LFCC Welfare and Safeguarding Policy

+ LEICESTER FOREST CYCLING CLUB WELFARE AND SAFEGUARDING POLICY

Leicester Forest Cycling Club believes everyone who participates in cycling in all its disciplines is entitled to participate in an enjoyable and safe environment and to be given the chance to experience the fun, challenge and sense of achievement that are inherent to cycling. To ensure this, Leicester Forest is committed to implementing policies and procedures to ensure all those involved comply with the British Cycling code of good practice.

In addition, all young people are entitled to a duty of care and to be protected from abuse. Leicester Forest is committed to implementing policies and procedures to ensure everyone in the club accepts their responsibilities to safeguard children from harm and abuse. This means taking action to safeguard children and to report any concerns about their welfare.

Leicester Forest is bound by British Cycling’s procedures for good practice and child protection that clearly states what is required of the club:

  • Everyone knows and accepts their responsibilities and works together: parents, cyclists, coaches, leaders, and club officials.

  • All volunteers will be informed about their responsibilities and provided with guidance and/or training in good practice and child protection procedures.

The following terms are used in the club's policy:

  • Anyone under the age of 18 is considered to be a child/young person.
  • The term parent is used as a generic term to represent parents, carers and guardians.

British Cycling’s Child Protection Policy can be found here which is endorsed by Cycling Time Trials, and other leading national cycling organisations. The main points of that policy have been summarised below. British Cycling requires:

  • All affiliated clubs to appoint a Club Welfare Officer responsible for good practice and child protection; this officer must undergo a CRB check.
  • All Club Welfare Officers, coaches and leaders to undertake relevant child protection awareness training or undertake a form of home study, to ensure their practice is exemplary and to facilitate the development of a positive culture towards good practice and child protection in cycling.
  • All personnel (parents, cyclists, coaches, leaders, club officials, senior and junior club members) to receive advisory information outlining good practice and informing them about what to do if they have concerns about the behaviour of an adult towards a young person.
  • All coaches and leaders working with children to attend a British Cycling one-day top-up course on child protection, or other training course run by the Local Safeguarding Children Board, or by the County Sports Partnership that comprises good practice and child protection awareness training, guidance on child-centred coaching styles and information on child growth and development and its implications in cycling.
  • All coaches and leaders should have an up to date first aid qualification.

+ WELFARE OFFICER

Leicester Forest has a Welfare Officer who is responsible for ensuring that our Child Protection Policy is implemented and making sure it is communicated to Club Members, Coaches, Parents, and Children. Our Welfare Officer will also advise Leicester Forest event organisers how best to safeguard the welfare of children and young people who are participating in those events. If you have any concerns about the welfare of children involved in the Club you can contact our Welfare Officer by emailing: welfare@leicesterforest.org.uk

+ INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

Young people will be welcome to take part in a lot of Leicester Forest’s activities and we will run specific events for children and young people. However Leicester Forest requires that parents or guardians of young people taking part in all our club activities complete our parental consent form available below.

This is required for members and for non-members and can be downloaded from the club’s website and should be returned to any Club Official or brought to the activity/event that you wish to take part in. The only exception to this is for our club time trials, for which all young people must complete a Cycling Time Trials Consent Form.

This form must be completed each year in the presence of a club official. This can be done on the day of the club time trials. Most of our activities will be open for young people to take part in however for activities without age restrictions e.g. weekend club runs, audax, under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.

Some of Leicester Forest activities can be challenging and anyone taking part, including young people, must have the minimum level of skills and a suitable bicycle to participate in that activity.

+ Young People Taking Part in Club Runs

Leicester Forest organises a range of club runs, from our Sunday Social, to our Saturday morning runs. Details including times, maps, and starting points can be found on our club run page.

A young cyclist is welcome to join one of Leicester Forest CC club runs when his or her parents judge that he or she is mature enough to cope with traffic and strong enough to complete the ride.

Under 16s

Those under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult (parent or guardian) at all times. If a parent is not riding, the parent may choose to appoint an adult club member as a minder for the duration of the ride. It is the parents responsibility to ensure the suitability of a minder - LFCC does not undertake any checks (e.g. DBS) on adult members.

