If you have recently joined your swim club’s committee, or if you have been volunteered into a welfare officer role, the word “Wavepower” has probably come up more than once. It is Swim England’s child safeguarding policy, and every affiliated club is required to follow it.
The document itself runs to several hundred pages. That can feel overwhelming, especially for parent volunteers who are doing this alongside a full-time job and family commitments. This guide breaks down what you actually need to know and what your club needs to have in place.
What is Wavepower?
Wavepower is Swim England’s safeguarding children policy. It sets out the standards, procedures, and responsibilities for protecting children and young people involved in aquatic activities. The current version applies to all Swim England affiliated clubs, swim schools, and other organisations delivering aquatic activities.
It covers everything from recruitment and DBS checks through to how concerns should be reported and investigated. It is not optional: compliance with Wavepower is a condition of Swim England affiliation.
2026 Wavepower Compliance Checklist
Use this checklist to audit your club’s current Wavepower compliance status. If you can tick every box, your club is in good shape. If not, the gaps show you exactly where to focus your effort.
Essential Requirements
- Club Welfare Officer appointed with current, in-date Swim England safeguarding qualification
- Club Welfare Officer DBS check (enhanced, with children’s barred list check)
- All coaches have current enhanced DBS checks (renewed every 3 years)
- Team managers and volunteers in regulated activity have enhanced DBS checks
- Codes of conduct in place for coaches/volunteers, parents/carers, and young swimmers
- All codes of conduct signed and stored (digital or physical copies on record)
- Safeguarding policy document current and reflects latest Wavepower guidance
- Reporting procedures clearly documented and communicated to all members
- Photography policy in place with written parental consent recorded
- Social media policy covers use of children’s images with consent tracking
- Changing room supervision procedures documented and followed
- Away trip protocols include risk assessments and specific consent forms
Ongoing Processes
- DBS renewal dates tracked with automatic reminders 3 months before expiry
- New volunteer induction process includes safeguarding training and code of conduct
- Annual safeguarding policy review scheduled and completed
- Safeguarding records stored securely with role-based access for authorised individuals
- Incident reporting log maintained (even if no incidents to report)
- Regular communication to members about reporting procedures and CWO contact details
Evidence and Audit Trail
- Central record of all DBS checks with issue dates and renewal dates
- Signed codes of conduct filed and accessible if requested by Swim England
- Training certificates stored for CWO and other safeguarding-trained individuals
- Photography consent forms for all active members
- Documentation ready for inspection if your county or Swim England requests an audit
Using club management software with compliance tracking can automate much of this checklist, particularly DBS renewal reminders and digital document management.
Why it matters for your club
Safeguarding is not a box-ticking exercise. It exists to protect the young people in your club and to protect the adults who work with them. Getting it right means your club provides a safe environment where children can train and compete with confidence.
Getting it wrong can have serious consequences. Clubs that fail to meet Wavepower standards risk losing their Swim England affiliation, which means no access to competitions, insurance, or official coaching qualifications. More importantly, gaps in safeguarding processes put children at risk.
For committee volunteers, the practical challenge is managing all of this alongside everything else the club requires. That is where having good systems and clear processes makes a significant difference.
The key requirements
Club Welfare Officer
Every affiliated club must have a designated Club Welfare Officer (CWO). This person is the first point of contact for any safeguarding concerns and is responsible for ensuring the club meets its Wavepower obligations.
The CWO must hold a current, in-date Swim England safeguarding qualification. They must also have an enhanced DBS check with a children’s barred list check. The role requires someone who is approachable, available, and willing to undertake ongoing training.
If your club does not have a CWO, or if your current CWO’s qualifications have lapsed, this should be the number one priority.
DBS checks
All individuals in “regulated activity” with children must have an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. In a swimming club context, this typically includes coaches, teaching assistants, team managers on away trips, and anyone who has regular unsupervised access to young swimmers.
Committee members may also require DBS checks depending on their role and level of contact with young people. Your county or regional Swim England office can advise on specific roles.
DBS checks are not a one-off task. While the checks themselves do not expire, Swim England recommends renewal every three years. Keeping track of who needs a check, when it was completed, and when renewal is due is one of the most common administrative headaches for clubs.
Codes of conduct
Wavepower requires clubs to have codes of conduct in place for different groups: coaches and volunteers, parents and carers, and young swimmers. These set out expected behaviour and make it clear what is and is not acceptable.
