Welfare
County Welfare Officer
Malcolm Hanson is the Wiltshire Cricket Limited County Welfare Officer. His contact details are:
malcolm.hanson@btinternet.com
01672 511628 or 07917 792966
Malcolm's job is to provide advice and assistance on any welfare issues that arise within the county that have an impact on any aspect of Cricket at any level.
Club Welfare Officer Forum - Wednesday 20th February 2013 - Presentation
Advice for Cricket Clubs in dealing with a Child Safeguarding matter
If you have Child Safeguarding concerns you should:
- Report any information or concerns to your Club Welfare Officer.
- Ensure that you have obtained as much information about your concerns or an incident as possible.
- Complete an Incident Reporting Form and submit it to the County Welfare Officer.
- Ensure that any umpire reports or statements accompany this information.
- Contact the Police/Ambulance/Children’s Social Care/LADO immediately if any child is in danger or has been hurt at the club and then report the matter to the County Welfare Officer.
League Discipline
Until the introduction of the ECB Safe Hands Policy it was the responsibility of a League to discipline any person who had offended against a person regardless of age.
However, with the introduction of the ECB Safe Hands Policy it is not the responsibility of those in cricket to determine whether abuse of a child or young person has taken place but it is their responsibility to report it.
Any incident that takes place during the course of a cricket match that results in verbal, physical or sexual assault on a person under the age of 18 years must be referred to the County Welfare Officer for advice. An Incident Reporting Form must be completed.
ECB Safe Hands
Further information regarding all of the above can be found within the ECB Safe Hands Policy which is the policy that provides all guidance relating to all child protection issues in Cricket.
If clubs wish to purchase a copy of Safe Hands please contact Pete Sykes. Alternatively, the Safe Hands policy can be downloaded from the ECB website where more information can also be found on what Safe Hands provides.
For clubs just beginning with a junior section, the essential guidance that Safe Hands provides is that:
- The club must nominate a Club Welfare Officer who will advise and ensure that Safeguarding is being adhered to in the Club.
- The Club Welfare Officer must attend a ‘Safeguarding and Protecting Children’ workshop accredited by Sportscoach UK (3 hours).
- The Club Welfare Officer must have a Vetting Check.
- The Club Welfare Officer must attend the ECB Safe Hands Workshop (which replaces the NSPCC ‘Time to Listen’ course as of January 2011) advising on the role, requirements and responsibilities of child safeguarding in Clubs.
For more information on attending a 'Safeguarding and Protecting Children' workshop or the ECB Safe Hands workshop please contact Ali Goddard.
CRB Checking
If you are a club welfare officer and need to order a batch of CRB forms for volunteers at your club to complete, or if you are an individual requiring a CRB form then you will need to contact TMG on 0845 251 3000 as they administer the CRB checking process for ECB. Once your CRB check (s) is ready for verifying please contact Pete Sykes and he will be able to point you in the direction of your nearest CRB signatory.
If you are a volunteer and are unsure whether your role requires CRB vetting then please download a guidance sheet on this subject.
