As thoughts start turning to the possibility of cricket this summer here is a short update around Safeguarding in cricket.  

The DCB now has James May working as County Safeguarding Manager one day per week.  Prior to this James has been County Welfare Officer as a volunteer since the early 2000s. 

James will be working with Alex Jopling to support the role of the Safe Hands Management System, the new online tool developed by the ECB to support clubs in having a clear overview of how they are getting on with a range of safeguarding issue, such as having the right people in the right roles. 

Whilst we had hoped to be able to deliver face to face Safe Hands Training for Club Safeguarding Officers before the start of the season this now looks increasingly less likely in the face of current Covid 19 restrictions. Instead the ECB have in place Safe Hands Webinars for Club Safeguarding Officers.  You can find out more about this course here

One of the challenges over the coming seasons will how we can get better at listening to children so that their experience continues to shape cricket for the better for them.  If you have any ideas about some of the ways in which we could be doing these then please get in touch.  

You will have noticed that there is a change in title for our safeguarding leads.  The ECB is looking to have Club Safeguarding Officers in place as opposed to the old title of Club Welfare Officers.  In part this is a better reflection of current safeguarding language and we hope that clubs will adopt this change.