Get ready to affiliate in 2025

As we look ahead to the new affiliation year in April, there are plenty of ways your club can get prepared.
This year will see a significant change in the affiliation process with all clubs and member bodies needing to achieve their Club Standard 6: Safeguarding in order to reaffiliate with England Athletics.
This decision has been made to prioritise safety and welfare within clubs, creating genuinely safe and welcoming environments, which allow everyone to participate, flourish and share enjoyment of athletics and running.
You don’t need to wait until 1 April 2025 to begin the affiliation process, there are some important steps which you can kickstart now:

*Clubs are able to transfer their payment via BACS but their membership payment will be held by England Athletics until it is confirmed they have attained Club Standard 6. If this is not confirmed by 30 April 2025, the money will be returned to the club.
Key steps to affiliating your club
January - March
- Ensure your club profile is up to date (this is not mandatory for reaffiliation, but important to keep all details up to date). This includes:
- Your training venue - this information will appear in Find A Club to help you attract new members.
- The name of your committee members.
- Your club membership size.
- Your club status (whether you have under 18s or your club is purely over 18 year-olds.
- Any affiliation to other National Governing Bodies (such as British Triathlon).
- Set up your club Stripe account and review your existing membership fees.
- Update all 7 Club Standards
- Complete your Club Standard 6 (Safeguarding standard). You can do this by:
- Completing the code of conduct self-declaration box (confirming you agree to the overall club safeguarding code of conduct, and confirming your club has taken action to ensure all members have signed up to their relevant code/s of conduct).
- Appoint and upload a minimum of one welfare officer that is appropriately trained with a DBS.
- Upload all of your active leaders/coaches and complete the self-declaration box to confirm your club has declared all leaders/coaches on myAthletics Portal.
April
- Agree to the terms and conditions of affiliation.
- Pay the club affiliation fee of £205. Clubs are able to transfer their payment via BACS but should not send any funds until an order has been raised for their club affiliation fee through the myAthletics portal. Any membership payments sent in without an order will be held by England Athletics until it is confirmed the club have attained Club Standard 6. If this is not confirmed by 30 April 2025, the money will be returned to the club.
By June
- Ensure you register all athletes and runners from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2025 to ensure they are eligible to compete in the 2025/26 season.
Exemptions from Club Standards
Clubs affiliated to British Triathlon can opt in or out of this mandatory standard, and choose to follow either England Athletics Guidance OR British Triathlon’s guidance. (see FAQ)
Workplaces and universities will have their own organisational policies and are therefore not required to complete Club Standards.
Benefits of affiliation
As an England Athletics affiliated club, you’ll be able to access a range of benefits and services to help manage, develop and engage your club and its members. These include access to club support services, competition and event licensing, free resources and club programmes.
Club affiliation benefitsClub Standards Clinics
Throughout the last year we have been hosting dedicated Club Standards Clinics to guide you through the process of achieving your 7 Club Standards. These will continue all the way through to the new affiliation year:
- Friday 7 February, 4.30-5.30pm: register here.
- Monday 10 February, 7.30-8.8pm: register here.
- Wednesday 19 February, 7.30-8.30pm: register here.
- Friday 28 February, 12.30-1.30pm: register here.
- Monday 3 March, 7.30-8.30pm: register here.
- Wednesday 12 March, 12.30-1.30pm: register here.
- Friday 21 March, 4.30-5.30pm: register here.
- Monday 24 March, 7.30-8.30pm: register here.
Get support
We will be communicating with your club secretary on all things club affiliation and Club Standards. Please ensure that your committee information is up to date on myAthletics portal so you receive all important communications.
If you need any additional support with affiliation, please get in touch via email: enquiries@englandathletics.org. If you need support with Club Standards, please get in touch with your local Club Support Manager who will be happy to help:
- Sarah Friday (North West and North East): sfriday@englandathletics.org | 07912 070640
- Heidi Bradley (Yorkshire & Humber and East Midlands): hbradley@englandathletics.org | 07968 498701
- Kirsty Fardell (East and South East): kfardell@englandathletics.org | 07714 077363
- Amy Murtagh (London): amurtagh@englandathletics.org | 07500 910897
- Rich Ayling (South West and West Midlands): rayling@englandathletics.org | 07718 394751
- Megan Weir (Club Support Administrator) mweir@englandathletics.org | 07442 776379
- Emma Hurst (Senior Club Support Manager) ehurst@englandathletics.org | 07921 060306
Useful links
2025/2026 affiliation and Club Standards FAQs
What are Club Standards?
England Athletics produced a set of Club Standards in line with legal legislation and the Code of Sports Governance (Tier 1) set out by Sport England to help clubs understand what they should have in place for good governance and duty of care:
- Good governance is the foundation of a well-run club. It protects the club’s values and reputation whilst looking after the club’s funds and people. It also holds those responsible accountable for the club’s actions and decisions. It’s represented by the structures, rules, policies and practices in operation in a club.
