SAFEGUARDING

Safeguarding

Lincolnshire Cricket is committed to ensuring that everyone engaging with cricket in Lincolnshire across cricket clubs, schools and community, and performance programmes, have a safe, welcoming, and positive experience so everyone can enjoy the game of cricket. Our commitment to ensuring best policy, practice, and procedure in safeguarding can be found in our Safeguarding Strategy for 2025 – 2028.

We comply fully with the ECB Safe Hands Policy – and the ECB Safeguarding Kit Bag, including its policies and guidance. This is the England and Wales Cricket Board’s policy to safeguard children within cricket.

It is strongly recommended that all recreational cricket clubs also agree to comply with and adopt the ECB Safe Hands Policy along with ECB Safeguarding Kit Bag, including its policies and guidance. 

Clubs can adopt the policy by completing this form and uploading it to the documents section of their Play Cricket site.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. If you have any concerns about a child or an adult you should raise these immediately.

Safeguarding Children

Everyone involved in cricket has a duty to ensure the safety and welfare of any young person engaged in the sport. From prevention to protection, safeguarding in sport is everyone’s responsibility and involves keeping young people out of harm’s way both on and off the cricket pitch. It is not the responsibility of any individuals to determine if abuse has taken place, but it is their responsibility, and the responsibility of everyone within cricket, to confidentially report concerns to the relevant Club Safeguarding Officer, the County or Deputy County Safeguarding Officer, the Cricket Regulator or Child Protection services.

Our safeguarding and protecting children policy can be found here.

Safeguarding Adults

Safeguarding Adults means protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. Lincolnshire Cricket is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment for all people involved in cricket and we are dedicated to supporting the welfare of all people. Should you require advice or guidance around safeguarding adults, please contact our County Safeguarding Officer, Charlotte Parkin.

Our safeguarding and protecting adults’ policy can be found here.

 

Reporting a concern

Low-level concerns (LLC’s) are concerns about behaviour that do not meet the threshold of harm but are still inconsistent with a club’s code of conduct or values. Low-level concerns can be about behaviour that’s inappropriate at work or outside of work. They can also be about behaviour that causes a sense of unease or a “nagging doubt”.

Concerns are different to allegations, which are then categorised as threshold concerns as they meet the harm threshold. Multiple low-level concerns can also form a pattern that reaches the threshold of harm, and therefore becomes a threshold concern.

Should you have a safeguarding or welfare concern that you would like advice on, or you need to report any concerns, there a number of people or organisations you can contact:   

  • Your Club Safeguarding Officer – please find out from your club who this person is 
  • Your County Safeguarding Officer, Charlotte Parkin safeguarding@lincscricket.co.uk or Tel: 07562 693 541
  • To the Cricket Regulator directly – you can do this by calling 020 7432 1200 and asking for a member of the Safeguarding Team or by emailing safeguarding@cricketregulator.co.uk.  
  • If urgent and you cannot contact your club, or County Safeguarding Officer, you should call the NSPCC 24-hour helpline on 0808 800 5000. 
  • If it is an emergency and someone is at immediate risk, then call the Police on 999 or Children’s Social Care in your area. 

Referral Form 

The Safeguarding Referral Form has been designed to support anyone with a concern to be able to supply us with key information. Once complete the form should be shared with your County Safeguarding Officer or the Safeguarding Team via safeguarding@cricketregulator.co.uk.  

  • Safeguarding Referral Form  Download 

 

Charlotte Parkin – County Safeguarding and EDI Lead

Safeguarding Courses

To support our County Safeguarding Officer within the cricket community, each club across the county has its own Club Safeguarding Officer who is nominated by the club. These are essential members of the club and are key to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all to enjoy the game of cricket.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The Club Safeguarding Officer will be responsible for ensuring safeguarding policies and procedures are in place, all reports of safeguarding concerns are adequately dealt with, and that everyone working with children is recruited safely and appropriately vetted by the ECB requirements. The Club Safeguarding Officer should be a permanent member of the Committee to ensure that safeguarding is at the forefront of all club decisions.
To become a Club Safeguarding Officer, you need the to have completed the following requirements:
  1.  A valid ECB DBS certificate
  2. Safeguarding Level 2 – ECB online module that needs to be completed every 3 years. The link to access this is here.
  3. Safe Hands Workshop (every 3 years to remain compliant) arranged through Lincolnshire Cricket.

Charlotte is the first point of contact for safeguarding within all clubs, but if you have any queries which you feel cannot be dealt with locally, please contact the Cricket Regulator National Safeguarding Team on 020 7432 1200 or email safeguarding@cricketregulator.co.uk

Completing a face-to-face Safe Hands course every three years is a mandatory requirement for CSO compliance. If your club will be undertaking training or match play indoors during the close season, it is essential you have a compliant CSO for this period.

Safeguarding Level 1

The level 1 course is recommended for anyone involved in the game including club members, volunteers, and parents.

The training provides basic knowledge and advice in creating a safe cricket environment for everyone, recognising signs of abuse, what to do if you have any concerns or if you are approached by anyone with concerns that they may have. 

This training should take around 30 minutes to complete and is accessible on a laptop, tablet or mobile phone.

Safeguarding Level 2

The Audience:

  • Coaches or Activators
  • Officials
  • Captains/Vice-Captains
  • Team Managers, Junior Supervisors, Volunteer Coordinators
  • Chairs and Committee Members
  • Club and League Safeguarding Officers

The Aims and Objectives of the course: 

  • Create a safe and inclusive cricket environment  
  • Describe what a safeguarding concern is
  • Respond appropriately to concerns
  • Describe how to report and record safeguarding concerns

This training should take around 1 hour to complete.

 

Documents to support your Club –

The ECB has produced a range of posters which you can personalise with your CSO’s contact details and share with your members. They should be available around the clubhouse and your club’s other facilities to ensure maximum safeguarding visibility and reporting. They are available from the links below:

Safeguarding – tell someone

Club Safeguarding Officer with space for club logo

Club Safeguarding Officer

Club Safeguarding Officers

For further information about the ECB’s Safe Hands Policy or to find guidance for your club please click here or visit our policies page.