Affiliation to Swim England and the Swim England Regions

When you affiliate your club to a region and Swim England you unlock lots of additional opportunities for your members.

How to affiliate your club to Swim England

If you are looking to affiliate your club with Swim England your regional office will be able to support you through the process of completing the necessary information. If you are unsure which region your group or club will be in please contact [email protected] for more information.

There are four key stages to follow when you affiliate a club to Swim England. These are:

Stage one – form a committee

• In the words of the Swim England handbook: “A club must comprise a group of people who join together for the common purpose of taking part in swimming related activities and must be organised and managed on a democratic basis.”
• This group of people must include: chair, secretary, treasurer, welfare officer (if your activity includes children or vulnerable people) and a coach / teacher but can add additional roles where appropriate, such as membership secretary, or fund-raising officer. This group of people will form the basis of your club committee.

Stage two – choosing a name

• The name of a club must include some reference to the club’s normal area of activity and location. It must not have a name that could be confused with another club.

Stage three – adopting a constitution

• All clubs need to be constituted in order to create a legal entity that other organisations can operate with. The constitution plays an important part in regulating club affairs. Learn more in the Swim England document here.
• The club needs to adopt a constitution based on the Swim England recommended Model Club Constitution. Once written this needs to be approved by your Swim England region.
• Clubs also need a written constitution to ensure all stakeholders can understand how duties are carried out and the rules that need to be followed.
• Go to our Ways to Set Up Your Club section here to learn about the ways to constitute your club.

Stage four – affiliating your club

• You must complete the application form for affiliation and all supporting information and then submit this to your regional office.

Once affiliation has been approved

Affiliation usually takes up to eight weeks and no less than four. Once approved your regional office will contact Swim England membership services and your club will be registered as affiliated with Swim England.

Swim England will contact you directly to give you access to the Online Membership System where you will be able to start adding your club members. Once affiliated you have 3 months to complete the required information for maintaining your new affiliation status. Your regional officer will support you through this process.

For information on Club Affiliation, click here.