Over 16 and under 18

If a young person over the age of 16 and under 18 takes part unaccompanied, an adult club member needs to know that he or she is there with parental consent.

Riding

The rides are not coached sessions and there is not an organiser with legal responsibility for other riders. A club ride is simply a group of riders on a joint excursion on the open road which may include sections on busy roads. It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to ensure that participants’ bikes are roadworthy, safe, and suitable for the activity they are taking part in. For coached sessions please take a look at our British Cycling Go Ride Junior Rockets Coaching Sessions page

Ensure that they have identification details and emergency contact number(s) in case of an accident.

Riders are expected to be self-sufficient and should bring their own drinks, snacks and spare inner tube(s) money, tyre levers, and a pump. All participants under the age of the 16 must wear a cycling helmet at all times during club rides.

+ Taking part in coaching sessions

The following information is for parents and guardians of young people taking part in Leicester Forest coaching sessions

  • It is part of the British Cycling Code of Conduct that reasonable steps are taken to establish a safe environment where the young riders can enjoy developing their cycling skills.
  • Parents / Carers are welcome to stay and watch the session, but this is not compulsory
  • Children are expected to remain in the session from beginning to end unless they have to leave early. I f the child has to leave early or is being collected by someone other than the Parent / Carer, the Parent / Carer must advise the coach of the details of the arrangement including who will be collecting the rider.
  • It is the young rider’s responsibility to participate in cycling competitions in a sporting manner.
  • Any young riders who persistently misbehave or put others at risk will be asked to leave the session.
  • It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that their child’s bike is in a safe condition to ride.
  • A correctly fitting, approved cycling helmet must be worn at all times during the coaching sessions.
  • For all children under 12yrs, coaching sessions will take place in a traffic free facility. However, some children (over 12yrs only) may be involved in coaching sessions that take place on the public highway. Children are only invited to take part when coaches feel they are sufficiently responsible for their own actions and have developed the necessary bike handling skills and fitness levels in order to cope with riding on the public highways.

+ Guidance notes for Coaches and Event Organisers

All of our coaches and event organisers will adhere to the best practice guidance provided by British Cycling details of which can be found here.

The following information covers the main points that coaches and event organisers need to adhere to.

Good Practice

The following principles should be adhered to by those involved in cycling:

  • Conduct all coaching and meetings in an open environment; avoid one-to-one coaching in unobserved situations.
  • Maintain a safe and appropriate relationship with young people.
  • Avoid unnecessary physical contact with young people. Touching can be okay and appropriate as long as it is neither intrusive nor disturbing and the cyclist’s permission has been given.
  • Carry a mobile phone.
  • Carry emergency contact details of all young riders taking part.

Poor Practice

The following is deemed to constitute poor practice and should be avoided:

  • Avoid spending excessive amounts of time alone with one child away from the others.
  • Avoid taking children to your home where they will be alone with you.
  • Never allow allegations made by a child to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.If cases arise where these situations are unavoidable, they should only occur with the full knowledge and consent of the person in charge, or the child’s parents.

If any incidents should occur that gives you concern for a child’s welfare and safety, you should report them immediately to another colleague, make a written note of the event (to be sent to the Club Welfare Officer and Club Secretary), and inform parents of the incident:

  • If you accidentally hurt a cyclist (or a cyclist has an accident or otherwise requires medical treatment).
  • If a child seems distressed in any manner. If a child misunderstands or misinterprets something you have done. All leaders are required to sign up to the British Cycling Code of Conduct, which can be found in Appendix B of British Cycling’s child protection policy.

+ PHOTOGRAPHY

The taking, and publication on the internet, of images of under-sixteens is an increasingly sensitive issue. British Cycling has introduced the following policy to help protect members in this age group, which Leicester Forest will adopt:

  • Leicester Forest will make every effort to limit shots taken, or published on its website, of riders in the under sixteen categories to images which involve racing or formal training or formal club on-the-bike activities.
  • Off-the-bike shots of this age group will be limited to groups of riders unless provided by and with consent from a parent or guardian of the young person.

As an exception to the British Cycling Policy above, Leicester Forest may also take and publish photos of under-sixteens receiving their awards at formal prize presentations.

Leicester Forest will always remove images from its website upon request to the club secretary or Welfare Officer, where reasonable.

+ CONSENT FORM

Consent Form