Safeguarding Policy

1. Tynedale Rugby Football Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of
all children involved in Tynedale RFC from harm.
2.Tynedale RFC confirms that it adheres to the Rugby Football Union’s Safeguarding Policy
and the procedures, practices and guidelines and endorse and adopt the Policy Statement
contained in that document and any successor policy.
3. A child is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any rugby union activity. However,
where a 17 year old male player is playing in the adult game it is essential that every
reasonable precaution is taken to ensure his safety and wellbeing are protected.
4. The Key Principles of the RFU Safeguarding Policy are that:
• The welfare of the child is, and must always be, paramount to any other considerations.
• All participants regardless of age, gender, ability or disability, race, faith, culture, size,
shape, language or sexual identity have the right to protection from abuse or harm.
• All allegations or suspicions of abuse, neglect, harm and poor practice will be taken
seriously and responded to swiftly, fairly and appropriately.
• Working in partnership with other organisations, statutory agencies, parents, carers,
children and young people is essential for the welfare of children.
• Children have a right to expect support, and personal and social development delivered by
an appropriately recruited, vetted and managed in relation to their participation in rugby
union, whether they are playing, volunteering, or officiating in the community or
professional areas of the sport.
5. Tynedale RFC recognises that all children have the right to participate in sport in a safe,
positive and enjoyable environment whilst at the same time being protected from abuse,
neglect, harm and poor practice. Tynedale RFC recognises that this is the responsibility of
everyone involved, in whatever capacity, at the club.
6. Tynedale RFC will implement and comply with the RFU Code of Conduct and the Codes of
Conduct for Coaches, Spectators and Officials as appropriate.
7. The Club Safeguarding Officer is Rod Wallace.

Tynedalerfusafeguarding@gmail.com
Mobile: 07816913262

If you witness or are aware of an incident where the welfare of a child has been put at risk
you must, in the first instance, inform the Club Safeguarding Officer. They will then inform
the CB Safeguarding Manager and the RFU Safeguarding Team. If an incident involves the
Club Safeguarding Officer, you should inform the Chair of Governance and either the CB
Safeguarding Manager or the RFU Safeguarding Team.
8. All members of Tynedale RFC who work with children in Regulated Activity must
undertake an RFU Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check in accordance with RFU
Regulation 21.
9. Tynedale RFC will ensure that all its members, whether they are coaches, parents, players
or officials will comply with the Best Practice Guidance as issued by the RFU. In summary,
the following are NOT acceptable and will be treated seriously by the club and may result in
disciplinary action being taken by the club, the CB or the RFU:
• Working alone with a child.
• Consuming alcohol whilst responsible for children.
• Providing alcohol to children or allowing its supply.
• Smoking in the presence of children.
• Humiliating children.
• Inappropriate or unnecessary physical contact with a child.
• Participating in, or allowing, contact or physical games with children.
• Having an intimate or sexual relationship with any child developed as a result of being in a
‘position of trust.’
• Making sexually explicit comments or sharing sexually explicit material.
11. Tynedale RFC manages the changing facilities and arranges for them to be supervised by
two DBS checked adults of the appropriate gender for the players using the facilities.
Tynedale RFC ensures that all its coaches, parents, officials and spectators are aware that
adults must not change at the same time, using the same facilities as children.
12. Tynedale RFC will ensure that its coaches [and team managers] will receive the support
and training considered appropriate to their position and role.
13. Any events held on Tynedale RFC premises must comply with this Policy and if
appropriate a Safeguarding Plan should be discussed and circulated to those affected. Any
tours, overseas or domestic, undertaken by Tynedale RFC must comply with the relevant
RFU Regulations and Guidance relating to tours.

Signed
John Austin – Chair of Governance
October 2025

Summary of how we and the RFU use your data
• Tynedale RFC (“Tynedale”) uses your personal data to manage and administer your membership and your involvement with its teams and club, and to keep in contact with you for these purposes.
• Some data is shared with the RFU, the National Clubs Association (“NCA”) and Northumberland RFU (“NRFU”) who use your data to regulate, develop and manage the game. .
• Where we or the RFU rely on your consent, such as any consent we seek for email marketing, you can withdraw this consent at any time.
• Amongst the data we collect from you may be medical (including injury) information. We will hold this where you (or your parent) have given consent, so that we can ensure we are aware of your condition and can that you are supported appropriately.
• Where you work in a particular role within the game, you may be required to undergo a Disclosure & Barring Service check using the RFU’s eDBS system. The result of this check will be input into your Game Management Service (GMS) record.

