Welfare officer
The role the club hopes it never needs
The welfare officer is the club's named safeguarding lead: the person members and parents go to with a concern, and the person who makes sure the club's policies are real rather than laminated. Most seasons the role is quiet. The point of doing it properly is the season it is not.
The honest hours. An hour or two a month in a quiet season: checks, renewals, being visible. A live concern changes that completely, which is why the quiet-season groundwork matters.
What the job actually is
Be reachable and known
Every member and parent should know who the welfare officer is and how to reach them. A safeguarding lead nobody can name is a policy, not a person.
Keep the policies current
Safeguarding, anti-bullying, photography, changing-room protocols: reviewed on schedule, aligned with the governing body's current templates.
Track the checks and training
Background checks and safeguarding training for every role that requires them, with renewal dates watched rather than remembered.
Receive concerns properly
Listen, record factually, act on the governing body's reporting lines. The welfare officer routes concerns; they do not investigate them.
Advise the committee
Welfare implications of decisions: trip arrangements, coach recruitment, junior sessions, social media. Cheaper raised early than repaired late.
Know the escalation lines
Governing body safeguarding team, local authority contacts, and when something goes straight to the police. Printed, current, and not just in one person's head.
The year, honestly
Season start
The audit weeks: checks in date for everyone who needs one, training current, policies reviewed, contact details on the noticeboard and website.
In season
Visibility and small questions. Being around at junior sessions is most of the job done well.
Recruitment moments
New coaches and volunteers checked and inducted before they start, not after. The welfare officer holds that line when enthusiasm pushes against it.
Handover
Live matters transfer in person and confidentially, never left in a file for discovery. The checklist below covers the rest.
The checks, in the United Kingdom
Here the check is a DBS check, run by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
The United Kingdom is three systems, not one. England and Wales use a DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. Scotland uses the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme run by Disclosure Scotland, where membership lasts five years and joining is a legal requirement for a regulated role. Northern Ireland uses AccessNI. A club with members or coaches either side of a border needs to know which applies to whom.
In rowing, British Rowing requires every affiliated club to have a Club Welfare Officer, and checks are started by that person rather than by the volunteer. In sailing, the RYA acts as the umbrella body for checks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and disclosure checks are currently free for volunteers.
Checked against the official guidance on 28 August 2026. Rules change, so treat that page as the final word rather than this one.
The handover checklist
What the outgoing welfare officer hands to the incoming one. Most get none of this; be the club where they do.
Status
- Register of who requires checks and training, with expiry dates
- Any checks or renewals currently outstanding
- Own check and safeguarding training current for the incoming officer
Documents
- All welfare policies, current versions, and review dates
- Governing body safeguarding requirements and templates in use
- Concern report forms and where completed ones are held securely
Contacts
- Governing body safeguarding team contacts
- Local authority designated officer contacts
- Who inside the club must be informed of what, and who must not
Live matters
- Any open concerns, handed over in person, confidentially
- Any member subject to conditions or agreements
- Anything the incoming officer should watch without prejudging
The parts software takes off your plate
Expiry dates that watch themselves
Checks and training recorded against the member, with renewals flagged before they lapse rather than discovered after.
How it worksQualification gates on duties
Sessions and duties that require a check cannot be assigned to someone without one. Policy becomes mechanism.
How it worksQuestions
What does a club welfare officer actually do?
Acts as the club's named safeguarding contact: keeps policies and background checks current, receives concerns and routes them along the governing body's reporting lines, and advises the committee on welfare implications of decisions. They route concerns; they do not investigate them.
Does every club need a welfare officer?
Any club with junior members should treat it as non-negotiable, and most governing bodies require a named welfare officer for affiliation where juniors are involved. Adult-only clubs still benefit from a named contact.
What happens when a concern is raised?
The welfare officer listens, records the facts, and reports along the governing body's safeguarding lines, or to statutory services where the concern warrants it. Confidentiality is kept tight to those who must know.