Alongside our wish for you to enjoy and succeed at your swimming, we want to ensure you are safe and happy in the Club and that we act upon anything that prevents that.
We know any bullying or poor behaviour towards you would make you feel unhappy, so please do not feel you have to just put up with it.
It is important if something or someone causes you to be unhappy that you tell someone.
TELL
- your parent
- your coach
- the Club Welfare Officer
- any other adult you feel happy to speak to
Other ways of letting someone know that you are worried:
• Your Club Welfare Officer is Mark Brumwell. He can be contacted by email at [email protected] or you can ask to talk to him at a training session. The Welfare Officer is there for all swimmers under 18 and makes the needs of these swimmers a priority. If you have a concern about yourself or another swimmer, how you are being treated by others or something that is making you unhappy, your Club Welfare Officer is there for you.
• You can write your concern on the Child Power leaflet you were given when you joined or on a piece of paper, then give it to a trusted adult in the Club. You don’t have to put your name on it if you want to remain anonymous.
• The ASA (Amateur Swimming Association) have a helpline called Swimline, if you want to tell someone but not anyone in the Club. The number is 0808 100 4001 (a freephone number that will not show on a phone bill). You will be asked to leave a number at which you can be contacted in the next 24 hours. If you feel you cannot wait that long for someone to talk to you, hang on and you will be put through to the NSPCC/ChildLine helpline straightaway.
• You can ring ChildLine directly on 0800 1111. Calls are free and confidential.
• Child Power is a section of the ASA website just for young people. It has a message link by which you can send a concern in writing to the ASA Safeguarding Team, who will then help you with whatever issue you have raised. The link is at http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/under-16s-advice/
Useful information
To help us ensure you stay safe and happy in the Club, we follow guidelines from the ASA’s child safeguarding manual called Wavepower. If you want to have a look at Wavepower the Club Welfare Officer will have a copy or it can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/safeguarding-children. In particular, you may find it interesting to read Section 5 of Wavepower, which has information and guidance specifically for swimmers under 18 years old that the ASA’s Youth Forum has helped to write.
You can also get advice and information on the following websites: –
- www.kidscape.org.uk
- www.childline.org.uk
- www.bullying.co.uk
