Regional Welfare Officer Forums - inaugural series proves a success

England Athletics held its inaugural series of Regional Welfare Officer Forums during November 2025, proving a success in bringing Welfare Officers together to share, learn from and support each other.

The forums saw 155 Welfare Officers from 133 clubs take part, across seven online and three in-person sessions.

Within the forums Welfare Officers discussed the importance of being present within their clubs sharing examples of how they engage with members. Discussions also included how the Welfare Officer role can positively influence the culture within the club as well as best practice around manage concerns.

England Athletics Welfare and Compliance Manager, Sarah Harrison spoke of the importance of the Welfare Officer role stating:

"Welfare Officers play a vital role in creating safer, stronger clubs. It was great to meet so many Welfare Officers at the recent forums and inspiring to hear the successes and ideas. The commitment and dedication to those in the role is making a real difference to our sport."

An effective way of bringing Welfare Officers together

From a post-forum survey, 99% of respondents found the format of the forum effective, with 83% saying that they were very satisfied with the forum, and another 16% satisfied.

Welfare Officers enjoyed the opportunity to spend together with one attendee stating:

"I’m really pleased I attended the event, it was useful to share information and I learnt a lot."

Other Welfare Officers spoke about the importance of building a community so that they feel less alone in the role with another attendee stating that:

"This is a really good way of bringing Welfare Officers together, giving empowerment to us as a group of people in the same role."

A further attendee shared that the forums were a good investment of their time stating they were “well planned with a good balance of learning and networking with similar clubs.”

Creating a safe and welcoming environment

As well as supporting members, Club Welfare Officers play an important part in embedding Club Standards across the club to create a safe and welcoming environment in which all athletes and volunteers can thrive and have a lifelong love for the sport.

The Welfare Officer forums provided a supportive environment for individuals in the role to talk to each other about this and share ideas with like-minded people.

Forums such as these also provide England Athletics with the opportunity to hear from people in this vital role, helping us to understand what resources are needed to ensure Welfare Officers feel supported.

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