Safeguarding Policy and Contacts

Introduction

Premier Women’s Rugby Limited (PWR) is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all participants in the sport.

PWR believe that everyone is entitled to feel safe and protected from any form of abuse and neglect, and has the right to take part in sport in a safe, positive and enjoyable environment regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Ensuring the safety of everyone involved with PWR is of the utmost importance. PWR believe that everyone has a responsibility to promote the safeguarding and welfare of children and adults at risk, to keep them safe, and to practice in a way that protects them.

Purpose

This Policy sets out the roles, responsibilities and procedures for everyone involved in PWR to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and adults at risk. Its purpose is to provide clear processes and procedures towards safeguarding participants in the game in a transparent manner.

Scope

This Policy applies to all PWR employees and volunteers for, or on, behalf of PWR, and all participants within the PWR club environments covering:

Raising awareness of safeguarding and equipping staff and volunteers with the training and skills needed to keep players and themselves safe;
The promotion and implementation of safer recruitment in checking the suitability of staff and volunteers working with children, adults at risk and participants;
Developing and implementing procedures for identifying and reporting safeguarding concerns;
Having oversight of PWR clubs, promoting safeguarding and best practice to help facilitate safer environments for those participating in the league;
Working with the RFU as the National Governing Body for the sport in England, to make sure that the game of Rugby Union remains a game for all and players are protected.

Policy Definitions

Children are anyone under the age of 18 years of age.
An adult is anyone aged 18 or over.
An Adult at Risk, as per the Care Act of 2014, is an adult who:

i. Has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs)
ii. Is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect
iii. Is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of, abuse or neglect, as a result of those care and support needs 4. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) – the body responsible for processing criminal record checks, taking decisions on whether it is appropriate to place (or remove) an individual on the Children’s Barred List or Adult Barred List for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Adoption of Policies and Procedures

PWR adopts and adheres to the RFU’s safeguarding policy and procedures, practices and guidance, and any successor policies, including the adoption of its deﬁnitions of abuse and neglect. https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/safeguarding

Moreover, PWR will promote and enforce RFU Regulation 21.

PWR will also follow the principles of the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ statutory guidance. To enact this, PWR will:

Appoint a Board Safeguarding Champion – Conor O’Shea who is responsible for overseeing and liaising with the nominated Lead Safeguarding Officer.
Appoint a Lead Safeguarding Officer – Amy Walmsley who will oversee the implementation of this policy.
Ensure all appointees undergo the appropriate training commensurate to their roles.
Ensure the PWR Board will receive Safeguarding Training and receive updates.
Work in partnership with all PWR clubs (and PRL where applicable), RFU, any statutory services, and organisations such as the NSPCC in the implementation of this policy.
Ensure that PWR undertake safe recruitment practices and that all staff and volunteers undertake DBS checks where required, safeguarding training (commensurate to their role) and ensure all staff and volunteers receive a copy of this Policy, and are aware of how to contact the Lead Safeguarding Officer.
Ensure all PWR employees and volunteers understand their responsibilities in being alert to the signs of abuse and their responsibility for recording and reporting any concerns.
Establish and audit club safeguarding standards as set out within the Minimum Operating Standards (MOS) regarding club policies and procedures, club safeguarding officer role, safe recruitment practices, training and reporting mechanisms.
Develop effective links with relevant agencies and cooperate as required with their enquiries regarding children and adult protection matters, including attendance at any statutory agency meetings where needed.
Keep secure, conﬁdential records of safeguarding or welfare concerns in accordance with relevant General Data Protection Regulations within PWR systems. Ensure any concerns reported are referred immediately to the RFU Safeguarding Team, in accordance with RFU Regulation 21.
Ensure that all other PWR policies which have a safeguarding element are consistent with this Policy and with each other, and where appropriate, make cross reference to this Policy.

Seventeen Year Olds Participating in PWR

Where a 17-year-old is playing in the PWR and/or involved in a training session, it is essential that every reasonable precaution is taken to ensure their safety and wellbeing is protected while remaining compliant with RFU Regulation 15. The RFU assess and sign-off any 17-year-old applying to play or train within an adult setting and PWR will support this process where required.

RFU Regulation 21 and Compliance

All PWR Clubs are expected to comply with RFU Regulation 21 and Government Legislation in relation to their safeguarding responsibilities. Particular reference is drawn to the requirement of all Clubs to have a Safeguarding Policy and a Club Safeguarding Officer.

In addition to this, PWR retains a level of oversight on all Clubs through the auditing of the Minimum Operating Standard, which includes speciﬁed areas for club’s safeguarding provisions.

Where Clubs require support to achieve the relevant standards for safeguarding, PWR will work with the Club in support with the RFU Safeguarding Team. Moreover, PWR will inform the RFU Safeguarding Team of any concerns with Club safeguarding provisions.

