Swim England hosting webinars to guide clubs through Stronger Affiliation process

Swim England is to host a series of webinars to ensure clubs will be compliant with its new Stronger Affiliation process.

Measures are being introduced by Swim England from June 2020 so new and existing members know clubs are well run and have the necessary safeguarding checks in place for coaches, teachers and officials.

Swim England’s Club Development Team will work closely with clubs throughout the year to ensure those which are not SwimMark accredited are compliant with the Stronger Affiliation process by January 2021.

Any club that has not signed up to SwimMark or the Stronger Affiliation process by that date will no longer be affiliated to Swim England.

Now Swim England is to host a series of webinars between January and June to help clubs complete the process.

Jon Keating, Swim England Club Development Director, said: “As the  National Governing Body for aquatics, we are proud to be introducing new measures to ensure the safety of our members.

“The Stronger Affiliation process will ensure new and existing members know clubs are well run and their personnel have the necessary DBS and safeguarding checks in place.

Support all clubs

“We have a robust club accreditation scheme called SwimMark, which is our quality standard for clubs, and more than half of our clubs are SwimMark accredited.

“However, from June 2020, those that do not have SwimMark will have to provide six pieces of evidence to ensure they remain affiliated to Swim England.

“Rest assured, our Club Development Team and our regional staff will support all clubs throughout 2020 to ensure they are compliant by January 2021.

“We are looking forward to working with clubs to bring this significant change, which everyone at Swim England strongly believes in, to fruition.”

Swim England currently has 1,045 affiliated clubs, comprising of almost 200,000 members.

By introducing Stronger Affiliation, Swim England will be able to:

• Support clubs to ensure they are implementing the appropriate governance and meeting minimum operating standards
• Enhance the experience of club members
• Demonstrate its commitment to ensuring the safety of all affiliated clubs and members through stronger governance
• Provide stronger leadership for the sport
• Strengthen sustainability for future generations
• Align to Sport England’s direction of travel for community sports clubs.

Find out more about the Stronger Affiliation process or how to become SwimMark accredited.