Club policies

Your safety and wellbeing

The Dursley Running Club is registered with the British Triathlon Association, UK Athletics and the Association of Running Clubs and as such complies with the rules and guidelines provided by them. The club takes safety and wellbeing seriously and the below policies apply to all club members, race entrants and event supporters. The club requests that any safety or wellbeing concerns are reported via the incident reporting form to ensure that we can follow this up effectively.

Link to incident reporting form.

Coronavirus

Our arrangements for managing club activity during the Coronavirus pandemic can be found here>>.

Code of Conduct

Everyone

Enjoyable and Inclusive

  • Respect the rights, dignity and worth of every athlete/runner and coaches/run leaders.
  • Act with dignity and display courtesy and good manners towards others.
  • Avoid swearing and abusive language and irresponsible behaviour including behaviour that is dangerous to yourself or others, acts of violence, bullying, harassment and physical and sexual abuse.
  • Consistently promote positive aspects of the sport such as fair play and never condone rule violations or the use of prohibited or age-inappropriate substances.

Maintaining Safety and Wellbeing

  • Comply with all arrangements made for your safety; this may include:
    • Hi-visibility clothing and torches for winter running.
    • Not running in areas that have been identified as unsafe, for example roads that are icy, crossings that are known risk areas etc.
    • Carrying water during hot weather.
  • Understand your own capabilities and inform run leaders and coaches of anything that may affect your ability to participate such as injury or illness recovery.
  • Report all incidents (first aids, near misses, misconduct etc.) using the club reporting form and if required directly to a club safeguarding officer.
  • Notify a coach or run leader if you/when you need to leave a training session early.

Performance Driven

  • Participate with enthusiasm and effort, and understand that faster/further is not always better; technique and strength are key components to developing good performance.
  • Listen to the advice of coaches/run leaders and technical professionals to support performance improvement.

Considerate to Club and Community

  • Ensure press and social media messaging is responsible and supportive of the club culture.
  • Apply the country code; stick to public rights of way, close gates, avoid scaring farm stock, don’t litter.
  • Give way to pedestrians and vehicles.
  • Provide personal and contact details, pay fees on time and adhere to club notices to ensure the club can run efficiently for the benefit of all members.

Coaches/Run Leaders

  • Treat athletes/runners fairly and not show favouritism towards individuals.
  • Encourage runners and athletes to apply good techniques and to participate in the full range of activities to promote all round fitness and good balance, co-ordination and agility.
  • Have a means to call for help; i.e. a mobile on an off-site run.
  • Place the welfare and safety of the athlete above the development of performance.
  • Be appropriately qualified including obtaining DBS clearance, update your licence and education as and when required and adhere to the terms of the coaching licence.
  • Ensure that activities you direct or guide are appropriate for the age, maturity, experience and ability of the individual athlete.
  • Communicate clearly expectations, exercise purposes and safety rules.
  • Plan and run training sessions with a maximum ratio of 1 coach to 12 athletes or work in partnership with another coach/coaching assistant.
  • Encourage and guide athletes to accept responsibility for their own performance and behaviour.
  • Challenge inappropriate behaviour and language by others, report incidents using the incident reporting form. Never allow allegations made by a child or vulnerable adult to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.
  • Never use physical activity as a punishment for poor behaviour or attitudes from athletes.
  • Never engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games or make sexually suggestive remarks to a child or vulnerable adult – even in fun.
  • Do not do things of a personal nature for a child or vulnerable adult if they can do it for themselves, unless requested to do so by a parent/carer.
  • Never abuse the privileged position of power or trust with children or vulnerable adults.

Parents/Carers

  • Encourage your child to learn the rules and play within them, discourage unfair play and arguing with officials.
  • Never punish or belittle a child for losing or making mistakes.
  • Never place undue pressure on children to perform, participate or compete.
  • Take an active interest in your child’s participation.
  • Help your child to recognise good performance, not just results by setting a good example recognising fair play and applauding good performances of all.
  • Attend training or competitions when ever possible, or when required to by the club.
  • Know exactly where your child will be and who they will be with at all times
  • Never make assumptions about your child’s safety.
  • Ensure that your child is prepared for training or competitions by ensuring clothing is worn that is suitable for the weather and activities scheduled and does not take any unnecessary valuable items.
  • Inform your child’s coach of any illness, injury or disability that needs to be taken into consideration for athletic performance and any medications that may be required.
  • Report any concerns you have about your child’s or any other child’s welfare to the Club Safeguarding Officer, Regional, National or UKA Welfare Officers. (This does not affect your right to contact your local social services or the police if you feel it is necessary)

Juniors

  • Listen to the instructions of your coach.
  • Do not use athletics equipment until instructed to do so.
  • Bullying of any sort will not be tolerated.

Photography Policy

DRC may wish to take photographs (including video footage) to be used to promote club activities and celebrate the successes of the club. These photos may be published internally within the club, such as posted on the club Facebook pages, or externally such as published on the club website, used on promotional materials, or provided to press agencies. The following guidance shall be followed to protect both the club reputation and the safety of the individuals featured in the photos:

  • Any adult or junior may request that photography is not permitted and best endeavours must be made then to abide by this.
  • Photos published will show individuals in a state of decency, and not imply any condition that may be damaging to reputation.
  • Photos published publicly will not identify the names of the individuals unless prior permission is granted.
  • The club cannot take responsibility for the photos taken by individuals who are not members of the club (such as parents observing junior running programmes), however best endeavours to protect the wishes of individuals will be made.

Data Protection Policy

Dursley Running Club will gather, store, process and secure your personal data in line with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018. We will use your data to manage our club activities, ensure safety and welfare and send news and information we believe is relevant to you.

Also, when you become a member of, or renew your membership with Dursley Running Club you will automatically be registered as a member of England Athletics*. We will provide England Athletics with your personal data which they will use to enable access to an online portal for you (called myAthletics). England Athletics will contact you to invite you to sign into and update your MyAthletics portal (which, amongst other things, allows you to set and amend your privacy settings). If you have any questions about the continuing privacy of your personal data when it is shared with England Athletics, please contact dataprotection@englandathletics.org.

*This is optional for Juniors.