Southwell City FC is looking for a new club welfare officer to help fulfil our safeguarding responsibilities to our members. As the second largest club in the County, the FA have recommended we should have two welfare officers in place. We are therefore looking for someone prepared to undertake this role alongside our current welfare officer, Chris Barnes.
A Club Welfare Officer has two key responsibilities:
- To be clear about the club’s responsibilities when running activities for children and young people. This involves:
- Ensuring these responsibilities are well understood by others
- Working with the Youth League Welfare Officer
- Working with the County FA (CFA) Welfare Officer and other CFA staff as appropriate
- Helping to develop best-practice processes and promoting The FA’s Respect Programme
- To help club personnel understand what their ‘duty of care’ towards children and young people actually means and entails on a day-to-day basis
It is essential that a Club Welfare Officer is perceived as being approachable, having a child centred approach and the ability to maintain this perspective when carrying out their role.
The type of person that would make a good Club Welfare Officer is someone who:
- Always puts children’s welfare first
- Is a good communicator
- Has a common-sense approach
- Is willing to learn and seek advice
- Is over the age of 18
- Is committed to working collaboratively within footballs designated persons’ network
The role would particularly suit anyone with professional child protection expertise, such as someone who is or was a police officer, teacher or social worker or other role with similar responsibilities.
If you need any further information about the role of a welfare officer, full details are available on www.TheFA.com/Safeguarding by clicking on Welfare Officer FAQs under the Welfare Officer section and also on the Respect pages under ‘My Role’; simply click on Welfare Officer.
Essential requirements of the post:
- Experience of dealing or working with young people
- Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding children issues
- A good communicator in a variety of situations with people from diverse backgrounds
- Committed to and ability to abide by The FA Rules and Regulations and promote The FAs Respect programme and safeguarding children education programme
- Empathy when dealing with individuals, sometimes in demanding situations
- Ability to listen and assess situations fairly
- Ability to handle confidential information sensitively and with integrity
- Reasonable level of administration experience and how to deal with confidential documentation
- Willingness to attend in-service training facilitated by either The FA or the local County FA
Desirable skills for the role:
- Knowledge and understanding of grassroots football
- Access to the internet
- Ability to use Emails
In addition, anyone considering the role will have to be prepared to undertake the following:
- Complete an ‘accepted’ CRB check via The FA CRB Unit (managed by the club)
- Completed The FA Safeguarding Children Workshop (free online course)
- Completed The FA Welfare Officer Workshop (free online course)
- Prepare to be vetted as suitable for appointment to the role by the club’s executive committee
- Be a member of and attend the monthly executive committee meetings
- Participate (in person or online) with the Notts FA quarterly safeguarding reviews
Interested?
Contact us now for an informal chat, we can discuss the role with you and answer any questions.
