We are looking for someone to join the team as our Sport Welfare Lead, working in Nottinghamshire. 

A new, national network of Sport Welfare Leads was created in 2024 across England to support National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and local clubs to promote good practice and safe sport for children, young people and adults on a local level. This is in response to the findings and recommendations of Whyte Review, published in June 2022.  The Sport Welfare Leads add capacity and expertise to the existing safeguarding work of NGBs and Active Partnerships. They help further understand safeguarding in local clubs e.g. how policies and procedures are cascaded and help share good practice. They work closely with other Sport Welfare Officers, NGBs and wider organisations; to connect people working on welfare and safeguarding, both inside and outside sport.  

The Sport Welfare Lead role at APT will have a positive impact by:  

• Contributing to more positive, safe, inclusive experiences,  

• Supporting communities including those under-represented in sport and physical activity to enjoy the benefits of what sport and physical activity can do  

• Advocating consistent best practice with an effective welfare culture in club environment. 

What you will do - Understand 

Grow our insight and understanding of people and communities 

Create opportunities to: 

• Build an understanding of the support needs of club welfare officers. Understand the existing support processes and systems in place and whether club welfare officers are aware of them and whether they meet their needs. 

• Understand the resources and support needs of the National Governing Bodies.  

• Understand the lived experience of club members and use this insight to develop a deeper understanding of how club welfare officers can work to meet the needs of their members/users. 

• Develop an understanding of the broader safeguarding structures, such as the county/city Safeguarding Children’s Partnerships and safeguarding boards. Build connections with them.  

• Share what we are seeing and hearing locally about the needs and priorities identified with key partners locally and nationally to help inform future decisions.  

What you will do - Enable 

Support and develop people and focus on learning and adapting 

Create opportunities to: 

• Support the development of club welfare officers through training and mentoring.  

• If insight identifies this need, set up networks/forums for club welfare officers from a range of sports to come together to connect and share good practice, experiences and learning.   

• Support Club Welfare Officers with reporting and referral of safeguarding cases from local to national and if appropriate support resolution of lower-level concerns. 

• Collate good practise and share with colleagues. Supported by the marketing team, share this learning more widely to inform practice. 

Advocate for and influence policy and practice 

Create opportunities with owners of policies and processes to: 

• Encourage and support clubs to review their safeguarding and welfare policies and processes considering any new insight and learning. Support them to involve their members in this work. 

What you will do - Deliver 

•  Attend club meetings and events to raise awareness of the importance of safeguarding and the processes in place within the club, with parents, carers and participants. 

• Provide vision, leadership and commitment in safeguarding, equity and diversity matters in conversations.  

• Provide effective communications and reports to Sport England, APT’s Board and county panels reporting on progress, evaluation and planning. 

We are looking for someone to join us who: 

Essential:  

• Believes in the importance of physical activity being safe and inclusive for everyone.

• Believes in our values and behaviours.

• Ability to develop relationships and influence to gain commitment.  

• Is a strong communicator and an effective advocate.  

• Is able and willing to challenge, in a positive way.  

• Can plan, organise and prioritise own varied workload to meet internal and external deadlines.

• Has experience of safeguarding and welfare work with young people and/or adults.  

• Has experience of welfare procedures, structures and how to respond to safeguarding concerns. 

• Is able to lead this work, driving and influencing change to develop a safeguarding culture across the physical activity sector.

• Can travel around the county to attend meetings including evenings and weekends.

Desirable:  

• Experience of leading safeguarding in a sport environment. 

• Is self-reflective, self-aware and adapts own behaviour.   

• Has experience of setting up, planning and facilitating group conversations. 

• Understanding or interest in inequalities.  

• Public/voluntary sector experience.