What does this policy cover?
This policy describes how Tynedale (also referred to as “the Club”, “we” or “us”) will make use of the data we handle in relation to our members and players, including our use of the Game Management System (“GMS”) provided by the Rugby Football Union (“RFU”). The policy also describes the RFU’s use of data on GMS.
It also describes your data protection rights, including a right to object to some of the processing which we carry out. More information about your rights, and how to exercise them, is set out in the “What rights do I have?” section.

What information do we collect?
We collect and process personal data from you or your parent when you join and when we carry out annual renewals of your membership. This includes:
• your name
• your gender,
• your date of birth,
• your RFU ID (as assigned in GMS)
• your home address, email address and phone number;
• country of birth;
• educational establishment;
• your passport and NI details, where we have to check your eligibility or ability to work for us;
• your type of membership and involvement in particular teams, or any key role you may have been allocated, such as Chair, Safeguarding Lead, Membership Secretary etc.;
• your payment and/or bank account details, where you provide these to pay for membership;
• your marketing preferences, including any consents you have given us;
• your medical conditions or disability, where you provide this to us with your consent (or your parent’s consent) to ensure we are aware of any support we may need to provide to you.
Some information will be generated as part of your involvement with us, in particular data about your performance, involvement in particular matches in match reports and details of any disciplinary issues or incidents you may be involved in on and off the pitch, such as within health and safety records.

What information do we receive from third parties?
Sometimes, we receive information about you from third parties. For example, if you are a child, we may be given information about you by your parents.
We may receive information relating to your existing registrations with other clubs or rugby bodies or disciplinary history from the RFU through GMS. Additionally, for certain role holders or those working with children, we may receive information from the Disclosure and Barring Service and RFU on the status of any DBS check you have been required to take.
We may receive information from you, from the RFU, NCA or NRFU relating to disciplinary and medical matters.

How do we use this information, and what is the legal basis for this use?
We process this personal data for the following purposes:
• To fulfil a contract, or take steps linked to a contract: this is relevant where you make a payment for your membership and any merchandise, or enter a competition. This includes:
o taking payments;
o communicating with you;
o providing and arranging the delivery or other provision of products, prizes or services;
• As required by the Club to conduct our business and pursue our legitimate interests, in particular:
o we will use your information to manage and administer your membership and your involvement with its teams and club, and to keep in contact with you for these purposes;
o we will also use data to maintain records of our performances and history, including match reports, score lines and team sheets;
o we may use data of some individuals to invite them to take part in market research;
• Where you give us consent:
o we will send you direct marketing or promotional material by email;
o we may handle medical or disability information you or your parent provides to us, to ensure we support you appropriately;
o on other occasions where we ask you for consent, we will use the data for the purpose which we explain at that time.
• For purposes which are required by law:
o we maintain records such as health and safety records and accounting records in order to meet specific legal requirements;
o we ensure, where you will work with children, that you have undergone an appropriate DBS check – this is also carried out with your consent.
o where you hold a role at the Club requiring us to check your right to work, we may process information to meet our statutory duties;
o we may respond to requests by government or law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation.

How does the RFU use any of my information?
The RFU provides GMS, but make its own use of the following information:
• your name;
• your gender;
• your date of birth;
• your RFU ID (as assigned in GMS);
• your educational establishment;
• country of birth;
• medical information;
• your home address, email address and phone number; and
• your type of membership and involvement in particular teams at the Club, or any key role you may have been allocated, such as Chair, Safeguarding Lead, Membership Secretary etc.
The RFU uses this information as follows:
• As required by the RFU to conduct its business and pursue its legitimate interests, in particular:
o communicating with you or about you where necessary to administer Rugby in England, including responding to any questions you send to the RFU about GMS;
o administering and ensuring the eligibility of players, match officials and others involved in English rugby – this may involve the receipt of limited amounts of sensitive data in relation to disabled players, where they are registered for a disabled league or team, or in relation to anti-doping matters;
o maintaining records of the game as played in England, in particular maintaining details of discipline and misconduct;
o monitoring use of GMS, and using this to help it monitor, improve and protect its content and services and investigate any complaints received from you or from others about GMS;
o maintaining statistics and conducting analysis on the make-up of rugby’s participants;
o ensuring compliance with the current RFU Rules and Regulations including those on the affiliation of clubs, referee societies, constituent bodies and other rugby bodies, and registration of players; and
o communicating with you to ask for your opinion on RFU initiatives.
• For purposes which are required by law:
o The RFU will ensure, where you will work with children and where this is required, that you have undergone an appropriate DBS check – this is also carried out with your consent.
o The RFU may respond to requests by government or law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation.

