Safeguarding

The British Dragon Boat Racing Association wishes to make sure that everyone who participates in Dragon Boat activities is protected and kept safe from harm while they are with BDA coaches and other BDA club members.

This applies particularly to children and vulnerable adults. The BDA recognises that, as the National Governing Body for the sport of Dragon Boat Racing, it has a particular duty to ensure that BDA Registered Clubs are able to provide the highest standards of care for those participating in Dragon Boat activities through their Club.

The BDA Safeguarding Policy (updated Oct 2024) contains guidance, help and policy templates for clubs covering children and vulnerable adults:

A child is anyone under the age of 18 years (Children’s Act 1989)

A vulnerable adult or an ’adult at risk’ (Care Act 2014) is a person over 18 who has needs for care and support (whether or not these needs are being met) and as a result of these needs is unable to protect him/herself from the risk of abuse or neglect. An ‘adult at risk’ could include any adult given their circumstances at a particular time.

* Video produced by Ann Craft Trust and Sport England Club Matters

Safeguarding Policy

Please go to the policy section of the website for the latest version of our safeguarding policy. We also have resources and information on our Inclusive Sport page.

Clubs need to be aware of the safeguarding policy and act upon its guidance. Every club should have an appointed welfare officer who is also a member of the BDA. That person should be designated in our BDA Membership Platform.

We also recommend clubs should ensure coaches and officers undergo e-learning from a Safeguarding organisation and all club members are aware of who to contact with anything related to safeguarding. The Ann Craft Trust has a couple of good Safeguarding e-learning courses, others are also available.

In some cases there is a requirement to undergo DBS checks. The below decision tree should help, but please see our Safeguarding policy for more details. We have published a quick guide on what to upload to our Digital Membership Platform, access it here:

DBS Certificates Process

DBS check decision tree