Club complaints
In a club environment, there can be issues or disputes. Sometimes, members within a club fall out, or a member has an issue with their club’s committee. Where a club complaint occurs, Swim England encourages those involved to try and resolve it informally at first.
However, if that is not possible, Swim England’s Judicial Regulations provide a club complaints process for clubs to follow to try and resolve these issues and prevent the issue getting any worse. A club complaint can range from a dispute between two members of the club, to an allegation that someone has breached the club’s rules.
A club complaint may be made by raising the issue in the first instance with the chair of the relevant discipline (swiming, artistic or water polo), or with the chair of the Aquatics Board, using the club complaint form (link below). If, following the club complaint process, you consider the outcome to be unfair, in some circumstances you may be able to appeal the outcome to Swim England.
Judicial complaints
Sometimes, an issue cannot be resolved at a club level. For example, where someone is accused of breaching Swim England’s Regulations or Code of Ethics, or where people from different clubs have a dispute.
Where this is the case, a judicial complaint can be made, which will be handled by Swim England nationally, rather than by a club.
Where a judicial complaint is made, it will be resolved in one of two ways:
- Formal mediation: This is where the parties meet and seek to come to an agreement, assisted by a member of our Dispute Resolution Panel.
- Judicial Hearing: This is a hearing in front of a panel of three Dispute Resolution Panel members where each side will have the opportunity to present their case and evidence.
In this instance, we refer you to the Swim England Judicial Complaints website.
Safeguarding concerns
A safeguarding concern is an allegation that harm has, or may have, occurred to a child or adult as a result of a form of abuse by another individual or group of individuals. It is also an allegation that someone may pose a risk of harm.
Safeguarding concerns are managed by Swim England’s national safeguarding team, in conjunction with club, county and regional officers, plus any external agencies where necessary.
If you have a safeguarding concern, please contact the club's welfare officer or [email protected] immediately.
