Is a club legally required to publish its safeguarding policy on its website?

We found no general law that says a club must publish it online. What the Charity Commission expects of charity trustees in England and Wales is that appropriate policies and procedures are in place and followed. Governing bodies and funders often ask to see the policy, so publishing it is the easiest way to show you have one.

Who should be named on the page?

Name a role and give a role-based contact (for example a welfare officer email address), and agree with the person before using their name or photo. Make sure the page also says how to report to the police or children's services, and not only to the club.

Can we show photos of children on the website?

Only with the right permission. The Charity Commission says to make sure you have permission to display images, and that you may need individual or parental permission. The NSPCC advises written consent from the child and their parent or carer, and not supplying children's names along with images.

Do the rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Yes. The Charity Commission safeguarding guidance applies to England and Wales. In Scotland, OSCR publishes its own safeguarding guidance for charities, and in Northern Ireland you should check the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Your sport's governing body may also set standards.

What should the page say if someone is in immediate danger?

Say clearly that if a child is in immediate danger the person should call 999. For adults worried about a child, the NSPCC Helpline is 0808 800 5000, and Childline for children and young people is 0800 1111.

What to put on your club website's safeguarding page (and what to keep private)

Publish your safeguarding policy, the name or role of your welfare officer with a role-based contact, and clear steps for raising a concern, all reachable in one click from the home page. Keep everything that identifies individual children (rosters, full names with photos, medical or consent forms) and everything about specific concerns off the public site. This protects children and shows parents, funders and your governing body that you take it seriously.

This is general information, not legal advice or a substitute for your governing body's safeguarding standards. Your sport, activity or funder may require specific wording and training.

What the law and regulators say

We found no general law that requires a club to publish its safeguarding policy on its website. What exists is a duty to protect people, set by the regulator or governing body that applies to you.

England and Wales charities: The Charity Commission's safeguarding guidance for trustees says protecting people should be a governance priority and that trustees must take reasonable steps to protect people who come into contact with the charity. It expects the charity to have appropriate policies and procedures that are followed, a clear system of referring or reporting to relevant agencies as soon as concerns arise, and periodic review of policies. The guidance applies to England and Wales and was last updated on 8 October 2026.
Scotland: OSCR publishes its own safeguarding guidance for charities.
Northern Ireland: check the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
Everyone working with under-18s: the Commission guidance tells charities to use resources and follow standards from the NSPCC for safeguarding children. Your sport's governing body will usually have its own policy template and mandatory training; follow it.

The Commission also covers the website itself under "operating online": who controls the site and social media, how people contact each other, and how you keep users safe, including making sure you have permission to display images (you may need individual or parental permission) and clearly explaining how users can report online concerns. If your site includes a forum or messaging that lets people post and talk to each other, the Commission notes the Online Safety Act 2023 may apply and says to check.

So the practical answer: you may not be legally required to publish the page, but it is the quickest way to show you have the policies the regulators expect.

What to publish

Put the page one click from the home page, for example "Safeguarding" in the main menu or footer. Visitors should not have to hunt.

A short statement of commitment in two or three sentences.
Your safeguarding policy as a downloadable PDF, with the date it was approved and its review date.
Who to contact: the welfare or safeguarding officer, by role, with a role-based email (for example welfare@yourclub) and, if you want to publish one, a phone number. Agree this with the person before naming them.
How to raise a concern, step by step.
Where to go outside the club: police and children's services, with the emergency line.
Supporting documents: code of conduct for adults and young people, anti-bullying policy, photography and filming policy, and (if relevant) online safety policy.
Your governing body's resources, with a link to its own safeguarding page and reporting route.

What to keep private

Junior rosters, names with photos, dates of birth, addresses and school details. The NSPCC advises not supplying children's names along with images, avoiding publishing personal information about individual children, and removing location data and other metadata from images before uploading.
Consent and medical forms, which contain special category data. See membership form wording that meets UK GDPR.
Anything about a specific concern or case. Reports go to your safeguarding lead and the relevant agency, not onto a web page, a committee WhatsApp group or a members' forum.
DBS or disclosure details about individuals.
Private member areas for juniors. If you run a members' area or forum, think carefully about whether under-18s can join and who can message them; use password protection and age limits where appropriate.

A good test: if the page would help a stranger identify, locate or contact a particular child, it should not be public.

Photos and names: a short policy

The NSPCC advises that clubs have a written photography and filming policy statement, gain written consent from the child and their parent or carer before taking photos or video, and think about how widely images can be shared and how long they will stay online. A short public version helps parents:

Photography and filming. We only publish photos or videos of children where the child and their parent or carer have agreed in writing. We do not publish children's full names alongside their image, and we do not publish contact details or locations linked to a child. If you would like an image removed, email [welfare email] and we will remove it from our website promptly. Parents and visitors who take photos at our events must not post images of other people's children without their parents' permission.

Offering a removal route is good practice, but be honest: an image already copied elsewhere may not be recoverable.

Page template you can copy

Replace the bracketed parts. Keep it short and plain.

Safeguarding at [Club name]

[Club name] is committed to making sure every child, young person and adult at risk who takes part in our activities is safe. Everyone involved with the club, including volunteers, coaches, parents and visitors, shares responsibility for that.

Our policy. Read our [Safeguarding Policy (PDF)] (approved [date], next review [date]). We also publish our [Code of Conduct], [Anti-Bullying Policy] and [Photography and Filming Policy].

Who to talk to at the club. Our Welfare Officer is [name or role]. Email [welfare@club address] [or phone number]. If you would rather speak to someone else, contact [Chair/Secretary role and email].

If you are worried about a child.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Otherwise, tell our Welfare Officer as soon as you can, even if you are not sure. Write down what you saw or heard, with the date and time, and do not investigate yourself.
You can also contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, or your local children's services.
Children and young people can talk to Childline on 0800 1111.

Our governing body. We follow the safeguarding standards of [governing body]. You can also report concerns to them: [link to their reporting page].

Your privacy. We keep safeguarding records securely and only share them with the people and agencies that need to see them. Read our [Privacy Notice].

Keep it findable and current

Link it from your main menu and footer, and from every page where you advertise junior sessions.
Review it at least yearly and update the dates. An out-of-date policy on the site is worse than none.
Check that each linked document opens, and that any named person is still in post.

For the wider list of pages a community group site needs, see what pages a community group website needs. For charities, UK charity website legal requirements covers the other disclosure rules, and the privacy policy template covers the data side.

Where Natterio fits

On a Natterio site you can add a Safeguarding page to your menu and link downloadable policy documents, and every site has cookie consent and a contact form, with UK hosting. Natterio does not provide a safeguarding policy or make your club compliant: the policy, the training and the decisions are your club's, ideally based on your governing body's template. The free plan is permanent (three pages, no card) and paid plans start at £7 a month. Build your club's site free.

Sources and last checked 30 Oct 2026

Charity Commission, Safeguarding and protecting people for charities and trustees (England and Wales; updated 8 October 2026): gov.uk
NSPCC Learning, Photography and sharing images: learning.nspcc.org.uk
NSPCC Helpline: nspcc.org.uk/about-us/our-services/nspcc-helpline
OSCR, charity trustee pages (which link to its safeguarding guidance): oscr.org.uk