What is Safeguarding?
"Safeguarding refers to the process of protecting children (and adults) to provide safe and effective care. This includes all procedures designed to prevent harm to a child." - NSPCC
Does child abuse happen in Sport?
Yes. We're sadly seeing more & more cases of child abuse being reported in sport. Many safeguarding approaches seem to focus on dealing with the situation after it happens. As this guide is aimed at anyone (including parents), we want to help people spot the signs of grooming/child abuse before it even happens.
Who is responsible for Safeguarding in my club?
We all have a duty of care to protect children. Whether you're a coach, volunteer, freelancer or parent, we are all responsible. However, there will normally be one designated person who is responsible for overseeing the safeguarding policies/procedures that your club uses.
Download our guide to learn more.
Why does this guide exist?
Whilst this guide has been created to compliment any official policies/procedures that you use, we felt that there was a need for a single, more holistic safeguarding guide, specific to sport. One that had all the important stuff in one place. So, we partnered with the lovely team over at
Freedom From Abuse CIC to bring you something special & truly helpful.
Why is this guide so important?
In most cases, when abuse cases come to light, signs of wrong doings often existed, but people simply didn’t recognise them. Signs that, if picked up, could have stopped the abuse. Or better still, prevented it from happening in the first place.
Our mission is to make more and more people aware of the signs that could indicate a child is being abused and then also let them know what to do if they spot those signs. All in the same, easy-to-read document. This way, we can all work together to combat child abuse in sport for good.