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Spotlight on Safeguarding
Welcome to this month's safeguarding newsletter where you will find useful links, dates for your diary, update on HFA projects and lots more. As always I would like to being by thanking you as volunteers for all you continue to do to ensure our County's children are able to play football in a safe environment.
All county FA's are required to comply with a wide range of gold standard safeguarding requirements. In order to measure compliance, the HFA is audited by the NSPCC who provide a short period of notice ahead of a full-day assessment. We are delighted to confirm that, despite a significant increase in the requirements that we are required to adhere to, the HFA passed the assessment at the first time of asking. Please see below some of the summary points noted in the final review:
'In addition to evidencing that all the specific safeguarding criteria were fully evidenced, the assessors identified a number of areas of good practice that are continuing to exceed the standards outlined within the criteria.'
'The additional resource that the Board have allocated to safeguarding in spite of receiving a significant cut in budget is commendable. It is evident when speaking to both the Chair and the Board Safeguarding Champion that there is no greater priority within the County. The Board and CEO are leading by example and ensuring that any changes made to the business only strengthen safeguarding.'
'At the time of the assessment Herefordshire FA had zero non-compliance against all safeguarding measures. This outstanding performance showcased to assessors that the processes in place to manage compliance are well embedded across the organisation.'
'Whilst there has been a number of staffing changes in the County and a change of DSO this has not had an impact on the progress that has been made in relation to safeguarding. The work has gone from strength to strength with the new DSO bringing a fresh approach and direction to key areas of the Standards.'
'Assessors are confident that safeguarding is well embedded across the whole staff team and that progress will continue to be made going forward.'
It was highlighted during the assessment that we are fortunate to have a good core CWO network that work proactively to ensure that best practice is followed. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support.
Club Accreditations
A big thank you to all of our clubs for completing the Accreditation process for this season. Moving forward, all open-aged team coaches, mangers and club officials, excluding the secretary, must have completed the the new FA Player Welfare in Open-Age Course as part of the affiliation process for the 24/25 season. This is a free online course and will take no longer than 45 minutes to complete.
Thank you to those of you who have already completed the this course.
New 'Mental Health Hub'
Herefordshire Football Association is dedicated to ensuring that everyone involved in football across the County is aware of the importance of good mental health and knows of the support networks that are available to anyone in need. With this in mind we have created a section on our website dedicated to this. Please follow the link below which will direct you to the 'Mental Health Hub' on our website where you will find lots of informative facts and useful information. This page will be updated regularly so please keep checking in.
Herefordshire FA Mental Health Hub - Herefordshire FA
New Collaboration with West Mercia Police - Child Exploitation Unit
What is Child Exploitation
The exploitation of children can take a number of different forms and perpetrators may subject children and young people to multiple forms of abuse at the same time, such as criminal exploitation (including county lines) and sexual exploitation.
Hanging out with older people, skipping school, and being secretive are just some of the signs of child exploitation - and we all have a responsibility to spot them as hundreds of children and young people are exploited every year.
It is a crime that can affect any child, anywhere, anytime and regardless of their social or ethnic background or gender.
The exploitation of children cannot be addressed by a single agency working alone. Effective collaboration between partners, particularly around information sharing, is essential to the protection of children and stopping offenders.
We are hoping to educate our workforce and networks to spot the risks and signs of potential cases of child exploitation so that we can help safeguard against it. A member of Child Exploitation team is going to come and present at our next CPD event in April. I'm sure it will be worth your while attending if you can.
How to Report a Concern
We have produced a new easy to follow flyer highlighting best way for a safeguarding concern to be reported. I will also distribute this flyer as a separate document for you to share with your clubs, coaches, parents and players.
Dates for your Diary:
22nd March-Coaching CPD- Developing on the Pitch (contact George for more info)
8th April-Female Coaching CPD- Benefits of small sided games (contact George for more info)
April DTBC-Club Welfare Officer CPD- Low Level Concerns and Guest Speaker from West Mercia Police
Thank you for your ongoing support
Contact us!
Website: Herefordshire Football Association
Pay us a visit: Herefordshire FA is based at the County Ground, Widemarsh Common, Hereford. Our office is open Monday - Friday from 8am to 4pm.
Give us a call: 01432 342179
Email:safeguarding@herefordshirefa.com
Safeguarding mobile: 07469422520
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