Ashington Cougars Football Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working to provide a safe environment for all of its members.

A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any club football activity. We subscribe to The Football Association's Child Protection and Best Practice Policy and Procedures, Safeguarding Children and Young People in football (revised edition 2006) and endorse and adopt the Policy Statement contained in that document.

The key principles of The FA Child Protection Policy are that:

• The child's welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration
• All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual orientation
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately

We acknowledge that every child or young person who plays or participates in football should be able to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse. Ashington Cougars Football Club recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.

Ashington Cougars Football Club has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying.

It is noted and accepted that The Football Association Regulations apply to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This means whether you are a volunteer, match official, helper on club tours, coach, club official or medical staff.

We endorse and adopt The FA's Child Protection and Best Practice Guidelines for recruiting volunteers and will:

• Develop a role profile
• Request identification documents
• As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where possible conduct interviews before appointing
• Request and follow up with two references before appointing
• Require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.
• All current club officials with direct access to children and young people have already completed a CRB Enhanced Disclosure via The FA CRB Unit.

It is accepted that The FA aims to prevent people with a history of relevant and significant offending from having contact with children or young people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children or young people. This is to prevent direct sexual or physical harm to children or young people and to minimise the risk of 'grooming' within football.

The attached Child Protection will give you full details and if you have any issues please follow the club's Complaints Procedure or the clubs Whistleblower Policy. If you have any issues then feel free to call the club welfare officer, Annie Steel on 01903-891702 for more information.