Position of Trust and Best Practice

PWR considers all staff and volunteers who work with children to be in a position of trust, which has been invested in them by parents and carers. This relationship can be described as one in which the PWR staff member, club member or volunteer is in a position of authority or responsibility over another person, speciﬁcally those in their care. These individuals will have power and inﬂuence over children.

It is unlawful for an adult in a position to trust to have an intimate or sexual relationship with children under 18 years old. It is contrary to PWR’s policy and procedures for PWR league or club staff or volunteers to develop a physically or emotionally dependent relationship, or a consensual sexual relationship with a child under 18 years old. Any individual that breaches this will be subject to RFU disciplinary procedures, and referred to the relevant statutory agency where required. PWR staff will also be subject to PWR disciplinary procedures.

All those within PWR and its member clubs have a duty to raise any concerns about the behaviour of anyone involved within PWR (league or member clubs) including any member of staff, volunteer, outside contractor, or anyone else in a position of trust with children and adults at risk and should follow the PWR Reporting Procedures (set out in section 5), and the RFU’s Speak Up Policy and Hotline.

The following are examples (not limited to) of behaviour and conduct that all league and club officials and volunteers must never engage in:

Be inappropriate or have unnecessary physical contact with participants
Participate in any dynamic contact games or training with children and adults at risk
Work alone with a child and/or adults at risk
Consume alcohol and or drugs while responsible for children and adults at risk
Provide alcohol, drugs, or other harmful substances to children and adults at risk or allow its supply.
Smoke or vape in the presence of children and adults at risk
Use inappropriate language or allow children to use inappropriate language.
Allow allegations to go unchallenged, unrecorded, or not acted upon.
Depart the club, school, place of activity, or rendezvous point, until the safe collection of all children
Cause an individual to lose self-esteem by embarrassing, humiliating, or undermining the individual.
Treat some children or adults at risk more favourably than others.

Reporting

The RFU has a dedicated Safeguarding Team and readers are encouraged to refer to the RFU’s Sharing Concerns guidance, Safeguarding Policy, and Regulation 21, which set out processes and procedures for dealing with concerns in the sport. PWR will refer any reports to the RFU when being notiﬁed of any potential safeguarding or misconduct relating to Clubs within the Competition, players involved in PWR Clubs, or generally as part of the wider game of Rugby Union in England in line with RFU Regulation 21 and appropriate procedures. To understand the handling of this information and/or investigation process, please refer to the RFU Safeguarding Policy and Regulation 21.

Safeguarding concerns may be reported to the RFU Safeguarding Team directly via relevant methods detailed in the Sharing Concerns section of the RFU website, including the online webform to report concerns securely.

The RFU Safeguarding Team may be contacted via the following ways:

Email: [email protected]
Voicemail Service (receive a call back within 24 hours): 0208 831 6655
Website: https://www.englandrugby.com/run/safeguarding

Regarding Safeguarding concerns about PWR staff members or volunteers, PWR will take a report in the way that is most comfortable for the person submitting the report including, but not limited to:

By email to PWR’s reporting email address: [email protected]
In-person, to the PWR Safeguarding Officer
In writing, to: FAO - PWR Safeguarding Officer, Premiership Women’s Rugby, 25EP, 25 Eccleston Yards, London, SW1W 9NF

Where the concern relates to the PWR Safeguarding Officer, the concern should be raised directly with the RFU Safeguarding Team via the details provided above.

Regardless of the reporting method, it would assist PWR to receive the following information if possible:

Name of the person reporting the concern(s) and contact details
Type of behaviour alleged
Name(s) of the alleged victim(s) or person(s) impacted
Dates/locations or any other helpful information
Name(s) of any witness(es)
Name(s) of the individual(s) which the concern is against.

Further Information and Policy Review

Amy Walmsley is PWR’s Lead Safeguarding Officer and is responsible for promoting the awareness and implementation of this Policy. If you have any queries, please contact the Lead Safeguarding Officer via: [email protected]

The responsibility of reviewing and maintaining this Policy sits with PWR’s Lead Safeguarding Officer, overseen by the Board Safeguarding Champion, and should be reviewed annually or sooner where signiﬁcant changes to legislation or RFU Regulations occur.

Club Safeguarding Contacts

Bristol Bears - Richard Berry - [email protected]
Bristol Bears - Claire Brophy - [email protected]
Exeter Chiefs - Mark Isaacs - [email protected]
Exeter Chiefs - Keith Brooking - [email protected]
Gloucester-Hartpury - Amelia Gray - [email protected]
Gloucester-Hartpury - Tom Bedkowski - [email protected]
Harlequins - Lucy Elliott - [email protected]
Leicester Tigers - Sarah Allen - [email protected]
Loughborough Lightning - Charlie Wheeldon - [email protected]
Loughborough Lightning - Sabrina Cox - [email protected]
Sale Sharks - Carol Baker - [email protected]
Sale Sharks - Ella Merefield - [email protected]
Saracens - Niamh McHugh - [email protected]
Trailfinders Women - Lindsey Cottrell - [email protected]
Trailfinders Women - Kim Oliver - [email protected]