- ‘Duty of care’ is a common law that applies to all individuals and organisations. Clubs have a duty of care towards their members and are responsible for ensuring all club activity is safe. Everyone has a role to play in keeping others safe. All club members should know what to do if they have any concerns.
The checklist is a tool to help clubs understand and implement the minimum standards required for good governance and duty of care. The start of an affiliation year is a good opportunity to review your club’s governance and ensure you are fit for purpose with all the relevant standards in place. Each club is responsible for keeping their standards up to date throughout the year as club governance, personnel, or volunteers change.
What are the benefits to our club of achieving Club Standards?
Club Standards have been created to help clubs with governance and duty of care. Having Club Standards in place will help clubs to:
- Be legally compliant.
- Protect and support volunteers in their roles.
- Ensure members are accessing club activity safely, protecting them from harm, incidents, and accidents.
- Minimise club issues and conflicts.
- Give their members the confidence that the volunteers have the interests of the club at heart and are making decisions based on what is right for the club.
- Engage with their members so they understand how the club operates and can contribute to its success.
- Have happier members, less churn, bigger growth and perform better.
- Save time when policies or procedures need to be adopted.
How does our club complete the Club Standards checklist?
The Club Standards checklist can be accessed via the club management area of myAthletics portal by the club secretary. We would recommend that club committees work through the Club Standards checklist together, taking each standard at a time. Clubs can make updates to the checklist at any time during the course of the year and all clubs will be prompted to check their information is up to date as part of the new affiliation year checks.
Do we need to complete all seven standards to affiliate to England Athletics?
One of the terms and conditions for clubs to affiliate to England Athletics is ‘agree to implement and uphold the Club Standards.’ Clubs are required to complete the checklist as part of the affiliation process, however the only standard that will be mandatory from 2025 is Club Standard 6. It is recognised that some clubs will be working towards these, therefore they can update the checklist throughout the year as they work through each standard.
Before you can start processing your payments for the affiliation year you just need to click ‘Submit changes’ at the bottom of the Club Standards checklist so that we have a record of your club completing the checklist.
Can we still pay our club affiliation via BACS?
We encourage clubs to pay their affiliation fee via myAthletics portal using stripe payments. If you do need to pay via BACS please do not pay your club’s affiliation fee unless your club adheres to Club Standard 6. If payment is made with no adherence to Club Standard 6, the club’s payment will be held and the club will remain unaffiliated for the month of April before payment is refunded on 1 May.
Who needs to agree to the club safeguarding code of conduct?
The Club Safeguarding Code of Conduct should be agreed and implemented by the club committee. As part of Club Standards, the club secretary would complete the self-declaration box “I confirm that our club agrees to the overall Club Safeguarding Code of Conduct”.
How do we ensure all our members sign and agree to the relevant members code of conduct?
Clubs can decide the best way to communicate and ensue all their members have signed up to the relevant code of conduct. This may include;
- Use of myAthletics portal for licensed roles.
- Membership forms for new members and renewals.
- Digital sign ups i.e. google forms or another digital platform.
There is no requirement to evidence this; clubs should just complete the self-declaration box “I confirm that our club has taken action to ensure all our members (England Athletics registered or not) have signed up to the relevant code(s) of conduct for their role(s).” For good practice, clubs should work towards having one male and one female welfare officer to ensure all club members feel they can approach either gender.
How many Welfare Officers should we appoint?
Clubs should appoint a minimum of one Lead Welfare Officer who is appropriately trained. Clubs should complete a risk assessment to decide if they require any additional welfare officers. More information can be found on Club Hub “The role of a Welfare officer.”
What are the training requirements for our Lead Welfare Officer?
The training requirement are highlighted in this Club Hub collection “The role of a Welfare Officer”.
Please note: Training requirements are different for clubs with under 18s and over 18s. Clubs should complete the club profile indicting if they are a club with Under 18s or Over 18s. This will determine the virtual course the Lead Welfare Officer needs to complete.
What are the requirements for ensuring all our leaders and coaches are licensed?
Club committees are responsible for ensuring that all their active leaders and coaches who deliver club activity have a valid England Athletics licence. All clubs should use myAthletics Portal to keep their leader and coach list up to date and check their licence status.
To complete Club Standard 6: leaders and coaches, clubs should upload their leaders and coaches and tick the self declaration box “I confirm that our club has declared all of our active coaches and leaders by adding them to the myAthletics portal”.
Please note: Following feedback from clubs we have changed this requirement to give clubs the opportunity to support their leaders and coaches to renew their licence. Clubs can now affiliate with unlicensed leaders and coaches on the myAthletics portal but they must sign the self-declaration box and be working towards all leaders and coaches becoming licensed.
We are having problems with myathletics portal functionality?
- Find myAthletics Portal FAQS
- Alternatively you can contact our member engagement team