Surf Community and Welfare Support vacancy

Surfing England is the sport’s National Governing Body (NGB), looking after all forms of wave riding from grass roots to Team England. We run the UK’s largest programme of surf events, accredit and affiliate almost 100 surf schools and clubs, deliver coaching qualifications and training, look after the talent pathway across multiple disciplines and much more.     

At the heart of our community are surf clubs and the volunteers that run them.  We have an affiliation programme representing a diverse range of surf clubs doing amazing things for surfing.  From virtual groups bringing together people with a shared interest or passion like Queer Surf Club or Saunton Surf Sisters to clubs with a physical base and long traditions of serving their local communities like Bude Waveriders or Newquay Boardriders.  This amazing mix of clubs creates a variety of different needs and it’s our job to provide the support they need to keep growing and delivering for their members. 

As an NGB we need to keep evolving our offer so that the support we give is relevant and makes a real difference to the volunteers running the clubs and the members attending them.  

Role and Responsibilities 

Working within our Membership Team, this role will provide a direct link to the club network and become the point of contact for all club enquires.   Safeguarding and Welfare is a major priority for the role and you will champion great safeguarding practice internally across our talent pathway and externally through our club and surf school network.  

Key areas of responsibility: 

Building relationships with surf clubs 

• Growing the Surfing Engand accredited surf club network 
• Providing amazing customer service to club enquiries 
• Building personal relationships through visits, attending club events and AGMs 
• Collecting data and conducting research on what clubs need and want from their NGB 
• Using social media to champion clubs and volunteers 

Developing a programme of support for surf clubs 

• Providing training in areas like safeguarding 
• Helping to move clubs onto digital membership systems 
• Supporting community initiatives delivered through surf clubs 
• Introducing Grom Squad – the standardised progression pathway for surfing across the country 
• Helping clubs to find and access funding 
• Recognising and supporting the work of club volunteers 
• Helping new clubs with their structure  
• Supporting the delivery of 2024 Junior Surf Series 

Welfare and Safeguarding 

• Be the Surfing England Welfare and Safeguarding lead  
• Support a safe environment across the Surfing England talent pathway and within the Surfing England network of clubs and schools 

• Point of contact for safeguarding queries  
• Keeping our safeguarding and welfare policies relevant and up to date 

As part of a small organisation, it’s highly likely that you will be called upon to support the team in other areas at different times of the year, such as helping with event planning and delivery, visiting surf schools, working on press releases or delivering activations for a partner.  

We highly value our staff and will provide opportunities for training, mentoring and advancement as progress in the role.  

Qualifications, skills and abilities 

Surfing England is a busy environment, working with a small team that are always on the go and delivering a large programme of work.  We are naturally self starters and highly motivated to do the best job we can for our surfers and the surfing community.  Caring about what we do and acting with integrity is crucial.  

Personal Attributes and Skills 

• Demonstrated capacity to collaborate effectively with a range of people with varying roles and levels of responsibility 
• Be prepared to deal with and respond appropriately, confidently and with compassion to difficult situations and people 
• Enjoy and take pride in providing excellent customer service and helping people 
• Have heaps of positive energy, friendly and approachable 
• Be a natural organiser, self motivated and happy managing your own time and workload  

Knowledge and Experience 

• Experience of safeguarding, either directly working with children and/or vulnerable adults or more broadly within a sporting or education environment 
• Ideally some safeguarding training or qualification, but not essential as will be provided  
• Experience of sports clubs, either as a participant, volunteer or other capacity where you have gained good insight into how clubs function and some of the challenges they face 

• Enjoy working with social media and have a good understanding of different platforms and how to create engaging content 

Package 

Salary: £25,000 

Days: Full time, part time considered  

Employer: Surfing England 

Contract: Initial contract 12 months, with intent to move to permanent  

Location: Office based (Surfing England office, Braunton).  Probation period will be office based, beyond that team members work flexibly around the needs of the business.  Typically all team members work Tuesdays and Thursdays in the office and other days are a mix of working from home and office based in agreement with your line manager.  

We encourage and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.  We believe a more diverse line up makes for a happier surfing experience, and a more diverse team enables more informed and better decision making.

How to apply 

Please send a cover letter and curriculum vitae (CV) to lineup@surfingengland.org to apply for this role. Please mark the subject ‘SURF COMMUNITY AND WELFARE SUPPORT’ 

The closing date for applications is 8th January 2024 and interviews will be held on the 24th and 25th January. 

If you have any questions about the role, please contact lenka@surfingengland.org