The new Framework for Safeguarding Children in and through Sport provides an audit tool for all involved in sport to help create the safest possible sporting environment for children and young people and protect them from harm.

Sport England's Clubmark national quality accreditation is the key method of embedding these safeguarding standards at club level. Developed in conjunction with national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) and county sports partnerships (CSPs), Clubmark is a robust, high quality, defensible scheme, endorsed by stakeholders across the sector. Key achievements over recent years include:

• The licensing process - a diverse array of 30 NGBs are licensed to award Clubmark. 
• Widening impact; licensing CSPs to accredit clubs in sports with small NGBs that do not have the necessary resource to accredit clubs on a national basis.
• Delivering Clubmark assessor training to maintain consistency between sports and regions. 
• Managing an external verification process to deliver quality assurance. 
• Implementing, and ensuring adoption and use of, the Clubmark brand.

Today, there are more than 6,000 accredited clubs across circa 50 sports; plus a further 4,500 actively working to achieve the recognised stamp of approval. So there are no excuses as there will be a Clubmark club near you. As an example, all the population of Birmingham live within three miles of an accredited or working towards club.

Map depicting location of accredited and working towards clubs in Birmingham

Clare MacLeod, National Manager, says

"As Clubmark criteria incorporates the necessary measures to safeguard children, promoting and supporting the drive to increase the number of Clubmark accredited clubs is an effective strategy to adopt. Our performance measurement also demonstrates the genuine difference that it makes to the club-based sporting experiences of young people."

For more information, visit the safe recruitment section of the CPSU website