari browser on Apple devices, with a spinning page loading symbol. Please use a Chromium based browser (Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge) for the best experience with these courses.
FA Safeguarding Children Course
This is now Mandatory for all Managers & Coaches & Assistants from 2022/23 season onwards
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/safeguarding/safeguarding-children-course
A Safeguarding recertification course for people already certified but their certification is expiring:
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/safeguarding/safeguarding-children-course-recertification
FA Playmaker
Basic training and recommended for all involved in children's football
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/football/ee-playmaker
Introduction to Coaching
This replaces old level 1 course, is required for all Managers, and recommended for coaches and assistant coaches
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/football/introduction-to-coaching-football
Introduction to First Aid in Football
Basic course
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/medical/introduction-to-first-aid-in-football
Emergency First Aid in Football
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/medical/emergency-first-aid-in-football
Other First Aid Courses
Further advanced courses are listed here:
https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses?category=medical
Training Costs
For the purposes of coaching/training or other uses required by Oakley Football Club, the club are willing to reimburse training costs. Please contact the Club Treasurer for approval for any training expenses in the first instance, and after training is paid for, can be reimbursed if you email a receipt for the costs to: Club.Treasurer@OakleyFootball.Club