As the Safeguarding Board Champion, you provide strategic leadership, scrutiny and support on safeguarding at Board level.
Your role helps ensure that safeguarding remains visible, prioritised and well‑governed across the organisation.
Sport England is clear that safeguarding is a core governance responsibility. You can help the Board meet this obligation by keeping safeguarding on the agenda while ensuring a consistent, informed, and proactive approach.
Board champions hold an important and influential position. We want you to feel supported, confident and equipped to carry out your responsibilities.
We recognise that this role can sometimes feel demanding or complex. But you shouldn’t have to navigate it alone. By staying connected with us and with your organisation’s safeguarding leads, you can help to ensure that safeguarding adults remains central to decision‑making.
Key Responsibilities For Safeguarding Board Champions
- Provide strategic challenge and assurance to the Board on safeguarding adults, ensuring it remains a standing priority in governance discussions.
- Support the Lead Safeguarding Officer, helping ensure they have the authority, resources, and organisational backing needed to deliver effective safeguarding practice.
- Ensure safeguarding risks, trends, and learning are considered in strategic planning.
- Promote a positive safeguarding culture, including psychological safety, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organisation.
- Act as a link between operational safeguarding and the Board, helping to translate complex safeguarding information into meaningful governance insight.
- Champion compliance with relevant standards, including the Safeguarding Adults in Sport Framework and Sport England and UK Sport expectations.
- Encourage Board development, ensuring members understand their safeguarding responsibilities and have access to appropriate training.
The Board Champion and Lead Safeguarding Officer Partnership
The Board Safeguarding Champion and the Lead Safeguarding Officer (LSO) hold different but complementary responsibilities. The LSO leads the operational safeguarding function on a day‑to‑day basis. Meanwhile, the Board Champion ensures the Board maintains a clear oversight of all safeguarding operations.
Your roles overlap in areas, such as sharing emerging risks, preparing meaningful Board reports, and promoting a positive safeguarding culture. But they differ in focus. The LSO manages cases, training, and implementation. As a Champion you will scrutinise performance, advocate for resources, and keep safeguarding visible in strategic decision‑making.
When you work closely, communicating regularly, respecting boundaries, and aligning on priorities, you can create a strong bridge between operational practice and Board‑level governance. This will help to strengthen safeguarding across the whole organisation.
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We offer lots of support to Active Partnerships. We are here to help you build your confidence in safeguarding adults, so you can guide at strategic level to keep people safe from harm within your organisation and the community.
To support you in this role, we offer a dedicated Board Safeguarding Champion Newsletter. This is specifically designed to support those leading safeguarding at board level.
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- Practical insights to strengthen governance
- New resources and guidance
- Sector updates and emerging risks
- Tools to help you champion safer culture across your organisation
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