Aber Valley Wolves Rugby League Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person who has been entrusted to its care. We are committed to providing a safe environment for all members. A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any Rugby League activity.
The club complies with the RFL/WRL Safeguarding Policy, the key principles of which are:
- 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, race, sexual orientation, faith or belief.
- 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/carers is essential.
- We acknowledge that every child or young person who plays or participates in Rugby League should be able to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse.
- Aber Valley Wolves recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.
We endorse and adopt the RFL Safer Recruitment Guidelines for recruiting volunteers and we will:
- Specify what the role is and what tasks it involves.
- Request identification documents.
- As a minimum, meet and chat with the applicant and where possible interview them before appointing them.
- Ask for and follow up with two references before appointing someone.
- Where eligible require a WRL enhanced DBS.
- All current Aber Valley Wolves members working in eligible roles with children and young people must hold a current WRL enhanced DBS as part of responsible recruitment practice. If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of the club, guidance will be sought from the WRL Safeguarding Team.
It is accepted that the WRL 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 practices with children and young people. This is to minimise the risk of direct sexual or physical harm to children and the risk of grooming within Rugby League.
If you have concerns
Aber Valley Wolves Rugby League Club supports the WRL Whistle Blowing Policy. Any adult or young person with concerns about an adult in a position of trust within Rugby League can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting the WRL by contacting Mark Jones, National Development Manager at mark.jones@walesrugbyleague.co.uk, or, alternatively, by going directly to the Police, Children’s Social Care or the NSPCC. We encourage everyone to know about the WRL Whistle Blowing Policy and to utilise it if necessary.
Club Welfare Officers
Aber Valley Wolves have appointed a Club Welfare Officer, Helen Treherne and Deputy Welfare Officer, Darren Burford, in line with requirements of the RFL/WRL Safeguarding Children Policy. They are fully trained, friendly, approachable and shall be the first point of contact for all club members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. They will also be proactive in increasing awareness of respect, poor practice, touchline behaviour and abuse amongst club members.
Bullying of any kind (this includes cyber bullying) is not acceptable at our club and we will take a stance of zero tolerance. If bullying does occur, all players and or parents/carers should be able to report and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly. Incidents need to be reported to the Club’s Welfare Officer and in cases of serious bullying the WRL Safeguarding Manager will be contacted. We acknowledge and endorse the WRL’s identification of bullying as a category of abuse.
Aber Valley Wolves Rugby League Club asks both parents and players to sign a Code of Conduct. The club will take action against repeated or serious misconduct.
A copy of the Rugby Football League’s safeguarding policy can be downloaded here.