Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield Giants leading the way in safeguarding with new app tootoot.
- Huddersfield clubs are protecting club members’ welfare
- Town and Giants launch tootoot safeguarding app
- Comments from Head of Safeguarding Karen Crosland
Both Huddersfield Town AFC and Huddersfield Giants are protecting club members’ welfare by launching the safeguarding and reporting app tootoot sport.
Bullying and harassment in sport has had an increased focus placed on it in recent months, with the NSPCC renewing calls for more to be done to safeguard members. In a recent survey they found that 2/3 of children and young people were bullied whilst participating in sport, with almost 1/3 citing that their coaches were involved. Tootoot sport gives club members a way of discretely and confidentially reporting any concerns they are experiencing directly to their club, supporting them to feel confident to speak up and make their voices heard.
Huddersfield Town AFC Head of Safeguarding, Karen Crosland, said:
“Safeguarding is something that we take very seriously at Huddersfield Town and we are always looking at ways we can proactively improve our processes to tackle any issues.
“In addition to delivering safeguarding workshops to all staff, we have recently incorporated the tootoot app as an extension of our efforts. The use of tootoot sport will enable the players and staff to communicate more effectively and enhance our welfare program.
“The ability to anonymously report, log and deal with issues in one centralised system will help negate poor practice and deal with any problems.
“The feedback from both players, parents and staff has been excellent.”
Players, coaches and staff from both Huddersfield clubs will be able to report issues such as bullying, harassment, doping, abuse and racism. The innovative app gives the whole club direct and confidential access to the welfare team wherever they are around the clock.
Welfare is paramount at Huddersfield Giants where the app has also been launched this week; supporting the club’s responsibility to safeguard and listen to employees.
Steve Hardisty, Giants’ Welfare & Education Manager, said:
“The Huddersfield Giants take great pride in their on-going commitment towards Club Welfare and Safeguarding. A clear indication of the club’s intentions is its investment within tootoot sport.”
“The Huddersfield Giants feel that tootoot sport share a similar professional ethos and commitment towards its staff and athletes. The anonymous reporting platform has been well received by all within the organisation and we look forward to a long working relationship.”
Former Oldham and Great Britain Rugby League player, Terry Flanagan MBE is the Chairman of tootoot. Welcoming the two Huddersfield clubs he said. “We’re very happy to have Huddersfield Town AFC and Huddersfield Giants join the tootoot sport family”
“The news cycle in recent years has highlighted the importance of having a strong and holistic approach to safeguarding in sport, from grass roots to professional players to club staff. We’re happy tootoot sport is becoming the go-to solution for clubs looking to enhance their safeguarding programmes.
Having such great names in Premier League and Rugby League join us is a big step in the right direction for safeguarding in British sport.”