Withdrawing consent or otherwise objecting to direct marketing
Wherever we rely on your consent, you will always be able to withdraw that consent, although we may have other legal grounds for processing your data for other purposes, such as those set out above. In some cases, we are able to send you direct marketing without your consent, where we rely on our legitimate interests. You have an absolute right to opt-out of direct marketing, or profiling we carry out for direct marketing, at any time. You can do this by following the instructions in the communication where this is an electronic message, or by contacting us using the details set out below in the “How do I get in touch with you or the RFU?” section.

Who will we share this data with, where and when?
Some limited information may be shared with other stakeholders in rugby, such as other clubs, Constituent Bodies, referee societies, league organisers, so that they can maintain appropriate records and assist us in organising matches and administering the game.
Personal data may be shared with government authorities and/or law enforcement officials if required for the purposes above, if mandated by law or if required for the legal protection of our or the RFU’s legitimate interests in compliance with applicable laws.
Personal data will also be shared with third party service providers, who will process it on our behalf for the purposes identified above. Such third parties include the RFU as the provider of GMS, schools, club, medical, safeguarding and website hosting and cloud system providers.
Where information is transferred outside the EEA, and where this is to a stakeholder or vendor in a country that is not subject to an adequacy decision by the EU Commission, data is adequately protected by EU Commission approved standard contractual clauses, an appropriate Privacy Shield certification or a vendor's Processor Binding Corporate Rules. A copy of the relevant mechanism can be provided for your review on request.

What rights do I have?
You have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal data; to correct, delete or restrict (stop any active) processing of your personal data; and to obtain the personal data you provide to us for a contract or with your consent in a structured, machine readable format.
In addition, you can object to the processing of your personal data in some circumstances (in particular, where we don’t have to process the data to meet a contractual or other legal requirement, or where we are using the data for direct marketing).
These rights may be limited, for example if fulfilling your request would reveal personal data about another person, or if you ask us to delete information which we are required by law to keep or have compelling legitimate interests in keeping.
You have the same rights for data held by the RFU for its own purposes on GMS.
To exercise any of these rights, you can get in touch with us– or, as appropriate, the RFU or its data protection officer – using the details set out below. If you have unresolved concerns, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Much of the information listed above must be provided on a mandatory basis so that we can make the appropriate legal checks and register you as required by RFU Rules and Regulations. We will inform you which information is mandatory when it is collected. Some information is optional, particularly information such as your medical information. If this is not provided, we may not be able to provide you with appropriate assistance, services or support.

How do I get in touch with you or the RFU?
We hope that we can satisfy queries you may have about the way we process your data. If you have any concerns about how we process your data you can get in with Andrew Cuthbertson, the club secretary, at “cuthbertson572@btinternet.com” or by writing to Tynedale at:-
Tynedale RFC,
Station Road,
Corbridge,
Northumberland
NE45 5AY

If you have any concerns about how the RFU process your data, you can get in touch at legal@rfu.com or by writing to The Data Protection Officer, Rugby Football Union, Twickenham Stadium, 200 Whitton Road, Twickenham TW2 7BA.

How long will you retain my data?
We process the majority of your data for as long as you are an active member and for 6 years after this.
Where we process personal data in connection with performing a contract or for a competition, we keep the data for 6 years from your last interaction with us.
We will retain information held to maintain statutory records in line with appropriate statutory requirements or guidance.
The RFU will maintain records of individuals who have registered on GMS, records of DBS checks and the resulting outcomes and other disciplinary matters for such period as is set out in the RFU’s privacy notice to be set out on www.englandrugby.com.
Records of your involvement in a particular match, on team sheets, on results pages or in match reports may be held indefinitely both by us and the RFU in order to maintain a record of the game.

TYNEDALE RFC COMMITTEE
November 2018