British Gymnastics is a registered body with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (Formerly known as the Criminal Records Bureau) and Access NI and acts as an umbrella body for affiliated clubs and organisations within England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Those who are aged 16 and above and are in a regulated activity working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults are required to hold a BG DBS disclosure (Coaches, Volunteers, Club Welfare Officers). For judges that only judge at competitions and do not provide instruction to or supervise children in any other capacity in your club, recent legislation changes mean that these judges are no longer eligible for a DBS check. This also means that a current DBS will no longer be a membership requirement for these individuals. If they are helping in other areas of the club and you think they may be eligible for a DBS check please check the flowchart below.
The Club, as the organisation that is directly deploying the individual, is best placed to assess whether an individual’s role meets the eligibility criteria for a check and the level of check that is required. To assist you with this process we have created the flow chart below and some additional guidance and FAQs to help you to determine whether a criminal records check (DBS) can take place.
*Regular is open to definition by the recruiting organisation. It is suggested that annually is not enough, but an argument could be made for eligibility if an individual does an activity a number of times over the summer period, or once a month for example.
** Supervision should only be considered to apply within a gymnastics environment where the supervisor (someone in Regulated Activity) can guarantee constant oversight of the supervised individual.
We know that you may have questions about the Criminal Record/DBS checks so we have put together a FAQ section where you will find most of the commonly asked questions answered quickly and easily.