Sport England Launches Safeguarding Network for Children in Sport

September 29, 2023 

Sport England will invest £14.83 million into a new network of professional sport welfare officers to protect children and young people across sport in the UK. The project is in response to the organization’s Whyte Review co-comissioned with UK Sport, which was published in 2022 following allegations of abuse in gymnastics. The Review had followed stories of abuse in other sports as well as concerns that complaints weren't being adequately reported or followed up on. 

A study by World Athletics on child abuse in the UK and other European countries found that 44% of adults reported experiencing physical violence in sport as children. 35% reported experiencing non-contact sexual violence while 20% reported contact sexual violence. The Whyte Review into British Gymnastics uncovered egregious misconduct and abuse towards children in the sport. It found that more than 40% of gymnasts had reported physical abuse and elite athletes were starved and body-shamed. 

The revealing review also spoke to the safeguarding responsibility delegated to volunteers at regional and local levels. Consequently, Sport England and UK Sport published their policy response in January this year, which included a proposal to implement and fund sport welfare officers across England. It was approved in June will run from next month through March 2027.

The Sport Welfare Officers project will recruit and train 59 officers, based in and employed by Sport England’s network of 42 Active Partnerships (APs), to promote good practices and safe sport. Developed in collaboration with a number of partners – including national governing bodies (NGBs), the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit and the Ann Craft Trust – the project will support local clubs in ensuring the welfare of their members, both children and adults. 

This includes needed guidance for the existing local Club Welfare officers network who work to safeguard children and help them feel confident and comfortable while being active. These roles are undertaken by volunteers interested in contributing to community sport by supporting young people.

“The project will directly support our ambition to champion the life-changing impact of being active and our mission to tackle deep-rooted inequalities and unlock the advantages of sport and physical activity for everyone,” said Sport England’s Chief Executive, Tim Hollingsworth. “Ensuring a safe, inclusive environment is vital in improving our children and young people's experience of sport in particular, and we know from the evidence presented – not least in the Whyte Review of Gymnastics – that this is not always the case.” 

The new Sport Welfare officers will mentor and support Club Welfare officers in their respective APs across their county or sub-region. The role intends to blend action at a national and local level to help promote a consistent approach for clubs to support their own welfare officers.  Club Welfare officers from different sports will be brought together to share good practices, prioritize visits to local clubs or events and work closely with other Sport Welfare officers, NGBs and wider organizations. They will also connect people working on welfare and safeguarding, both inside and outside sport and help further understand current safeguarding methods, e.g. how policies and procedures are cascaded locally. 

It will remain the responsibility of the NGBs to conduct investigations and manage cases. This has been questioned due to the large number of complaints brought against NGB's. However, as part of Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy – a 10-year vision to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity – a "call for evidence" around potentional independent complaints or ombudsman had been included.

“Great strides have been taken in recent years, but we are all too aware there is much more to be done, particularly in the area of prevention where the training of the safeguarding in sport community is critical," said Adrian Christy, chief executive of Table Tennis England. “We very much look forward to working together with the Sport Welfare Officers to further strengthen our sector.”