I have been pondering safeguarding since I had to block an archer on all platforms in July whilst I was in Dunster. Does anyone actually check on the wellbeing of safeguarding and welfare officers?
Do you know that there’s a difference between a safeguarding officer and a welfare officer? Don’t get me started on the label child protection officer which I still see but is incredibly outdated! Vulnerable adults are part of what we do and any of us can be vulnerable and it can be long term or short term and might be recurring but not constant.
What training do officers have, what do you expect of them? What hours do they do? So many questions pop into my mind when I wonder what people expect of those of us who take on the role, do many people wander about why a person stepped up to volunteer in the role?
Remember that they cannot discuss whatever they are dealing with which makes asking for help difficult in many instances.
Who am I? Take a look here to have some information about my background and what skills and experience I bring to my roles in safeguarding
I have volunteered in safeguarding in archery since February 2018, I became regional safeguarding officer in July 2019 and it is here where I found myself in an environment where it was understood that I might need support and someone to just check on me every now and then, but I do think that this was in part due to what the regional chair did outside of our sport, multiple roles where they might be impacted by looking after others, Mario continued to check on me at intervals and sit with me to let me explain things I was dealing with whilst not divulging information that identified anyone involved. I was lucky enough to have this continued care when Ted stepped into the chair role and now with Caroline as the chair this care has continued, and throughout it all Lynn as regional secretary has been there for me to vent to.
Whilst I mainly support individuals I also support club, county and regional chairs and safeguarding officers and here I also have additional support here from my county safeguarding officer, Martin who checks on me when I check on him, recognising that we can all support each other is key when we have such a sensitive role.
What is important is that I never take any support for granted because I know we are all volunteers and time given to me is valuable. Thank you to everyone who looks after me.
I have seen posts and comments recently that safeguarding officers don’t have anything to do as things should be referred to AGB and/or the police and therefore we have nothing to deal with.
Let’s start with this:
https://archerygb.org/files/agb-lower-level-concerns-policy-210723111216.pdf
The National governing body do not deal with everything and if it is raised locally and dealt with locally may not even be aware there was ever an issue to start with, easy because it’s low level? Hardly these are often personality clashes and sometimes seemingly impossible to resolve! Don’t believe me? Remember I said that my recent pondering started after I blocked someone?
Early 2024 I was contacted by an archer who a club had dealt with a complaint and dismissed the member as a result, they wanted support from me as regional officer to help with and attend the hearing. Looking at the basic information there were some questions I had and the process at club didn’t appear to follow the AGB policy, I made a call to AGB to discuss my thoughts and used their confirmation that my questions were reasonable made contact with the club, over a period of months my questions were not answered and we attended the appeal hearing, here I raised more questions as I formation was discussed. Ultimately the panel upheld the original decision and we still didn’t have answers to the questions! After again speaking with AGB it was felt that at this point a complaint to the NGB was appropriate, I helped the archer write and send this as they were not confident with IT usage.
Once received this was assessed and referred to county to deal with, they contacted me and asked for my support as they were having difficulty getting replies from the club, this has gone on for a number of months and ultimately referred back to the NGB. Remember that throughout this process we have an archer who isn’t allowed to attend their club of choice and though they are shooting at an alternative range would still like to return to that club. They contacted the NGB to ask what is happening and how this situation is going to be resolved, they were advised that it was to be referred to region and I reminded everyone that I had already dealt with this at region, the reply was that this occasion would see the matter referred to the regional chair! Several weeks pass and the archer chase and the reply they received prompted them to send me abusive messages that I had lied, that the NGB aren’t aware of the issues and that no one is or has been dealing with this, now I know that in over a year I personally had given over 140 hours of my time to this, and whilst it may be incredibly difficult to accept that there was no resolution abuse is not acceptable! It would be easy to raise a complaint and though I considered it, frankly I can only see that becoming another matter I have to give hours of my time to, so I replied with a message that abuse and their attitude was not acceptable and that I wished them well in finding resolution and that I would no longer be contactable.
My current caseload is 12 cases, from simple clashes at local level that need some mediation and hopefully everyone apologises and we move on, to my longest case that has been with me for over 6 years and involves numerous individuals and a toxic environment in coaching. I am also supporting someone who is a victim of sexual abuse – yes the matter is being dealt with by the police and national governing body and they have been referred to the appropriate agencies who support these types of cases, but sometimes they just need a conversation about how to word emails or information that they are asked to provide and to know it’s ok to have emotional reaction to an email. I am local, my hours are not 9-5 ( this is most definitely not any kid of criticism of paid AGB staff, who are entitled to clock off and take leave). I also support parents/carers whose children are impacted by our sport, sometimes it’s simply providing information that they do not know where to find, or sat with them when they need someone as their child has been admitted to hospital as a result of self harm caused by bullying, always, always ensuring all of the appropriate professional does are involved but again sometimes this is needed out of hours and they do not know where to look. Providing a decent brew and signposting is a simple but kind way of supporting a distressed parent or partner when it’s out of hours.
Not for the first time I recently took a call from someone regarding an archer who had made serious statements involving suicidal ideation, safeguarding officers do not have access to sport80 we cannot find addresses etc, I directed the caller to 999. This might seem obvious but if it’s not a situation you are familiar with your mind doesn’t always think clearly. I later reached out to the person who called me to ensure they were ok and also signpost them if they needed any help with their experience. Duty of care is something that I take seriously!
The creation of the Sport Welfare Officer roles last year see us all have an avenue of support
and I have been lucky to create relationships with officer who cover the East Midlands to discuss a variety of subjects.
Archery GB have a dedicated area on the website
https://archerygb.org/about/safeguarding
and specifically an area with links to support for mental health
https://archerygb.org/about/safeguarding/mental-wellbeing-guidance
You can also find information at both
and the
You will see me around and I chat with anyone who wants to, that might be me signposting someone to a service or simply it’s a hard day of shooting and someone may be wondering why they put themselves through it! Don’t underestimate those conversations I am often thanked at later events for conversations in the moment.
I see my role as supporting the NGB to keep everyone safe and well and ensure that people know where to get any help that they need. I would like to think I do this well but it isn’t the only thing I do and it can be draining so please remember to be kind to your safeguarding officers please. I would also ask you to remember that the paid team at Archery GB are also human, we know that at the moment there are vacancies but that doesn’t reduce the caseload they are dealing with, quite the contrary it increases the load, added to that the summer holiday period and yes your issues may be incredibly important but they are allowed leave! Remember also that they have caseloads that vary and cannot explain why something else may take priority over your call or email, criminal cases certainly don’t wait and shouldn’t, that doesn’t mean they don’t care, it just means they have to prioritise and no, it’s not convenient that they might say they are busy without being able to evidence it! They make promises on time periods because in the moment they do mean it, but many things might impact their ability to keep that promise, might they message you to tell you there’s a delay sure, but if their day is ended they are allowed to go home and stop sending emails for the day! Don’t ask me to back your decision to be rude with them because I will actually tell you about yourself instead and suggest that actually they stop offering deadlines at all! I will defend them in almost any situation because if you took the time to look at the link I gave you at the beginning of this, I know what it is to work in a life, intense and sensitive environment.
Be kind! Always
If you read to the end of this – thank you, I wanted to give a window into safeguarding and welfare and why it may seem like nothing much is happening but in fact there’s often an awful lot going on.
Hope to see you on the range soon, and remember that your volunteers are allowed time to shoot to not just take your queries 😉❤️🏹
