Club welfare

Barrow Runners implements UK and England Athletics' guidance to have the people, policies, and procedures in place to look after all of our members, volunteers, and coaches.

UK Athletics and England Athletics safeguarding policies

Barrow Runners is an affiliated member of England Athletics and adopts their safeguarding policies and procedures:

Club Welfare Officers

The club has two welfare officers, currently Nigel Hillier and Claire Dennison.

They are registered as Barrow Runners' welfare officers with EA.

They are responsible for:

  • Building a club culture where members feel welcome, safe, included and supported
  • Making sure every member knows who they are and how to contact them regarding any issue
  • Ensuring that the welfare policy set out by UK Athletics and England Athletics are implemented by the club
  • Getting references and ensuring DBS checks are up to date for club volunteers, e.g our coaches
  • Reporting serious safeguarding concerns to UK Athletics and criminal issues to England Athletics
  • Reporting urgent matters to the local children's services or police

Raise a concern with a Welfare Officer

Any Barrow Runners member or parent can raise any concern about the safety or welfare of yourself, another adult, or a junior member of the Club with either of our Welfare Officers:

The Welfare Officers will handle your matter confidentially and with sensitivity, in accordance with the UK Athletics and England Athletics safeguarding procedures (download the latest PDFs):

Importantly, these Safeguarding Procedure PDFs both include a Safeguarding Reporting Form (see PDF appendix). Please refer to the form questions to provide the Welfare Officer/s with sufficient details about your concern.

Any concerns for the wellbeing and safety of a child arising from the conduct or practice of a volunteer must be reported to the Club Welfare Officer as soon as practically possible. Our Welfare Officer/s must report the concern to the UK Athletics Safeguarding Team within 48 hours.

Complaints and appeals

The Club's complaints procedure is set out in detail in the Club Constitution [section 10].

Raise a complaint about the behaviour of a member

Please lodge your complaint in writing to the Club Secretary.

The Committee will then meet to hear your complaint within 28 days of your complaint being lodged, with the power to take disciplinary action, including the termination of membership.

You will get written notification of their decision within 14 days of the disciplinary hearing. The member against whom the complaint was made will also be notified.

The appeals process is detailed in the Club Constitution [section 10(e)].

Club health and safety guidelines

The guidelines set out how the Club ensures the safety of all members during training and events. All members must agree to comply with these guidelines as a condition of their membership.

View the full Barrow Runners Health & Safety guidance [PDF].

Mental Health Champions

Barrow Runners has a Mental Health Champion as part of England Athletics' #RunAndTalk Programme; a national network of volunteers in England Athletics affiliated clubs that promote mental wellbeing through running.

Find out more about the role and support available from our Mental Health Champion.

Club Inclusion Policy

Barrow Runners embraces diversity and difference and is committed to providing opportunities that are safe, inclusive, accessible, and equitable.

We want our club to be accessible to all members of society, whatever their age, disability, gender, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or social/economic status.

We strongly encourage members or prospective members to speak to us about any reasonable adjustments they believe might be made to enable them or others to participate in our activities.

The Club's Inclusion Policy (v1.0) [PDF]

Members' privacy and data

The Club takes members' privacy and data seriously. There is a dedicated privacy policy that all members agree to when joining and renewing their membership. It covers what data is stored, how it is used, and who can use it.