FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE CLUB WELFARE OFFICER,

AND CIRCULATION TO COACHES

Welfare Policy

The Organising Committee of The Head of the River Race believe that the welfare and wellbeing of all children is paramount. All children, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion or ability, have equal rights to safety and protection. All suspicions, concerns and allegations of harm will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

A welfare officer will be appointed for the event and will act as the point of contact for any allegations or concerns. Their contact details will be included in the Competitors Instructions posted on the web site and will be made known to all race officials. In the event of any concerns or incident regarding a minor, please contact a race official, who will be able to direct you to the welfare officer.

Welfare Plan

From December 2009 and until decided otherwise, the welfare officer will be Sheena Cassidy. She will be available throughout the duration of the event and will be contactable by any race official via the radio network . She will determine appropriate action to be taken, and should any incident warrant such action, will be responsible for reporting to the police and the British Rowing child protection officer.

Given the nature of the event, where crews are boating from a variety of locations along the river, it is not possible for the event organisers to take responsibility for security at any specific location. Adults with responsibility for children entered in the event are expected to ensure that boating locations are suitable. Adults – coaches and parents – are also reminded of the need for suitable clothing for the event, given that there is the possibility of a long wait before the start – this is particularly important where, as in recent years, there have been rough conditions and the prospect of competitors becoming extremely cold and wet; it is also the duty of the responsible adult to ensure that no junior competes if he/she is or may become injured or unwell. Crew coaches are further reminded that in rough conditions, it is they who must make the assessment of whether their crew can safely boat and race in the conditions – particularly so where there is a junior cox. Row Safe sections 3.5, 3.8, 8.1, 8.4 and 9 are particularly relevant. Also , it is the responsibility of a coach or parent to ensure that junior competitors comply individually with RowSafe – in particular, section 3.6 specifies minimum standards that apply to swimming ability.

In the event that a participant goes missing for a period exceeding 30 minutes, the welfare officer should be contacted and she will contact the police if this has not already been done.

The crew contact details entered on British Rowing On-line Entry will be used to contact the adult responsible for any junior reportedly involved in an incident. It is therefore essential that the person entering the crew ensures that a usable contact number is included in the entry. No individual contact details for juniors will be held by the committee.

PLEASE NOTE SOME SPECIFIC TOPICS

  1. All competitors in the event may be photographed by amateurs, or professionals who sell their photographs, and these photographs may be used for identification or publicity purposes. HORR cannot prevent this, as the Surrey bank and all four bridges are open to the public. Competitors will be made aware of this and should not enter if this is of concern.
  2. The Organising Committee is aware that alcohol will be available for purchase at most host clubs. They are also likely to be serving food from the same location, so exclusion of Juniors will not be practicable. The various issues arising are set out in British Rowing Guidance WG 3.3. Host Clubs are reminded of their duty to safeguard under 18s using their facilities. The responsible adult for any junior competitor is reminded to ensure that more senior members of the crew do not purchase alcohol for the under 18s.
  3. With reference to BR Guidance WG 3.4, please be aware that – to the best of our knowledge – no host clubs have separate changing facilities for under-18s.
  4. OVERNIGHT STAYS. If an overnight stay is called-for, BR Guidance WG 4.1-4.5 and BR Policy 4.5 should be referred to and following sections.