Welfare Information
Q: What is a Club Welfare Officer?
A: A Club Welfare Officer (aka CWO) is an objective person who has the best interests of the members and associates Health, Safety and Welfare in mind. They have been formally trained by British Gymnastics to deal with any issues you may wish to discuss with them. The Head CWO is not involved in how the club is managed. They are simply there for our memebrs to talk to about any serious issues that we hope may never arise.
The CWO is especially for anyone wishing to discuss something they may not feel comfortable speaking to a member of the management team about or you may be directed to the CWO by the management team to deal with a welfare issue you or your child may have.
Q: How do I contact the CWO's?
A: You can either email welfare@stalbansgymclub.com or ask a member of staff for the Head CWO's phone number which will always be given freely and without question.
This email address has been specifically set up for welfare issues and any information given can only be accessed by the Club's Welfare Officers. Please consider any information given as confidential, on a need-to-know basis and the CWO's will deal with your issue as per the British Gymnastics Child Protection Policy.
A: Shadi Ardehali is our Head Welfare Officer. British Gymnastics Time To Listen certified along with being a Social Worker in childcare and an Expert Witness in Child Protection cases, Shadi is the first person you will ever be referred to.
Nancy Harris, our Head of Recreational Gymnastics, is Shadi's Deputy Welfare Officer who has also completed the British Gymnastics Welfare Officer Training. Nancy is always in the gym overseeing the classes and is approachable at the start or end of any class, please get another coach to fetch her if you have trouble attracting her attention.
Cathy McArevey is our other Welfare Officer. S&PCA Certified, Cathy is from a nursing background and has experience in child protection and welfare training and is a parent of one of our competitive gymnasts.