Good Governance for Clubs and affiliated organisations

Swim England has developed a number of Good Governance workshops and information sessions along with useful documents and tools to support Officers in their roles within a club or organisation. Each session is free of charge to attend and will be delivered online via Zoom.

The sessions are designed to support new and existing Chairs, Treasurers, Secretaries, Membership Officers and Welfare Officers in dealing with challenges and the day to day running of the organisation. For further information including dates of the sessions please use the relevant link below;

• Secretary and Membership Officer information session: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Secretary-Membership

This session is designed to share important information with Secretaries and Membership Officers on the expectations of the roles including dealing with communications, understanding the constitution, Swim England Online Membership System (OMS) and the requirements around the different Swim England memberships.

• Welfare Officer information session: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Welfareofficerworkshops

This workshop is designed to further support experienced or new Welfare Officers in dealing with club issues surrounding the welfare of children in given situations. The workshop will build on knowledge already gained through attendance on both the Safeguarding and Time to Listen workshops.

• Chair’s information session on dealing with internal disputes: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ClubChairSessions

This session is designed to share important information with Chairs on dealing with internal disputes, highlighting the governing document / constitution and how this should support decisions and processes as well as overall good governance.

Important update

In our quest for continual improvement and support for members, from the 1st November 2023, attendance on both the Chair and Welfare workshops will be mandatory for affiliated clubs and will form part of the required evidence for Club Affiliation and SwimMark renewals.

Any Chair or Welfare Officer who attends a workshop will have their membership record updated and this information will transfer automatically to the Club Personnel Report. Please note any previous attendance has been recorded. We recommend attending the workshops on an annual basis to ensure important updates are received.

The Club Financial Toolkit is a new guide which includes tips and advice on all aspects of managing income and expenditure during an ‘economically challenging time’. The 48-page booklet can be downloaded free of charge and contains case studies from a number of clubs.

Covered in the toolkit are managing club finances, employment, legal structures, tax and VAT, income and expenditure plus sponsorship and fundraising as well as additional resources and relevant links to useful information.