WELLBEING INFORMATION FOR CLUBS

WELLBEING & PROTECTION MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR CLUBS

Scottish Football has minimum child wellbeing and protection standards that must be in place within all clubs that are working with children and young people. These standards are expected to be in place within clubs to ensure that the proper safeguards and processes are in place to protect the wellbeing of all children. These standards are: 

1. Information Sharing
2. Adopt the Scottish FA's Child Wellbeing & Protection Policy templates
3. Have a Club Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer (CWPO) 
4. Appointment and Selection
5. Education & Training for those working with Children and Young People 
6. Set the Standards, Behaviours, Expectations and Requirements

For more information and guidance on how to adopt and embed these standards through out your club please click here. Your Affiliated National Association will also be able to help you and provide advice on putting these standards in place.

CLUB CHILD WELLBEING & PROTECTION OFFICER (CWPO)

Every club that has involvement with children and young people must have a Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer. The purpose of the role is to promote and provide a safe environment for children and young people involved in Scottish Football by providing advice, guidance and assistance to children, young people, parents/carers and other adults at the club and to respond appropriately to concerns about the wellbeing of children and young people.

This person will have completed both the Childrens Wellbeing in Scottish Football course and Managing Children's Wellbeing courses to build knowledge and understanding of the role and responsibilities of a CWPO including creating a right’s respecting club, recruiting staff and volunteers and responding to concerns about the wellbeing of child or young person in line with the Responding to Concerns Procedure. 

They will be responsible for implementing the Child Wellbeing and Protection in Scottish Football policy and procedures within the club, encourage and support staff/volunteers to implement good practice, champion the policy and procedures Provide advice and/or guidance to children and young people at the club. They will work closely will the Management/Committee/Board at the club to develop and continually improve the culture around wellbeing and protection. 

The CWPO should be the first point of contact for any concerns or worries within the club.

TRAINING & EDUCATION

It is mandatory for everyone working with children and young people, or for anyone with designated child wellbeing responsibilities to attend and complete the Children’s Wellbeing in Scottish Football course. Over and above this, we also offer additional courses to help boost and enhance knowledge around wellbeing & protection. These courses are:

• eLearning Communicating Effectively with Children and Young People
• eLearning Understanding Children's Rights in Scottish Football
• eLearning Childrens Wellbeing in Scottish Football: Board or Committee Member Training 
• Appointment & Selection
• Managing Children's Wellbeing (Mandatory for CWPO'S)
• Responding to Concerns: Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer Training  

More information on each course can be found in our training guide here or book onto a course through Scottish FA COMET.

ADDITIONAL CLUB RESOURCES

sportscotland's “Standards for Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport” have been developed to help create a culture in sport that promotes, supports and safeguards children’s wellbeing in Scotland. Clubs should be looking to embrace and adopt these 8 standards to heighten their commitment to child wellbeing and protection. For more information on the standards, please click here.

Quality Mark is the Scottish FA’s club accreditation scheme which aims to reward those clubs who have a desire to be the very best they can be. To find out more when it comes to Quality Mark and how to get involved in the accreditation scheme, please click here