Introduction
The Pony Club has a duty of care to ensure unsuitable people are not able to work or volunteer with children or adults at risk. This duty of care extends to Branches and Centres, and all employees and volunteers of The Pony Club.
Safer recruitment provides information about how to recruit people efficiently and how to prevent unsuitable people being able to work with children and adults at risk. The following policies and procedures outline the requirements that coaches, officials, volunteers and staff are expected to meet within Branches and Centres before carrying out their roles.
Selection and Recruitment
Recruitment of Volunteers and Staff
There is no set policy for Branches / Centres to recruit new volunteers and staff. However, anyone who carries out a role in Regulated Activity / Work must have the following requirements in place:
- Enhanced disclosure checks, updated every three years
- Attendance at an approved safeguarding workshop, updated every three years
Please note, Regulated Activity applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Regulated Work applies to Scotland only.
Recruitment of Coaches
There is no set policy for Branches / Centres to recruit new coaches. However, all coaches (both Accredited and Supervised) who are recruited must have the following certifications in place:
- Enhanced disclosure check, updated every three years
- Attendance at an approved safeguarding workshop, updated every three years
- Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) qualification, updated as required per certificate
- Attendance at a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course, updated every two years
- Be listed on the Unity, the Coaches’ Database
- Have access to a Coaches’ Folder
Regulated Activity/Work
Regulated activity and regulated work are the definitions, identified in statutory guidance, that outline the types of roles that require disclosure checks and attendance at an approved safeguarding course before a job is started.
Regulated activity is the definition that applies to England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
Regulated work is the definition that applies to Scotland.
The full definitions can be viewed below.
Training
Safer Recruitment training can be sought from a variety of providers, we recommend the NSPCC which is accessible here
