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Safeguarding

“We aim to create a safe, welcoming space for everyone to enjoy playing chess.”

             Cre­at­ing a safe, enjoy­able and inclu­sive space for every­one to play chess involves sev­er­al key com­po­nents. Here are some steps and guide­lines to help you achieve this aim:

  1. Estab­lish Clear Rules and Guide­lines
  • Code of Con­duct: Devel­op a com­pre­hen­sive code of con­duct that out­lines expect­ed behav­ior, includ­ing respect, fair play, and anti-harass­ment poli­cies.
  • Enforce­ment Mech­a­nisms: Clear­ly define the con­se­quences for break­ing the rules, and ensure they are con­sis­tent­ly enforced.
  1. Fos­ter Inclu­siv­i­ty
  • Acces­si­bil­i­ty: Ensure that your venue (phys­i­cal or online) is acces­si­ble to peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties. This could include phys­i­cal access to a build­ing or screen read­er com­pat­i­bil­i­ty for web­sites.
  • Diver­si­ty: Pro­mote diver­si­ty and inclu­sion by wel­com­ing play­ers of all back­grounds, gen­ders (non-bina­ry, trans, LGBTQ+), ages, and skill lev­els.
  1. Cre­ate a Wel­com­ing Envi­ron­ment
  • Friend­ly Atmos­phere: Encour­age a friend­ly and sup­port­ive atmos­phere where play­ers can learn and enjoy the game with­out fear of judg­ment.
  • Men­tor­ship Pro­grams: Estab­lish men­tor­ship pro­grams where expe­ri­enced play­ers can help new­com­ers improve their skills and inte­grate into the com­mu­ni­ty.
  1. Pro­vide Resources and Sup­port
  • Edu­ca­tion­al Mate­ri­als: Offer resources like books, tuto­ri­als, and work­shops to help play­ers improve their skills.
  • Men­tal Health Sup­port: Recog­nise the stress and pres­sure that can come with com­pet­i­tive play and pro­vide resources for men­tal health sup­port if need­ed.
  1. Ensure Safe­ty
  • Mod­er­a­tion: For online plat­forms, employ mod­er­a­tors to over­see inter­ac­tions and ensure the envi­ron­ment remains respect­ful and safe.
  • Safe Report­ing Chan­nels: Pro­vide clear and con­fi­den­tial chan­nels for play­ers to report any issues or harass­ment.
  1. Encour­age Fair Play
  • Anti-Cheat­ing Mea­sures: Imple­ment robust anti-cheat­ing mea­sures to main­tain the integri­ty of the game.
  • Sports­man­ship: Pro­mote good sports­man­ship by reward­ing fair play and dis­cour­ag­ing unsport­ing behav­ior.
  1. Com­mu­ni­ty Engage­ment
  • Events and Tour­na­ments: Orga­nize reg­u­lar events and tour­na­ments to keep the com­mu­ni­ty engaged and active.
  • Feed­back Mech­a­nisms: Reg­u­lar­ly solic­it feed­back from the com­mu­ni­ty to iden­ti­fy areas for improve­ment and ensure their needs are being met.

Imple­men­ta­tion Steps

  1. Devel­op and Pub­lish Guide­lines: Draft the code of con­duct and oth­er guide­lines, and make them eas­i­ly acces­si­ble to all mem­bers.
  2. Train­ing: Train staff, mod­er­a­tors, and vol­un­teers on the rules, enforce­ment mech­a­nisms, and how to han­dle var­i­ous sit­u­a­tions.
  3. Reg­u­lar Review: Peri­od­i­cal­ly review and update guide­lines and poli­cies based on feed­back and evolv­ing best prac­tices.

By fol­low­ing these steps, you can cre­ate a safe, wel­com­ing, and enjoy­able envi­ron­ment for every­one to play chess.

ECF Safeguarding Policies

Code of Conduct

Pro­vid­ing clear guide­lines about accept­able behav­ior and con­duct when engag­ing with chil­dren and vul­ner­a­ble adults.

Risk assessment

Iden­ti­fy­ing and assess­ing poten­tial risks and haz­ards to safe­guard those under our care.

Safe recruitment

Ensur­ing that our vol­un­teers and staff are care­ful­ly select­ed and vet­ted to ensure their suit­abil­i­ty for work­ing with chil­dren and vul­ner­a­ble adults.

