As a Club, we welcome you all to play on our courts, use our facilities and enjoy the programmes and events that we run. We are keen for everyone to have an enjoyable tennis experience and are committed to ensuring that everyone, particularly all children, young people and adults at risk, is safeguarded from abuse.

The Club is growing, with new members joining each month, and a lot more people visiting the Club, including Juniors joining our coaching sessions.  As members of and visitors to the Club, we all hold a shared responsibility to support the Club’s Safeguarding Policy by promoting the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk.

Please join us in supporting this policy.

How can we do this?

We want everyone to feel that safeguarding at the Club is a priority. This means making everyone feel safe at the Club by ensuring you know what to do if you have a concern and would like to raise this.

A full copy of the Safeguarding Policy can be found here and on the ‘Safeguarding’ section of the Club noticeboard. Alongside this, there is a poster called ‘Reporting a Safeguarding Concern within the Tennis Environment’ which provides all the steps to be taken if you want to raise a concern.  A copy of this can be found here.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: not responding to a safeguarding concern is not an option.

Codes of Conduct

The Club’s Codes of Conduct form part of our Safeguarding Policy. They can also be found here, as well as being printed out and displayed on our noticeboard.

There are separate Codes of Conduct for all coaches, volunteers and members, for children and for all parents and carers. Please familiarise yourself with these Codes.

We would specifically like to call out the use of the changing rooms and loos:

• When using the changing rooms and loos, please ensure that you avoid being alone with a child or adult at risk unless you are their parent or carer, or there are exceptional circumstances.
• Where possible, we would like to suggest to all parents and carers that children and adults at risk arrive dressed for tennis. If they do need to use the changing room, please ensure that they are accompanied by their parent or carer.

Reporting a safeguarding concern

We have two Welfare Officers, Andrew Kirkwood & Namiko Bergbaum:

If you have a safeguarding concern and need to speak to someone, they are often down at the Club so please do let them know you need to have a conversation, or you can call/WhatsApp them, or contact them by email. 

Andrew - Mob: 07778 641666  Email: andrew@snakes-and-ladders.co.uk

Namiko -  Mob: 07957 137483  Email: namiko.bergbaum@gmail.com

Alternatively, please use the LTA’s secure online form to provide the details (anonymously if you wish).

If you'd like to speak to someone outside of office hours, you can call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

If someone is in immediate danger, call the police (999).

If you have a complaint about a non-safeguarding related matter, please review the LTA’s customer guidance to understand the best way to get support.

If you have any comments or suggestions...

... about how we could improve safeguarding at the Club, we would love to hear from you.

Please contact Andrew K in the first instance, or speak to another member of our committee (June, Andrew S, Steve B or Oliver).