Speak Out, Stay Safe!

As League Secretary of the Essex Senior League, I spend a lot of time talking (for those who’ve met me, that is an understatement) - with clubs, volunteers, and officials, and one thing that always stands out is just how much our clubs mean to the communities around them.

Local football grounds aren’t just places where matches are played on a Saturday afternoon, they’re places where friendships are built, young people grow in confidence, and communities come together. One of our clubs will be operating a new Camerados group (Home - Camerados), with plans to expand the movement across the league in the future, just as soon as they get a vacant slot - their clubhouse is fully booked out to national and local organisations at the moment.

Football plays such a central role in community life, safeguarding has to sit at the heart of what we do. It’s about making sure that everyone who takes part in the game, players, volunteers, officials, and supporters, feels safe, respected, and supported. That includes protecting children and young people, looking out for adults who may be vulnerable, and ensuring that discrimination or poor behaviour has no place in our game.

At a national level, a lot of important work has been done over the years by The FA to make safeguarding a core part of football. Most people involved in clubs will be familiar with things like safeguarding training, DBS checks, and the role of Club Welfare Officers. Those structures are incredibly important and provide a strong foundation for leagues and clubs across the country.

Alongside this, organisations such as the Ann Craft Trust have helped broaden the conversation through their Safeguarding Adults in Sport work. Their guidance highlights that safeguarding isn’t only about children, it also includes adults who may be at risk, and creating environments where everyone feels confident to raise concerns if something doesn’t feel right. That wider perspective is important in community sport, where people of all ages and backgrounds come together.

Within the Essex Senior League, we’re always looking at how we can support our clubs in making safeguarding as clear and accessible as possible. One of the things that often comes up when people talk about safeguarding is that sometimes individuals simply don’t know how to raise a concern, or they might feel uncomfortable approaching someone directly.

With that in mind, we’ve been working alongside Speak Out Safe to introduce an additional way for people to report concerns. Through a simple QR code, anyone involved in the game, players, volunteers, officials, or spectators, can quickly access the Speak Out Safe platform and raise a safeguarding issue, including concerns relating to discrimination which can be raised anonymously or by providing their details. The choice is then theirs.

One of the people closely involved in developing this approach is Paul Marshall from Speak Out Safe, who explains a little more about the thinking behind the initiative. Paul said ‘Speak Out Safe is proud to partner with the Essex Senior League to introduce a safeguarding reporting platform designed for non-league and grassroots football.

The system allows players, coaches and volunteers to report concerns anonymously or with their name, and includes audio reporting to make it easier for young players to speak up. It also provides club safeguarding officers with structured case-management tools identical to those used in the professional game.
This initiative has been made possible thanks to the work of Michelle Dorling, whose commitment to making football safer for everyone has been key to bringing the project to life.

At Speak Out Safe, we believe grassroots football deserves the same safeguarding standards as the professional game, and we’re proud to support the league in making that a reality.’

It’s important to say that this isn’t about replacing the safeguarding processes that already exist within clubs or through the FA. Those systems remain essential. Instead, the idea is simply to make it easier for someone to speak up if they need to. Sometimes having a straightforward, discreet way to raise a concern can make all the difference.

We work hard to be proactive, rather than reactive as a league, and strongly feel that Safeguarding works best when it becomes part of the culture of the game rather than something that only appears in policies or training sessions.

Everyone has a role to play, whether that’s a welfare officer, a manager, a teammate, a referee, or a supporter in the stand. Looking out for one another and being prepared to speak up when something isn’t right helps keep our football environments positive and welcoming.

Grassroots football is so integral to our communities, providing opportunities for individuals to volunteer, upskill, have social engagement, I often go to football on my own, and always find someone to talk to. By continuing to work within the safeguarding frameworks set out by The FA, learning from organisations like the Ann Craft Trust, and collaborating with partners such as Speak Out Safe to make reporting concerns easier, we’re taking small but meaningful steps to support the wellbeing of everyone involved in our league.

Football should always be a place where people feel they belong. Keeping safeguarding at the centre of the conversation helps ensure it stays that way.

When you’re next at an Essex Senior League game, look out for the S.O.S. QR codes around the grounds, in dressing rooms, referees’ changing rooms, clubhouses, toilets, and around the ground … it’s a visible presence, makes people stop and think, thereby acting as a deterrent but also offers a simple solution to our collective problem ‘Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.’