Child Welfare Officer
Sarah Polley
01206 868245
sarah.polley@colchestervillafc.co.uk

1 Colchester Villa Youth Football Club 
acknowledges its responsibility to
safeguard the welfare of every child and young person
who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to
working to provide a safe environment for all members.
A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18
engaged in any club football activity. We subscribe to
The Football Association’s child protection and best
practice policy and procedures and endorse and adopt
the policy statement contained in that document.

2 The key principles of The FA child protection policy
are that:

* The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the
paramount consideration
* All children and young people have a right to be
protected from abuse regardless of their age,
gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin,
religious beliefs or sexual orientation
*All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken
seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
* Working in partnership with other organisations,
children and young people and their parents or careers 
is essential.

We acknowledge that every child or young person who
plays or participates in football should be able to take
part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be
protected from poor practice and abuse.
Colchester Villa Youth Football Club
recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult 
involved in our club.

3 Colchester Villa Football Club 
has a role to play in safeguarding the
welfare of all children and young people by protecting
them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from
neglect or bullying. It is noted and accepted that
The Football Association’s child protection regulation
(see The FA Handbook) applies to everyone in football
whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This includes
those who are a volunteer, match official, helper on club
tours, football coach, club official or medical staff.

4 We endorse and adopt The FA’s child protection and
best practice guidelines for recruiting volunteers and will:
* Develop a role profile
* Request identification documents
* As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s)
and where possible conduct interviews before
appointing
* Request and follow up with two references before
appointing
* Require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure where
appropriate in line with FA guidelines.

All current Colchester Villa Youth Football Club
Football Club members with direct access to children
and young people will be required to complete a
CRB Enhanced Disclosure via The FA CRB Unit.
If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of
an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of Colchester Villa Youth Football Club
Football Club guidance will be sought from The Football
Association. It is noted and accepted that The FA will
consider the relevance and significance of the information
obtained via The FA CRB Unit Enhanced CRB Disclosure
and that all decisions will be made in the best interests of
children and young people.

It is accepted that The FA aims to prevent people with
a history of relevant and significant offending from
having contact with children or young people and the
opportunity to influence policies or practice with
children or young people. This is to prevent direct
sexual or physical harm to children and to minimise
the risk of ‘grooming’ within football.

5  Colchester Villa Youth Football Club 
supports The FA’s whistle blowing policy.
Any adult or young person with concerns about a
colleague can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting The FA child
protection manager on 0207 745 4771, by writing to
The FA case manager at The Football Association,
25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA or by going direct to
the police, social services or the NSPCC.
Colchester Villa Youth Football Club encourages everyone to know about it and utilise it if necessary.

6 Colchester Villa Youth Football Club
has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (CWO) in line with The FA’s role profile and required completion of the child 
protection and best practice workshop. 
The post holder will be involved with designated person’s training provided by The FA.
The CWO is the first point of contact for all club members
and parents or guardians regarding concerns for the
welfare of any child or young person. They will liaise directly with the CFA CPO and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any concerns. They will also play a proactive role in increasing an awareness of poor practice and abuse amongst club members.

7 We acknowledge and endorse The FA’s identification
of bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind
is not acceptable at our club.If bullying does occur, all
players, parents or guardians should be able to tell and
know that incidents will be dealt with promptly.
Incidents need to be reported to the CWO, a member
of the committee or, in cases of serious bullying contact
the CFA CPO.

8 Codes of conduct for players, parents or spectators,
officials and coaches have been implemented by
Colchester Villa Football Club.
In order to validate these codes of conduct the club has
clear sanctions to deal with any misconduct at club level
and acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctions
which may be implemented by leagues or the CFA
in more serious circumstances. All prospective members
will be informed of these codes.

9 Further advice on child protection matters can be
obtained from:
* The County Football Association’s Child
Protection Officer, whose details can be found in the
County Handbook
* The Football Association/NSPCC Child Protection
24-Hour Helpline 0808 800 5000
* www.TheFA.com/Goal
* The FA child protection team 0207 745 4649.