Safe­guard­ing and the ECF – Eng­lish Chess Fed­er­a­tion

 

GDPR

Vis­i­tors’ per­son­al data is not saved on our web­site. For the pur­pose of com­mu­ni­ca­tion about the club activ­i­ties and events, we may store the fol­low­ing per­son­al details fol­low­ing the mem­ber­ship reg­is­tra­tion:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your ECF (or oth­er) rat­ing
  • Your mobile tele­phone num­ber

 

Com­ments

The fol­low­ing data will be stored on our web­site when vis­i­tors leave com­ments:

  • The data shown in the com­ments form
  • Visitor’s IP address
  • brows­er user agent string (to help detect spam)

An anonymised string cre­at­ed from your email address (also called a hash) may be pro­vid­ed to the Gra­vatar ser­vice to see if you are using it. The Gra­vatar ser­vice pri­va­cy pol­i­cy is avail­able here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your com­ment, your pro­file pic­ture is vis­i­ble to the pub­lic in the con­text of your com­ment.

Cook­ies

If you leave a com­ment on our site, you may opt to save your name, email address, and web­site in cook­ies. These cook­ies will last for one year and are for your con­ve­nience so you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave anoth­er com­ment.

If you have an account and log in to this site, we will set a tem­po­rary cook­ie to deter­mine if your brows­er accepts cook­ies. This cook­ie con­tains no per­son­al data and is dis­card­ed when you close your brows­er.

When you log in, we will set up sev­er­al cook­ies to save your login infor­ma­tion and screen dis­play choic­es. Login cook­ies last two days, and screen options cook­ies last a year. If you select “Remem­ber Me”, your login will per­sist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cook­ies will be removed.

If you edit or pub­lish an arti­cle, an addi­tion­al cook­ie will be saved in your brows­er. This cook­ie includes no per­son­al data and indi­cates the post ID of the arti­cle you just edit­ed. It expires after 1 day.

Embed­ded con­tent from oth­er web­sites

Arti­cles on this site may include embed­ded con­tent (e.g., videos, images, arti­cles, etc.). Embed­ded con­tent from oth­er web­sites behaves exact­ly the same way as if the vis­i­tor had vis­it­ed the oth­er web­site.

These web­sites may col­lect data about you, use cook­ies, embed addi­tion­al third-par­ty track­ing, and mon­i­tor your inter­ac­tion with that embed­ded con­tent, includ­ing trac­ing your inter­ac­tion with the embed­ded con­tent if you have an account and are logged in to that web­site.

Who we share your data with

By default, we do not share any per­son­al data with exter­nal enti­ties.

Any per­son­al data you pro­vide to us may be shared with the Com­mit­tee of Lon­don Women’s Chess Club or our Team Cap­tains for the pur­pos­es of run­ning the club appro­pri­ate­ly, arrang­ing games and events, or oth­er­wise con­tact­ing mem­bers.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a com­ment, the com­ment and its meta­da­ta are retained indef­i­nite­ly. This is so we can rec­og­nize and approve any fol­low-up com­ments auto­mat­i­cal­ly instead of hold­ing them in a mod­er­a­tion queue.

For users that reg­is­ter on our web­site (if any), we also store the per­son­al infor­ma­tion they pro­vide in their user pro­file. All users can see, edit, or delete their per­son­al infor­ma­tion at any time (except they can­not change their user­name). Web­site admin­is­tra­tors can also see and edit that infor­ma­tion.

What rights do you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left com­ments, or if we hold any per­son­al data about you else­where on the web­site, you can request to receive an export­ed file of the per­son­al data we hold about you, includ­ing any data you have pro­vid­ed to us. You can also request that we erase any per­son­al data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are oblig­ed to keep for admin­is­tra­tive, legal, or secu­ri­ty pur­pos­es.

Where we send your data

Vis­i­tor com­ments may be checked through an auto­mat­ed spam detec­tion ser­vice.

Con­tact infor­ma­tion

If you have any Pri­va­cy or Data-spe­cif­ic con­cerns or com­ments, please con­tact us at info@londonwomenchess.org.uk

Advocacy

Contact Us

We would love to speak with you.
Feel free to reach out using the below details.

Providing access to advocates within the chess community, such as the London Women Chess Club, can be incredibly valuable for individuals who may have concerns or encounter challenges related to safety, inclusivity, or any other issues.

Dedicated advocates who are trained to support and advocate for community members can help ensure that everyone feels heard, supported, and empowered to address their concerns. Advocates can provide guidance, assistance with navigating policies and procedures, and a supportive ear for individuals facing difficulties.

By offering advocacy services, we are demonstrating a commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment within the chess community and empowering individuals to seek assistance when needed. It’s a proactive approach that can help foster trust,
transparency, and accountability within the community.

 

If anyone has concerns or needs support, knowing that advocates are available to assist them can provide peace of mind and encourage them to reach out for help when necessary.
This contributes to building a stronger, more supportive chess community where everyone can enjoy the game to the  fullest.