Our Beliefs

Cricket Dorset Ltd Safeguarding Statement

Cricket Dorset Ltd, operating under the Dorset Cricket Board and Dorset Cricket names, is committed to safeguarding and protecting children, young people and adults at risk to enable them to enjoy the game of cricket.

We are very clear that cricket should be a game for everyone.

Cricket Dorset Ltd recognises our collective and individual safeguarding responsibilities and accountabilities.

We adopt and implement the ECB “Safe Hands – Cricket’s Policy for Safeguarding Children”. We will continue to subscribe to any future versions of the policy and are committed to delivering the ECB Safeguarding Standards.

A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any club cricket activity.

An adult at risk is any person who is aged 18 years or over and at risk of abuse or neglect because of their needs for care and/or support.

We commit to:

• Implementing preventative safeguarding measures that create safe and enjoyable cricket settings.
• Ensuring safeguarding concerns regarding children and adults at risk are managed appropriately and thoroughly in conjunction with the ECB, Statutory agencies, and other organisations as appropriate.
• Recognising that all people participating in cricket regardless of age, gender, race religion, sexual orientation, ability, or disability have a right to have fun and be protected from harm in a safe environment.
• Ensuring that individuals working within cricket provide a safe, positive, and fun cricketing experience for all.

We do this by:

• Putting things in place
• Adopting and implementing the ECB’s “Safe Hands – Cricket Policy for Safeguarding Children” and ECB’s “Safeguarding Adults Policy Statement”
• Ensuring that all people who work in cricket at, or for Cricket Dorset Ltd, such as staff, officials, volunteers, Team Managers, Coaches etc. understand that the policies apply to them according to their level of contact with the children and/or young people in cricket.
• Ensuring access to confidential information relating to child safeguarding matters is restricted to the County Safeguarding Officer and the appropriate external authorities, such as the Police or Children’s Social Care Services, as specified within ECB child safeguarding procedures in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
• Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any claims of bullying.
• Listening to the children participating in our activities, valuing their comments and showing them respect.

Having the Right People in Place:

• Ensuring that individuals working within cricket at, or for Cricket Dorset Ltd, provide a safe, positive, and fun cricketing experience for all.
• Ensuring that all individuals working within cricket at, or for Cricket Dorset Ltd, are recruited and appointed in accordance with ECB guidelines and Safer Recruitment practices.
• Ensuring that all individuals working within cricket at, or for Cricket Dorset Ltd, are provided with support through education and training so that they are aware of and can adhere to good practice and Code of Conduct guidelines defined by both the ECB and Cricket Dorset Ltd.

Dealing with concerns:

• Ensuring that the name and contact details of the County Safeguarding Officer for the Board are available:

1. as the first point of contact for parents, children, volunteers, and staff within cricket in Dorset.
2. as a local source of procedural advice for Cricket Dorset Ltd, its committee and its members and affiliated clubs and/or leagues in the County;
3. as the main point of contact within Cricket Dorset Ltd for the ECB Safeguarding Team; and
4. as the main point of contact within the County for relevant external agencies in connection with child welfare.

• Having a clear, simple process in place for reporting concerns. Ensuring that correct and comprehensive reporting procedures exist for raising and managing safeguarding and child protection concerns. Such procedures recognising the responsibility of the statutory agencies and in accordance with pre-defined safeguarding and child protection procedures as defined by the ECB, statutory agencies, and Local Safeguarding Child Board (LSCB) guidelines and policies.
• Ensuring that all suspicions, concerns, and allegations are taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.

Our Safeguarding Policy can be found here.

For guidance on Safeguarding at your club, please contact:

County Safeguarding Officer - Email: safeguardingofficer@dorsetcricketboard.co.uk

The ECB is very clear that cricket should be a game for everyone. Children are the future of our sport – so it’s vital that they experience cricket in a safe, friendly, secure and enjoyable environment. It is ECB’s vision that every individual and club should have the appropriate tools and confidence to create a supportive and safe environment in which children and young people can flourish.

The policy is divided into three sections. Section three is a ‘Kit Bag’ of useful guidance and sample documents for clubs and others to use.

The Safeguarding ‘Kit Bag’ is organised into four sections:

1. Putting things in place (background work, policies and paperwork).
2. Having the right people in place (recruitment and guidance).
3. What to do if you have concerns.
4. Cricket specific safeguarding guidance.

