Guidance for Clubs – Club Welfare Officer (CWO)

(Information on the steps to become a welfare officer can be found here. This page is to help clubs understand their roles and responsibilities)

Every club regardless of type must designate a Welfare Officer.

If you are a School Club or University Club that runs solely for the students of that educational institution then your Welfare Officer can be the Lead Designated Officer (LDO) for the institution. No additional training is required as the activity will fall under the auspices and welfare framework of the educational institution. However, the Club must still update its registration in the BF Membership Platform so that the LDO is listed along with their contact details and their name is displayed on the BF Welfare Officer Register.

If you are a Community Club you need to have a CWO. Every club must have a named CWO attached to the club. It is possible for small clubs to share CWOs and make use of the register and regional welfare officer structures to identify local people that can help.  A Regional Welfare Officer can also act as a Club Welfare Officer. Clubs still must ensure that they have their own welfare policies and procedures and that anyone acting as a CWO is aware of these.

BF recognises that it can take several months to fully train up a CWO and will accept a transition period whilst this training occurs. However, a criminal record check and relevant Home Nation Safeguarding and Protecting Children qualification course must be in place before an individual can accept a role of CWO ‘in-training’ and this transition period can last no longer than 6 months.

The process of fully training a CWO is around £100, takes between 6-9 hours over the course of a year (depending on the existing welfare framework in the club and availability of courses), and some elements of the training must be renewed every three years. Read more about training requirements here.

The Club Welfare Officer (CWO) should not be a coach working within the club nor someone personally connected to the coaches (e.g. family member or in a relationship with the coach or one of their family members).  This is to protect both the Club Welfare Officer and the individual reporting any concerns from any potential conflict of interest.

Where possible we advise clubs to set up a generic “welfare@xxx” email address to be used by the welfare officer and widely published on the club’s website and posters at the club. It will not only avoid personal email addresses from being put into the public domain but also allows continuity of access to the email should there be a change in welfare officer.

Summary Process for Clubs who want to put in place a CWO

1. Find a nominated person willing to take on the role. This should be someone independent of the coaching structure.
2. Ensure they have a valid BF membership.
3. Perform a criminal record check. (If you are based in England or Wales, the club will need to be signed up for the Vibrant Nation system – follow the instructions here.)
4. Ensure they have completed the required training. If not, book dates for them to attend the required courses.
5. Once the criminal record check has been performed, the SPC course completed and they are booked onto the remaining courses then you should update the CWO details in the club registration on the BF Membership Platform (Sport80)- contact [email protected] if you need assistance.
6. Update the CWO details on your club website.
7. Ask the Development Team to add your CWO to the BF CWO register by contacting us here. At this point you should supply the dates of any remining mandatory training which should be within 6 months. CWOs that are not fully trained will be marked in red.
8. The nominated person will then need to supply a copy of their criminal record check and upload any certificates into the membership platform if they have completed training. They will be given 6 months to complete their training and provide the certification.
9. Ensure you the club has up-to-date welfare policies and procedures in place and induct your CWO.  If you do not have up-to-date policies and procedures your CWO should attend En Garde, Ready? training as soon as possible.
10. Ensure that your CWOs entry is up to date on the BF CWO Register on the BF website.

For more information see the detailed instructions for CWOs here.

For any questions, please contact us here.