Who’s responsible for safeguarding in your sport? You are.
And so is anyone else involved in your sport. This includes your colleagues, your volunteers, your coaches, and even your participants.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. We all have a duty to look out for each other, and to speak up if something isn’t right.
But with that said, it is important to show leadership when it comes to safeguarding in your sport. If you lead with positive actions and values, you can empower everyone with the confidence to challenge and instigate change.
Leading by Example
People in positions of power in sport and activity organisations can lead by example. Coaches, volunteers, trustees, and owners should all consider how their actions affect the entire organisational culture.
What does it mean to lead by example?
- Everyone should behave according to a shared set of values. This could mean you write a statement of intent, to make your position on safeguarding clear.
- Being honest, open, and transparent. As well as setting expectations for how everyone else should behave in your sport, you should constantly reflect on your own behaviour and conduct.
- Regularly communicate with people across the organisation. Safeguarding is an ongoing process. It’s important to keep everyone updated on your efforts to build a safer culture in your sport.
Taking Responsibility For Change in Your Club or Organisation
If you want to show leadership in promoting safeguarding best practice in your club or organisation, where should you begin?
This is why we created The Safeguarding Adults Roadmap. By breaking the process down into six manageable stages, The Roadmap is here to help you develop effective strategies for implementing meaningful policies and procedures in your sport.
The Safeguarding Adults Roadmap – Stage Two – Leadership and Responsibility
In stage one of your Roadmap journey, you took a close look at the current state of your club or organisation. It was an audit and a risk assessment, and you should now have a better idea of what needs to change, and how you’re going to change it.
Step two is all about putting the structures in place that will help you make whatever changes you need to make.
You’ll write a statement of intent, which will help demonstrate your commitment to providing a safer and more supportive environment for all participants.
At this stage, you’ll appoint a dedicated safeguarding lead (if you don’t have one already). You’ll also think about your staffing and training requirements, which will help you understand what sort of financial investment will be necessary to create lasting change in your club or organisation.
All of this will feed into your action plan while helping you to devise a realistic timeframe for change.
Much of safeguarding is of necessity all about details and process. However, it all starts with leaders stating and demonstrating that this is an organisation that takes safeguarding seriously.
Peter Tyldesley, CEO, British Wheel of Yoga
