The role of a CWPO (Club Wellbeing and Protection Officer) is vital in football– helping to keep our children and young people safe and happy, and providing support and guidance to clubs and parents – but it is one which can be forgotten about, and lonely.
SWF tries to ensure that the wellbeing and welfare of our young players is at the heart of what we do. We want to ensure that our CWPOs, many of whom are volunteers, feel confident and supported in their roles; and that they know that they are not alone.
The Wellbeing Team has a number of initiatives specifically for CWPOs to try and support them:
CWPO Network Forums
Since the start of 2022, SWF has arranged regular network forums for our CWPOs in order to provide an opportunity for our CWPOs to meet in a safe space and support each other, share experiences, and raise issues that they have encountered and how best to manage them. It also provides a platform for increasing knowledge and awareness of issues which are relevant to player wellbeing and child protection.
Our next forums will take place on in the coming months, keep an eye out for dates via CWPO Corner in the SWF newsletter and any other email communications.
CWPO Induction and Refresher Training
CWPO Induction and Refresher Training
In order to provide relevant information and support from the outset for our CWPOs, we provide induction training sessions (which also provides as a useful refresher course for existing CWPOs) twice-yearly. These sessions detail the ‘fundamentals’ which we would want our CWPOs to know – including the SWF Safe Selection Process; recognising abuse; and how to respond to concerns.
They are a great way of gaining an understanding of the role from an SWF perspective, and also getting to know other CWPOs and our Wellbeing and Protection Team.
Clubs will be emailed with the next session, so keep an eye on correspondence coming your way!
