Ethics and Welfare

British Gymnastics is a registered body with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (Formerly known as the Criminal Records Bureau) and Access NI and acts as an umbrella body for affiliated clubs and organisations within England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Those who are aged 16 and above and are in a regulated activity working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults are required to hold a BG DBS disclosure (Coaches, Volunteers, Club Welfare Officers).  For judges that only judge at competitions and do not provide instruction to or supervise children in any other capacity in your club, recent legislation changes mean that these judges are no longer eligible for a DBS check.  This also means that a current DBS will no longer be a membership requirement for these individuals.  If they are helping in other areas of the club and you think they may be eligible for a DBS check please check the flowchart below.

The Club, as the organisation that is directly deploying the individual, is best placed to assess whether an individual’s role meets the eligibility criteria for a check and the level of check that is required.  To assist you with this process we have created the flow chart below and some additional guidance and FAQs to help you to determine whether a criminal records check (DBS) can take place.  

*Regular is open to definition by the recruiting organisation. It is suggested that annually is not enough, but an argument could be made for eligibility if an individual does an activity a number of times over the summer period, or once a month for example.

** Supervision should only be considered to apply within a gymnastics environment where the supervisor (someone in Regulated Activity) can guarantee constant oversight of the supervised individual.

We know that you may have questions about the Criminal Record/DBS checks so we have put together a FAQ section where you will find most of the commonly asked questions answered quickly and easily.

From 1st December 2012 the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) became the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

British Gymnastics is a registered body with DBS and acts as an umbrella body for affiliated clubs and organisations within England and Wales.

The BG Safeguarding and Protecting Policy provides a framework for all those involved in gymnastics to meet their duty of care towards young people and are mandatory for all BG members  (except where there are home country variations arising from legislative differences). Any individual or organisation that is providing a service to BG members must also demonstrate that they comply with these standards. As part of our commitment to best practice in the care of children, BG expects all of its members to comply with the policy.

Those in a regulated activity working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults 16 years and above are required to hold a BG DBS disclosure (Coaches, Club Welfare Officers etc.)

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Scottish Gymnastics and Northern Ireland Gymnastics carry out the criminal records disclosure process in their respective countries.
For further details, contact the relevant organisation.
Scottish Gymnastics: 0131 271 9750
Gymnastics Northern Ireland: 028 90 99 42 88

Changes from October 2012

After a successful trial British Gymnastics has made the decision to utilise an online system for processing DBS Disclosures. The benefits of online as opposed to the paper process are:

Speed – DBS are currently processing over 50% of online Disclosures within 6 working days.

Reduced Error Rate – self-validation reduces error rate to verifiers, online process can spot when applicant has made errors on form

Transparency - from one screen you can manage all applications at each stage of the process, includes link to DBS online tracking service

 

British Gymnastics’ partner will be GBG, the leading providers of online DBS checks in the UK. Established in 2002, GBG are based in Nottingham and process over 125,000 applications a year.

Please contact your Club DBS Designated Verifier for more information and to complete your application online

Payment Information and Fees

Current Fees:

Paid positions:     £59.00        

Volunteers:*        £15.00       

The use of disclosures plays a vital role in helping to protect young people and vulnerable adults in our sport.

* The DBS define a volunteer as: "A person who performs any activity which involves spending time, unpaid (except for travelling and other out-of-pocket expenses), doing something which aims to benefit someone (individuals or groups) other than or in addition to close relatives".

British Gymnastics works closely with the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and has met the foundation, intermediation and Advanced levels of the NSPCC CPSU Standards for Safeguarding Children in Sport.