Child Welfare

The club has a duty of care to safeguard all children involved in Bradford Dolphin Swimming Club from harm.  It is every child’s right to be protected from abuse irrespective of their age, gender, faith or religion, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, background, economic position, disability or level of ability.  Bradford Dolphins will ensure the safety and protection of all children involved in the club, through adherence to Wavepower 2020-23: Child Safeguarding policy and procedures for clubs.

Everyone has a part to play in ensuring our swimmers are safe and are getting the most they can from involvement in the club. Child safeguarding in our sport belongs with all those involved, by creating a safe environment and operating within an accepted ethical framework to demonstrate behaviour that safeguards young people and protects all personnel from allegations of abuse or poor practice. Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone.

Swim England has a child safeguarding policy and procedures guide, Wavepower provides a range of guidance and resources to help safeguard against any risk of harm to young people. The guidance is useful to our young people, parents/carers and coaches/volunteers alike.

Bradford Dolphin Swimming Club, being affiliated to Swim England, adopts these guidelines to safeguard all children in line with current legislation, regulations and guidance.

Here is the link to Wavepower

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

Wavepower includes a section on the DBS service which we use to determine who should be checked eg all coaches/volunteers (age 16 and over) who have direct contact with the club’s children/young adults. These checks are renewed very 3 years and allow Swim England to make informed decisions around an individual’s suitability to work with children/young adults. As a club, we also ensure that our younger poolside helpers are always supervised and supported by senior coaches.

Club Policies, Procedures and Guidance

We do have certain expectations regarding the behaviour/discipline of our children, parents and coaches which have been agreed in our Code of Conduct. Again, these guidelines are available in Wavepower and cover Anti-bullying policy, Changing room policy, Photography guidance, Late collection policy etc.

Reporting safeguarding concerns & other useful information

If you do have any child safeguarding concerns, below are contacts:

Bradford Dolphins Swimming Club Welfare Officer:

Kathryn Straw

email: [email protected]

Yorkshire County Welfare Officer:

email: [email protected]