Between March and August 2025, the Sport Welfare Officer at Active Humber supported 123 sports clubs across the region.
Since the role began in January 2024, a total of 412 clubs have received safeguarding and welfare support.
What This Support Looks Like
Support ranges from light-touch guidance to more in-depth, hands-on work, depending on each club’s needs. Examples include:
- Quick advice or signposting
- Sharing resources or follow-up guidance
- Attendance at online sessions or forums
- One-to-one support with safeguarding processes
- Training or workshops delivered in person or online
This flexible approach ensures clubs receive the right level of help at the right time.
Club Support Visits
Club Support Visits are available to all clubs in the Humber, offering personalised safeguarding and welfare support to sports clubs across the Humber. Each visit is tailored to the unique needs of the club, whether that’s identifying and arranging additional training opportunities, guiding them through a self-assessment of their safeguarding and welfare practices, or helping new Club Welfare Officers feel confident and supported in their roles.
These visits also allow us to build strong and trusted relationships with our clubs. We take the time to learn about each club’s culture, the sport, and the environment they create for participants. By being present within the club setting, we get to see firsthand the fantastic work happening in our communities. This insight enables us not only to celebrate and champion good practice, but also to share learning across the region to strengthen welfare standards for everyone involved in sport.
UK Coaching Partnership - Expanding Local Training Access
Recently, Active Humber became a licensed partner with UK Coaching, which means we can now offer face-to-face safeguarding and welfare training across the region with our first course running in January, which became fully booked within 3 days.
For a while, this kind of nationally recognised training hasn’t been easily available at community level. While there are local training opportunities available, they aren’t always recognised by National Governing Bodies, which can make it tricky for volunteers and clubs who want qualifications that meet sport-specific standards.
Our partnership with UK Coaching helps fill this gap by offering accredited, NGB-recognised training locally. This reduces the need for people to travel long distances or rely only on online courses. It also helps break down digital barriers, making sure that volunteers who prefer in-person learning can access high-quality, recognised training close to home.
Supporting Safer Martial Arts Clubs
This year, Active Humber worked with the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCiMA) to complete a quality assurance audit with a local martial arts club. The process allowed us to connect the club welfare officer with our Sport Welfare Officer, introducing them to the work of the Sport Welfare Officer and opportunities they can access.
"The Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCIMA) recently initiated a pilot scheme with the AP SWOs’ network to explore the feasibility of us working together to deliver quality assurance work in SCiMA certified martial arts clubs. We asked for volunteers to join our pilot, this being very much dependant on the SWO’s capacity in relation to work in the unaffiliated sector.
"Mary’s positive response to this request enabled us to kickstart a quality assurance Review with a small club local to the Active Partnership. The SCIMA Project Officer and Mary collaborated to successfully complete this process whilst ensuring it was a positive experience for the club. So many positives came out of this piece of work…. the club met another friendly face in safeguarding and now understand, in more detail, how the AP can support their club ( with training and networking as an example) as well as SCIMA being able to include the club in the list of those evidence- checked against our standards.
"We hope to work with Mary again soon as local knowledge and capacity is so valuable in ensuring sport delivered in unaffiliated clubs is safe and welcoming. This collaboration between two Sport England system partners is a fantastic example of joined up working driving impact." Jo Aldridge, Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts
This pilot has strengthened partnership working between Active Humber and SCiMA, with plans to expand quality assurance audits to more clubs next year, helping more unaffiliated sports settings deliver safe and inclusive experiences for participants.
Digital Engagement
Sport Welfare Facebook Group
We know that everyone takes in information in different ways, so we’ve been making our digital communication stronger, especially through our Facebook page. It’s now a friendly, easy-to-use space to share updates, training opportunities, and resources in a way that fits with the busy lives of club volunteers with 65 clubs across the Humber members of the group.
By “meeting clubs where they are”, we have made it easier for everyone to access support, especially smaller clubs and those in rural areas who might not be able to attend meetings in person. We understand that not everyone wants or needs 1-to-1 visits and that’s absolutely fine. We also know that volunteers have different levels of time and capacity, so we want to respect that and make it easier for them to keep doing the fantastic work they do.
Our digital channels make sure help, guidance, and advice are always within reach, while also helping clubs feel part of a wider community.
Sport Welfare Connect
The Sport Welfare Connect network is a growing community for Club Welfare Officers across Yorkshire and the Humber, working closely with the Sport Welfare Officers at North Yorkshire Sport and Yorkshire Sport Foundation. Many CWOs are volunteers who give up their time to support the wellbeing of people in their clubs. Often, they work alone and face challenging situations, so we aim to create a space where they can connect, learn, and share experiences with others in similar roles.
Through quarterly online sessions, CWOs can talk about real situations, discuss emerging issues, and get practical advice. We listen to feedback from the network and have made changes to give members more time to talk and connect with each other, alongside expert guidance.
Recent sessions have covered topics like mental health, understanding behaviour, and neurodiversity. We also invite experts and partner organisations to share their knowledge, keeping the sessions practical and up-to-date.
By working closely with Sport Welfare Officers from other Active Partnerships from across England, we have increased clubs’ access to experts in specialist areas such as GDPR, child exploitation, and neurodiversity. Through sharing resources, knowledge, and best practice, we have reinforced the importance of collaboration, ensuring that we can continue to work together towards the common goal of creating safer, more inclusive, and well-supported club environments.
Looking ahead, we want to continue growing the network so members feel even more connected, confident, and aware of where to get specialist help. By supporting each other and developing their skills, CWOs will continue to make a positive difference and keep strong safeguarding practices at the heart of their clubs.
HNY United
Humber and North Yorkshire UNITED was launched by the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, with Sport Welfare Officers from Active Humber and North Yorkshire Sport involved from the very beginning. It started with professional sports organisations and has now grown to include grassroots governing bodies, recognising the important role they play in supporting local communities. The collective reaches clubs and participants at all levels, from under-6s to walking sports, helping more people understand mental health and access support when they need it. The sports organisations involved are helping to:
- Train clubs, coaches, and volunteers on mental health and suicide prevention.
- Strengthen safeguarding standards to keep young people and adults safe.
- Build links with local mental health services to make support easier to find.
- Help volunteers, staff, and clubs recognise and respond to mental health challenges.
- Share awareness campaigns and resources to help coaches, volunteers, and parents spot signs of poor mental health and guide people to help.
Sport Welfare Officers from Active Humber and North Yorkshire Sport offer local support to clubs, in line with the SWO CORE universal offer. This includes help with promotions and digital materials, forums and one-to-one guidance, creating a local mental health package, linking with community organisations, reviewing safeguarding practice, and support with national campaigns.
We are inviting all clubs in our Sport Welfare network to take part if they wish. Clubs can choose how much support they need, helping them improve safeguarding, raise mental health awareness, and make a positive difference in their communities.
Sustainable Development Goals:
