FA – “PLAY SAFE” CAMPAIGN

WE’D LOVE YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN FOOTBALL’S NATIONAL ‘PLAY SAFE’ CAMPAIGN

A message from Mark Bullingham, Chief Executive of The FA:

On Saturday and Sunday 20/21 November, we’re asking the whole of football to come together to promote the importance of safeguarding in the game we all love. It’s the start of an ongoing campaign called ‘Play Safe’, which will also surface at other relevant moments across this and the next two seasons, such as Safer Internet Day, Parents in Sport Week and Anti-Bullying Week 2022/23.

Play Safe is being run in partnership with the NSPCC and has support right across the men’s and women’s professional game and the County FAs.

So you can get involved and demonstrate your club’s commitment to safeguarding, we have created three short films. The first two are aimed at parents/carers and children for you to share. The third film is for you, the club officials. They all feature England players and among their key messages are the importance of listening to children, as well as knowing how and who to speak to if concerns do arise.

On Monday November 15, we’ll send you a link to download these films, so you can use them on your website and social media channels.

The same link will also give you access to download digital assets for your website and social media platforms. You’ll also be able to download an article explaining Play Safe for you to use as you wish.

We encourage you to use the opportunity of Play Safe – particularly over the weekend of November 20/21 – to reflect, build on and communicate how your club provides a safe and positive environment for every child and young person. Please see the more information section at the foot of this email for examples of how you might do this.

Play Safe emphasises the importance of clubs having safeguarding at the heart of all that they do. And that parents/carers and children themselves know what to do if they feel unsafe or worried, because nothing matters more than making sure football is safe for everyone, especially children and young people.

As a youth team coach, I will be working with my club in the lead-in to 20/21 November to ensure that we support the Play Safe messaging. I am also pleased to note that the campaign has the support of the former footballers with lived experience of abuse in football, who are on our Survivor Support and Safeguarding Advisory Group. They asked me to include this message to you:

“Learning from the past is crucial, so that we can prevent the horrific experiences that happened to us and so many others in football, from happening again.

“As a group of survivors, we fully support the ethos and important messages that Play Safe conveys – whether to club officials, parents/carers and or vitally, children and young people themselves. Equally important is that Play Safe is not a one-off campaign – it will be used at key points in the football calendar to remind everyone in football, that children’s welfare and keeping them safe, should be at the heart of all that we do.”

I wholeheartedly echo the sentiments of the Group.

Thank you for everything you do to make safeguarding an everyday reality in grassroots football.

We’ll be in touch again on November 15.

Kind regards,

Mark Bullingham
Chief Executive, The FA
MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Some suggested ways to communicate how your club provides a safe and positive environment for every child and young person:

Ask your Committee members to:

o   Ensure your Club Welfare Officer’s (CWO) contact details are widely available;

o   Ensure safeguarding and player welfare is regularly on your meeting agendas and reflected in your club’s day to day practices;

o   Discuss with your CWO a) what’s going well and b) what could be improved at your club – then agree three key priorities to drive positive change.

Ask your coaches and managers to:

o   Use the Play Safe weekend to find out first-hand from your under-18 players:

– What they feel is working well at the club;

– Anything they’d like to change.

Remind players that if they have any concerns they can speak with the coach/manager, the Club Welfare Officer or their parent/carer.

Ask parents/carers to:

o   Put the CWO/NSPCC helpline number in their phone;

o   Introduce themselves to the CWO;

o   Ensure you know who their coach is;

o   Discuss the club’s code of conduct with their child – and make sure they understand it;

o   Complete The FA Safeguarding For All free online course;

o   Regularly check-in with their child to see what they are enjoying/not enjoying at football and why;

o   Reflect on whether they are:

– Keeping to the club’s code of conduct, in what they say and do;

– Recognising that under-18 referees are children and should receive the same support as every other under-18 in the game.