As we look forward to 2020 and beyond, you may have seen or heard that Sport England have decided to withdraw from their own generic Clubmark scheme and to remove the licences they hold with the larger NGB’s such as the England & Wales Cricket Board.
The removal of the licence gives us a chance to reflect on how the ECB scheme currently works. We will use 2020 to review the current Clubmark process and consult with clubs and counties to ensure the scheme provides a solid base for clubs to grow, whilst recognising the time pressures which we know exist for volunteers within the game. Whilst we are undertaking this consultation we will not be conducting any full re-accreditations or annual health checks during 2020 with a view to launching an updated accreditation scheme in 2021.
To ensure we are providing safe environments for children to enjoy our game, during 2020 we will be introducing central safeguarding checks across all Clubmark accredited clubs and to retain your accreditation you will need to demonstrate you are meeting the required standards.
Further information on the process will follow in the new year to allow you to plan for completion, but it will be beneficial for you to review your clubs position with regards to DBS and safeguarding training as a pre-cursor to this. Your County Board may ask for some additional information as part of their affiliation package.
Thank you for your continued support of the Clubmark scheme and we would like to wish you and other volunteers within your club a happy festive period.
Please send any questions to clubmark@ecb.co.uk
England & Wales Cricket Board - Clubmark Team
