We are a club run by its volunteer members (with the assistance of some paid coaches and employees) and are very fortunate that so many players and parents are prepared to help.

This note is designed to cover:

(A) The safeguarding procedures which need to be complied with by everyone (whether paid or unpaid) helping at the Club (for the purposes of this guidance (a “Volunteer”);

(B) The Club’s policies;

(D) The practical support to be provided in connection with each role.

Safeguarding procedures
England Hockey require all Clubmark accredited clubs (such as us) to have a Role Acceptance Form completed and returned by all Volunteers for safeguarding purposes. The Role Acceptance Form and all of the Club’s policies are on the Club web-site. The Role Acceptance Form refers to the Club’s policies and asks Volunteers to confirm that they will abide by them.

The form also explains that Volunteers will need to have a DBS check for safeguarding purposes and that (depending on the role) safeguarding training will be provided and has to be completed. Volunteers will be sent the form by the Club’s office manager. The form needs to be signed and returned to the office manager.

Every Volunteer must be a registered member of the Club. Non playing Volunteers will be offered free Social membership but must register before starting the role.

The full membership details are on the website.

If Volunteers are not already members they will receive a message from the Membership Secretary welcoming them to the Club, explaining the membership process and and letting them know that they have been sent a link to enable them to register. All the membership records are online and accessible on the website.

The Membership Secretary will normally also provide the new member with details about training relevant to them and who to contact and provide information on club kit.

At present the message would also explain the requirement to complete the England Hockey participation agreement.

Any Volunteer who does not already have a valid England Hockey DBS check will be contacted by Cindy Falconer, the Club’s Safeguarding Officer who will explain the DBS process and ask the Volunteer to complete the submission so as to enable them to start the role.

She will also let the Volunteer know if he or she needs safeguarding training and how to access the training. Whether safeguarding training is needed will depend on the role.

Volunteers can look at the England Hockey guidance on safeguarding training requirements here.

The England Hockey online courses can be found on the EH website.

The Club’s Policies

As mentioned above, all of the Club’s policies are set out on the Club website. Please take time to read through them. If you have any questions relating to safeguarding please contact the Club’s Welfare Officer at c_falconer@live.co.uk.

The policies follow England Hockey guidelines and best practice and reflect the Club’s core values relating to safeguarding and access to hockey for everyone regardless of background, ability and diversity.

Practical policies such as those relating to Brand guidelines and Club kit are also available.

The website and other communication tools available

There are two core documents designed to help Volunteers in their new role. These are the Club’s Support Notes and the web-user guide . An email with these details will be sent to each new Volunteer by the office manager.

The Club uses the website and associated app for selection, notification and reporting. Every captain, coach and manager can see on line who has been selected for each match and who has accepted. All the fixtures are online and each full squad will be listed on the page for the fixture. You just select your team and send a notification and receive an acceptance or declination.

All information provided by members is provided in accordance with the Club’s Privacy Policy and data must not be used other than in accordance with that policy. There is data protection training available for everyone processing data. This means that data should not be copied onto private devices or compiled anywhere other than on the website.

Please read the web-user guide for full details on how to use the website communication tools. Any questions should be addressed to the Club's Website Co-ordinator Jane Blake or the Club’s Communications Officer, Matt Smylie. Demonstrations can be arranged for anyone who would like a demonstration of how to use the website.

Volunteers will be given the website permissions needed to enable them to use the website to carry out their role. Anyone needing additional permissions should contact Jane Blake or Club company secretary Peter Kempe.

Please read the separate note on the EH Game Management System which covers match day reports.

Practical Support

In addition to the written support Volunteers will be offered practical guidance on their role.

Captains will be briefed by Club Captains Sam Gayler or Elliott Smith.

Coaches will be briefed by the Club’s Coaching leadership team (Lee Ible (men) or Miranda Baldwin (ladies) – Adult teams), (Chris Gladman (boys) or Jay Fox (girls) – Colts) (Jamie Oxley – Minis).

Managers will be briefed by Club Captains.

Umpires will be briefed by the Umpire's Secretary Ian Padfield who can be contacted at ulo@oldloughtonians.co.uk.

Other Volunteers will be briefed by their predecessor in the role or Club chairman Phillip Wheater.