Safeguarding Policy

1. Policy Statement

The Crompton Club is committed to ensuring that every child and young person who takes part in our rugby coaching sessions is safe, protected, and supported.
We believe every player has the right to enjoy rugby in an environment free from abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

All coaches, volunteers, and staff have a responsibility to:
• Safeguard and promote the welfare of all children.
• Create a culture of trust, respect, and safety.
• Report any concerns about a child’s welfare immediately.

This policy applies to all players under the age of 18 involved in The Crompton Club’s coaching sessions, whether in group coaching or one-to-one settings.

2. Aims

Our safeguarding policy aims to:
• Protect children and young people who participate in our activities.
• Provide staff and volunteers with clear guidance on safeguarding responsibilities.
• Ensure consistent and effective procedures for reporting concerns or incidents.
• Promote a safe, inclusive, and enjoyable rugby environment.

3. Legal Framework

This policy is based on guidance and best practice from:
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government, 2023)
• Children Act 1989 and 2004
• Keeping Children Safe in Sport
• RFU Safeguarding Policy and Guidance

4. Roles and Responsibilities

Club Safeguarding Officer (CSO):
 The designated safeguarding lead for The Crompton Club will:
• Act as the first point of contact for any safeguarding concerns.
• Ensure concerns are reported to the relevant authorities such as the Local Authority, Police, or RFU Safeguarding Team.
• Maintain confidential records of all safeguarding issues.

Coaches and Volunteers:
 All coaches and volunteers must:
• Complete a DBS check and safeguarding training before working with players.
• Follow this safeguarding policy at all times.
• Maintain professional boundaries and report any concerns promptly.

5. Location and Environment

The Crompton Club coaching sessions are held primarily at Cobham RFC, a recognised rugby facility with appropriate safeguarding standards.

When using this venue, we will:
• Follow Cobham RFC’s site-specific safeguarding and welfare policies.
• Ensure that all sessions are conducted in safe, age-appropriate areas.
• Make sure parents and guardians know where sessions are taking place and when to collect their children.

6. Good Practice Guidelines

All staff, coaches, and volunteers should:
• Always put the welfare of the child first.
• Treat all players with respect and dignity.
• Maintain appropriate and professional relationships.
• Ensure coaching sessions are age-appropriate, safe, and inclusive.
• Avoid being alone with a child where possible and remain visible and open.

7. One-to-One Coaching

When one-to-one coaching is required:
• Parental or carer consent must be obtained beforehand.
• Sessions should take place in an open, visible, and safe environment, ideally within the grounds of Cobham RFC or another agreed public location.
• Parents should be informed of the time, duration, and location of all sessions.
• Communication with players must be professional and transparent, using official club or parent channels.
• Physical contact should only occur when necessary for demonstrating technique and should always be clearly explained.

8. Online and Digital Safety

If online communication or remote coaching occurs:
• Only use approved club accounts or platforms.
• Always include a parent, guardian, or safeguarding officer in communications.
• Do not share personal contact details or private social media accounts with players.
• Only use images or videos with written parental consent and for approved club purposes.

9. Recognising and Responding to Concerns

All staff should be alert to signs of possible abuse, including:
• Physical, emotional, sexual abuse, or neglect.
• Sudden changes in behaviour, withdrawal, or distress.

If you are concerned about a child:

  1. Report it immediately to the Club Safeguarding Officer.

  2. Do not promise confidentiality, as safeguarding concerns must be shared appropriately.

  3. Record details accurately, including dates, times, and facts.

  4. If a child is in immediate danger, contact Police on 999 or Local Authority Children’s Services.

10. Photography and Media

• Written parental consent is required before taking or sharing images of children.
• Players should be appropriately dressed in all images.
• Images must never be shared on personal social media accounts.
• Any official media use must align with The Crompton Club’s communications policy.

11. Whistleblowing and Allegations

• Concerns about the behaviour of a coach, volunteer, or staff member must be reported immediately to the Safeguarding Officer or to the RFU Safeguarding Team.
• The Crompton Club supports anyone who raises genuine concerns in good faith.
• Allegations will be handled confidentially and in line with RFU and statutory procedures.

12. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed annually or following any safeguarding incident, legislative change, or major organisational update.

13. Key Contacts

Club Safeguarding Officer: Grace Crompton
Email: gracecromptoncoaching1678@gmail.com
Phone: 07984080509

RFU Safeguarding Team: safeguarding@rfu.com
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
Childline: 0800 1111

Accessibility Statement

At The Crompton Club, we are committed to making rugby accessible, inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. Whether engaging with our website, attending our sessions or joining our rugby camps, we strive to ensure that all participants, parents and visitors can access our information, spaces and opportunities with ease.

We are NEURO certified, and their framework offers a credible, externally assessed standard that demonstrates our commitment to inclusion and accessibility across all areas of our work.

We are continually working to improve accessibility across all areas of our organisation, both online and in person. If you experience any barriers or require additional support to take part in our activities or access our content, please contact us at gracecromptoncoaching@gmail.com  so we can assist you promptly.

Our commitment to accessibility is part of a wider responsibility to provide a safe, supportive and respectful environment for everyone involved with The Crompton Club. You can read more about our policies here:

Safeguarding Policy - outlining how we protect and promote the welfare of all players, especially children and young people.

Privacy Policy - explaining how we collect, use and safeguard personal information.

We believe rugby should be open to all. By prioritising inclusion, safety and respect, The Crompton Club aims to ensure every player, coach and supporter feels valued and able to thrive.

