Swindon Hockey Club works closely with England Hockey to protect the welfare of all its members by following the guidelines set out in this section. We are committed to creating and maintaining a safe and encouraging environment for all the young people involved with our club.

As a club we have adopted the England Hockey's Code of Ethics and Behaviour, entitled 'RESPECT', for all those involved in hockey and we would like to remind players and non-players of the minimum and expected levels of conduct. A copy can be found here.

In addition, all parents, club officers, coaches and any club volunteers over the age of 18 who have contact with junior players (under the age of 18) must be familiar with and agree to our policies regarding safeguarding.

The SHC Safeguarding and Protecting Young People Commitment can be found here.

Please contact Gavin Clark or Jane Hawthornthwaite, our Swindon Hockey Club Welfare Officers, with any questions you may have about safeguarding.
Email WelfareOfficer@swindonhockeyclub.com.

Information for all

The England Hockey SafeGuard programme offers user-friendly support across a range of subjects. It is designed to provide the hockey family with expert advice on how to create an environment that is young-people focused while minimising risk and maximising enjoyment for all involved.

The club has adopted all the England Hockey SafeGuard policies:

Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Hockey Policy
Recognising Poor Practice and Abuse
Parent/Legal Guardian Information & Guidance

These policies as well as additional guidance for good practice can also be found by visiting the England Hockey SafeGuard section on their website here. We have also adopted the England Hockey Injury Reporting policy which can be found under our policies section.

Information for Club Officers and Helpers

If you are a coach, assistant coach, team manager, committee or management team member, captain or vice captain of any team or any type of volunteer who has regular contact with anyone under 18 you must get a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.

Our DBS Liaison Officer, Gavin Clark (email WelfareOfficer@swindonhockeyclub.com), can help guide you through the DBS process. You will need to provide your personal details and 3 forms of ID to confirm your identity. The documents accepted can be found here.

England Hockey accepts the use of DBS Certificates on the DBS Government Update Service. The DBS Certificate on the DBS Government Update Service must be done to the same level as a DBS check through an affiliated hockey club/association (Enhanced level with a child barred list check). You will need to provide the original DBS Certificate that is uploaded to the Government Update Service and at least one piece of ID before a check can be performed. If you wish to use the DBS Government Update Service for a check, please contact Gavin who can arrange for the process to be started.