The ECB's Safeguarding Kit Bag can be found HERE.

Safeguarding Adults

Safeguarding adults means protecting an adults right to live safely, free from abuse and neglect. Safeguarding Adults Policy Statement The ECB is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment and accepts our responsibility to safeguard Adults at Risk involved in all levels of cricket in England & Wales in accordance with the Care Act 2014 (England) and the Social Services and Wellbeing Act 2014 (Wales). The ECB Safeguarding Adults Policy Statement applies to all individuals involved in cricket.

ECB Safeguarding Procedure

The ECB Board has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that safeguarding arrangements and procedures are in place for cricket that comes under the auspices of the ECB. This includes having in place a system and procedure for receiving concerns or complaints, investigating such concerns or complaints, and making decisions regarding these. This procedure is intended to provide a comprehensive, fair and equitable process for the purpose of any enquiry into concerns or complaints regarding the safety or protection of a Child or Adult at Risk. 

Click HERE for more information about how to share a concern.

The ECB DBS application process is now completed online rather than via paper applications.

Club ECB DBS ID Verifiers

Each club are allowed to have an ID Verifier at their club. To become an ID Verifier at a club the candidate just needs to have a completed ECB DBS check themselves. An ID Verifier can initiate a candidates online ECB DBS application, verify the persons ID and then complete the application.

If clubs would like someone to become an online ECB DBS ID Verifier then please contact Greg Parsons to get them set up.

Need to Complete an online ECB DBS check?

If anyone is needing to get an ECB DBS check completed online please check with your Club Safeguarding Officer and / or Chairman to see if the club have an ID Verifier to start and complete the process with you. If they do not then please contact Greg Parsons to start this process.

Positions of Trust – The law is changing June 2022

It is currently an offence in England and Wales for anyone aged over 18 years in a position of trust to engage in sexual activity with a child in their care. On 28th June 2022 the roles included in the definition of position of trust are being extended to include anyone who “coaches, teaches, trains, supervises or instructs on a regular basis in a sport or religion”.

This very welcome change in the law extends legal protection particularly to 16- and 17-year-olds who are participating in sport. Sexual contact with those under 16 remains prohibited within existing legislation.

This change supports and strengthens the existing expectations of the coaches' code of conduct, which states that coaches must avoid sexual intimacy with players, either while coaching them or in the period of time immediately following the end of a coaching relationship.

The ECB expects that everyone who works or volunteers with children and young people in cricket to be responsible and accountable for the way in which they behave towards them. It is expected that all adult-child relationships maintain clear boundaries, are positive and aimed at improving the young person’s skills, development and progress.

The ECB Safeguarding Team will continue to assess all instances of inappropriate behaviour towards children in cricket, referring any potential illegal activity to our safeguarding partners.

Along with the entire cricket family, Cricket Dorset is pleased to commit to a wide-ranging action plan to tackle racism and promote inclusion and diversity at all levels of the game.

The ECB has published its 2021-2023 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan with clear actions and targets.

Cricket Dorset have now compiled their own action plan, which is attached below and downloadable for review. The plan shows our commitment to make cricket available to everyone and show that cricket is a welcoming environment for all.

Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable. If you are aware of or witness discrimination at any level of cricket in England and Wales, we want to hear from you. Whatever discrimination you are aware of or have witnessed, your report will be reviewed and dealt with by the relevant cricket organisation. Reporting discrimination will help us to ensure cricket is a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse game for everyone.

How to report discrimination

You can choose whether to report discrimination anonymously or alongside your name and contact details. Only by working together with players, spectators, coaches, officials, and clubs can we make the progress cricket deserves.

What happens when you make a report?

Every report we receive is reviewed by the ECB in order to determine who should deal with the report. Where the concern raised is a matter for the ECB to investigate, the ECB will investigate. Where the concern raised relates to other cricket organisation(s) and is a matter for such other cricket organisation(s) to review and/or investigate, we will share the report with the relevant cricket organisation(s) so that they can review and/or investigate the matter.

Report discrimination

You can report discrimination in the game HERE.

To tell us about something you have been subjected to or witnessed, click on the link below. If you are under 16, you should ask your parent or carer to fill in the form.

Alternatively, send your report by post to: Customer Support Team, England & Wales Cricket Board, Warwickshire County Cricket Ground, Indoor School, Edgbaston Road, Birmingham, B5 7QX.