Your club’s codes of conduct should be distributed to all relevant parties and signed copies kept on record. New members and their parents should receive them as part of the joining process.
Reporting procedures
Every person involved in your club should know how to report a safeguarding concern. Wavepower sets out a clear reporting pathway:
- Concerns are reported to the Club Welfare Officer
- The CWO assesses the concern and decides on next steps
- Serious concerns are referred to Swim England’s Integrity Unit and, where appropriate, to the police or local authority children’s services
- All concerns and actions are recorded and stored securely
Your club should have a visible process for reporting concerns. This should be communicated to all members, parents, and volunteers regularly, not just buried in a document that nobody reads.
Photography and social media
Wavepower includes guidance on photography and the use of images of young people. Your club should have a clear photography policy that covers events, training sessions, and social media.
Parents should provide written consent for their child’s image to be used, and that consent should be specific about where and how images will be published. Children who do not have consent should be identifiable to coaches and photographers so they can be excluded from images.
Changing rooms and supervision
The policy includes specific guidance on changing rooms, supervision ratios, and the management of away trips. These are areas where clubs sometimes fall short, often not through negligence but simply because the requirements are not well understood.
Key points to be aware of: adults should not share changing facilities with children, supervision ratios should follow Swim England guidelines, and away trips require specific risk assessments and consent forms.
Common gaps in club compliance
Having worked with swimming clubs across the UK, certain compliance gaps appear time and again. Being aware of these can help your club address them proactively.
Lapsed DBS checks. The most common issue. A coach’s DBS was done when they started five years ago, and nobody has tracked the renewal date. A simple tracking system with automatic reminders can prevent this entirely.
Unsigned codes of conduct. The codes exist in a document somewhere, but they have never been formally distributed or signed. Without signed acknowledgement, the club cannot demonstrate that members are aware of expected standards.
No central safeguarding record. Safeguarding documentation is spread across email inboxes, personal folders, and filing cabinets. If the CWO is unavailable, nobody else can access the information. Wavepower requires that records are stored securely but also accessible to authorised individuals.
Incomplete induction for new volunteers. A new team manager or poolside helper starts without receiving safeguarding training information, a code of conduct, or clear guidance on reporting procedures. Wavepower requires that all new volunteers in roles involving children are properly inducted.
Out-of-date policies. The club’s safeguarding policy was written three years ago and has not been reviewed since. Wavepower is updated periodically, and club policies need to reflect the current version.
How software can help
Managing Wavepower compliance manually is possible, but it requires significant discipline and ongoing effort from volunteers who already have plenty to do.
Modern club management software can take much of this burden off the committee. Here is how.
DBS tracking and renewal reminders. A good system records DBS check dates for all relevant individuals and automatically flags when renewals are due. No more spreadsheets, no more missed renewals.
Digital document management. Codes of conduct, consent forms, and safeguarding policies can be distributed, signed, and stored digitally. The club has a clear record of who has signed what and when.
Secure, role-based access. Safeguarding records should only be accessible to authorised individuals. Software with proper access controls ensures that sensitive information is protected while remaining available to those who need it.
Audit trails. When your county or Swim England asks for evidence of compliance, a digital system can generate reports in minutes rather than the hours it takes to compile information from scattered files.
Automated reminders. Training renewals, policy reviews, and annual checks can all be tracked with automated prompts so nothing falls through the cracks.
Getting started
If your club’s Wavepower compliance needs attention, here is a practical starting point.
First, check the basics. Do you have a CWO with current qualifications? Are all DBS checks in date? Do you have signed codes of conduct? If any of these are missing, address them before anything else.
Second, centralise your records. Gather all safeguarding documentation into a single, secure location. This might be a dedicated section in your club management software, or at a minimum a secure shared drive with restricted access.
Third, communicate the process. Make sure every member, parent, and volunteer knows who the CWO is and how to raise a concern. Put this information on your club website, in your welcome pack, and on the noticeboard at the pool.
Fourth, set up a review cycle. Safeguarding is not something you set up once and forget about. Build in a regular review, at least annually, to check that policies are current, DBS checks are in date, and the club is meeting its obligations.
Wavepower compliance can feel like a mountain to climb, especially for volunteers who are new to it. But the core requirements are straightforward, and with the right systems in place, staying on top of them does not need to consume your committee’s time. The goal is to protect the young people in your club. Good processes and good tools make that goal achievable without burning out the volunteers who make grassroots swimming possible.
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