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how The Crompton Club (the "Site", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit, use our services, or make a purchase from thecrompotnclub.com (the "Site") or otherwise communicate with us (collectively, the "Services"). For purposes of this Privacy Policy, "you" and "your" means you as the user of the Services, whether you are a customer, website visitor, or another individual whose information we have collected pursuant to this Privacy Policy. 

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using and accessing any of the Services, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use or access any of the Services. 

Changes to This Privacy Policy 

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised Privacy Policy on the Site, update the "Last updated" date and take any other steps required by applicable law. 

How We Collect and Use Your Personal Information 

To provide the Services, we collect and have collected over the past 12 months personal information about you from a variety of sources, as set out below. The information that we collect and use varies depending on how you interact with us. 

In addition to the specific uses set out below, we may use information we collect about you to communicate with you, provide the Services, comply with any applicable legal obligations, enforce any applicable terms of service, and to protect or defend the Services, our rights, and the rights of our users or others. 

What Personal Information We Collect 

The types of personal information we obtain about you depends on how you interact with our Site and use our Services. When we use the term "personal information", we are referring to information that identifies, relates to, describes or can be associated with you. The following sections describe the categories and specific types of personal information we collect. 

Information We Collect Directly from You 

Information that you directly submit to us through our Services may include: 

- Basic contact details including your name, address, phone number, email. 

- Customer support information including the information you choose to include in communications with us, for example, when sending a message through the Services. 

Some features of the Services may require you to directly provide us with certain information about yourself. You may elect not to provide this

Some features of the Services may require you to directly provide us with certain information about yourself. You may elect not to provide this information, but doing so may prevent you from using or accessing these features. 

Information We Collect through Cookies 

We also automatically collect certain information about your interaction with the Services ("Usage Data"). To do this, we may use cookies, pixels and similar technologies ("Cookies"). Usage Data may include information about how you access and use our Site and your account, including device information, browser information, information about your network connection, your IP address and other information regarding your interaction with the Services. 

Information We Obtain from Third Parties 

Finally, we may obtain information about you from third parties, including from vendors and service providers who may collect information on our behalf, such as: 

- Companies who support our Site and Services. 

- Our payment processors, who collect payment information (e.g., bank account, credit or debit card information, billing address) to process your payment in order to fulfill your orders and provide you with products or services you have requested, in order to perform our contract with you. - When you visit our Site, open or click on emails we send you, or interact with our Services or advertisements, we, or third parties we work with, may automatically collect certain information using online tracking technologies such as pixels, web beacons, software developer kits, third-party libraries, and cookies. 

Any information we obtain from third parties will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible or liable for the accuracy of the information provided to us by third parties and are not responsible for any third party's policies or practices. For more information, see the section below, Third Party Websites and Links. 

How We Use Your Personal Information 

- Providing Products and Services. We use your personal information to provide you with the Services in order to perform our contract with you, including to process your payments, fulfill your orders, to send notifications to you related to you account, purchases, returns, exchanges or other transactions, to create, maintain and otherwise manage your account, to arrange for shipping, facilitate any returns and exchanges and to enable you topost reviews. 

- Marketing and Advertising. We use your personal information for marketing and promotional purposes, such as to send marketing, advertising and promotional communications by email, text message or postal mail, and to show you advertisements for products or services. This may include using your personal information to better tailor the Services and advertising on our Site and other websites. 

- Security and Fraud Prevention. We use your personal information to detect, investigate or take action regarding possible fraudulent, illegal or malicious activity. If you choose to use the Services and register an account, you are responsible for keeping your account credentials safe. We highly recommend that you do not share your username, password, or other access details with anyone else. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately. 

- Communicating with you. We use your personal information to provide you with customer support and improve our Services. This is in our legitimate interests in order to be responsive to you, to provide effective services to you, and to maintain our business relationship with you. 

Cookies 

Like many websites, we use Cookies on our Site. For specific information about the Cookies that we use. We use Cookies to power and improve our Site and our Services (including to remember your actions and preferences), to run analytics and better understand user interaction with the Services (in our legitimate interests to administer, improve and optimize the Services). We may also permit third parties and services providers to use Cookies on our Site to better tailor the services, products and advertising on our Site and other websites. 

Most browsers automatically accept Cookies by default, but you can choose to set your browser to remove or reject Cookies through your browser controls. Please keep in mind that removing or blocking Cookies can negatively impact your user experience and may cause some of the Services, including certain features and general functionality, to work incorrectly or no longer be available. Additionally, blocking Cookies may not completely prevent how we share information with third parties such as our advertising partners. 

How We Disclose Personal Information 

In certain circumstances, we may disclose your personal information to third parties for legitimate purposes subject to this Privacy Policy. Such circumstances may include: 

- With vendors or other third parties who perform services on our behalf (e.g., IT management, payment processing, data analytics, customer support, cloud storage, fulfillment and shipping). 

- With our affiliates or otherwise within our corporate group, in our legitimate interests to run a successful business. - In connection with a business transaction such as a merger or bankruptcy, to comply with any applicable legal obligations (including to respond to subpoenas, search warrants and similar requests), to enforce any applicable terms of service, and to protect or defend the Services, our rights, and the rights of our users or others. 

We have, in the past 12 months disclosed the following categories of personal information and sensitive personal information (denoted by *) about users for the purposes set out above in "How we Collect and Use your Personal Information" and "How we Disclose Personal Information": 

Category: 

- Identifiers such as basic contact details and certain order and account information 

- Commercial information such as order information, shopping information and customer support information 

- Internet or other similar network activity, such as Usage Data 

Categories of Recipients: 

- Vendors and third parties who perform services on our behalf (such as Internet service providers, payment processors, fulfillment partners, customer support partners and data analytics providers) 

- Business and marketing partners 

- Affiliates 

We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for the purposes of inferring characteristics about you.