At Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited we are committed to protecting your privacy. We use the information we collect about you to process orders and to provide a more personalised experience.
Any personal information provided to, or gathered by, Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited, is controlled primarily by Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited of The Valley, Floyd Road, Charlton SE7 8BL.
Our mission is to see Charlton Athletic playing attractive football at the highest level in a modern stadium packed to capacity.
We aim to be a socially responsible organisation with core values that make our supporters and customers proud and are reflected in an affordable pricing strategy, a fanbase that is representative of the wider community and service delivery of the highest possible standard.
1 Accessibility
1.1 The club continues to strive for wider access to matches by offering:
1.1.1 A pricing strategy which meets the needs of all individuals, including those purchasing hospitality packages.
1.1.2 A minimum of five per cent of tickets to each game to non season-ticket holders.
1.1.3 Concessions for U18s, U21s, supporters over 60 years of age and disabled supporters.
1.1.4 An area of the ground for the exclusive use of family groups and junior supporters.
1.1.5 Support for disabled supporters and their carers. Our commercial centre can be contacted at The Valley for details of our disabled facilities and ticket allocation on 0871 226 1905*.
1.1.6 Season tickets payable by instalments through an external credit agency.
1.1.7 A programme of ground improvement through stand development which increased the seated capacity from 8,337 in 1992 to 27,111 in 2004.
1.2 Tickets for domestic cup competitions are announced to supporters following discussions between the clubs. Away clubs will receive a maximum of 15 per cent of stadium capacity in accordance with competition rules, subject to any safety and segregation issues. Where significant demand is anticipated, season-ticket holders have their seat reserved for them for a certain period of time prior to them being released for sale to anyone meeting the appropriate sales criteria. If their seat becomes unavailable for any reason, they will be offered alternative comparable accommodation.
1.3 Refunds for standard tickets are obtainable up to 24 hours prior to kick-off. Call 0871 226 1905* for a refund form. Both the tickets and the form must be received by the commercial centre at The Valley before the deadline. The club reserves the right not to offer refunds on discounted tickets sold from time to time under special offers, but this will be made clear under the terms of the offer where it applies.
2 Away support
2.1 The club's supporters are allocated tickets for away league matches for which there is expected to be excess demand in the following order of priority:
Season-ticket holders who are Valley Gold members or VIPs.
Supporters who regularly attend away games and via recognised supporters' groups.
Remaining season-ticket holders and Valley Gold members.
Red Card holders with an adequate purchase history who are not season-ticket holders.
General sale, if deemed appropriate.
This order of priority also applies to away cup fixtures or those staged at neutral venues, but this is subject to variation dependent upon the allocation of tickets received.
2.2 Supporters of a visiting club are charged admission prices that comply with Football League rules in terms of comparison with those charged to the club's own supporters for comparable accommodation.
2.3 The club abides by the appropriate governing body to the relevant league rules relating to the allocation of tickets to visiting clubs. These state that unless otherwise agreed by the board or between the clubs, each home club shall make available to its visiting club:
2.3.1 2,000 tickets (or, if the capacity of the home club's ground is less than 20,000, such number of tickets as is equal to 10 per cent of its ground capacity) and, whether or not that allocation is taken up.
2.3.2 Tickets for a minimum of 10 per cent of the home club's disabled spectator accommodation.
2.4 The tickets referred to in 2.3.1 must be made available on a sale or return basis and ordered by the visiting club at least five weeks before the league match to which they relate.
3 Loyalty and membership
3.1 The club runs and manages membership schemes, or acknowledges schemes run on an independent basis. The benefits are:
VIP scheme - various benefits attached to five-year season ticket commitment in 2010. Membership closed.
Red Card membership scheme - the chance to buy tickets for matches played at The Valley (subject to availability), as well as free entry to reserve-team games when public admission is permitted. This scheme is free and includes junior, adult and all overseas-based members.
Valley Gold - opportunity to win weekly and annual cash prizes; priority for away ticket allocation; discounts on club merchandise. This scheme is operated independently by 'Charlton Club' on a day-to-day basis.
4 Consultation and information
4.1 The club consults supporters on a regular basis through supporters' meetings, questionnaires, and league-relevant fan surveys, forums and focus groups.
4.2 The club publicises its position on major policy issues in an easily digested format in the matchday programme, via www.cafc.co.uk, Twitter and press releases.
4.2 The club has developed, and continues to develop, ways to consult with sponsors, the local authority, residents' groups, ethnic minority groups, disability organisations and other connected groups.
4.3 The club gives early notice of any changes to its ticketing policy and the reasons for the changes.
5 Community activity
5.1 The club has a well established reputation for community involvement, with many high-profile and successful education and activity programmes delivered in conjunction with or by the Charlton Athletic Community Trust.
5.2 Objectives in this area include:
To provide football and sporting opportunities for as many young people in the local community as possible;
To provide football coaching, playing and spectating opportunities for disabled people through the disability, mental health and Ability Counts programme;
To organise stand-alone community events and participate in other externally organised community events;
To operate a senior women's team and girls' development programme;
To develop and implement an anti-racist strategy in conjunction with Greenwich Council;
To support local charities and worthy causes;
To regularly liaise and meet with local residents.
To implement a programme of school and community visits by players;
5.3 In addition to its involvement with the above, CACT delivers the following programmes:
Education and schools initiatives including curriculum and out-of-school coaching, numeracy and literacy initiatives, healthy schools programmes and inclusion/school retention work.
Football development initiatives including school holiday courses, Charlton Challenge, Saturday morning clubs, links with local junior and youth football clubs and coach education programmes.
Social Inclusion initiatives including estates-based coaching, work with Pupil Referral Units and alternative curriculum programmes both within schools and stand-alone organisations to support school retention and improve behaviour, work with refugee groups and pathway to employment and training programmes.
All of the above to be delivered across Greenwich, Bromley, Bexley and Kent.
6 Merchandise
6.1 The club communicates with its supporters regarding prospective launch dates of new replica strips when it is contractually practical to do so.
6.2 Details of the next intended change of replica strips are available from the club.
6.3 The club carries out its obligations, under the FA Premier League and Football League rulebooks, to prevent price fixing in relation to the sale of replica strips.
6.4 The club offers refunds on merchandise in accordance with its stated policy and legal obligations. A copy of the club's refunds policy is available in the Superstore.
6.5 The club is happy to print a name and number on the reverse of replica kit, provided that it is not of an obscene or racist nature. However, while the club will print the name and squad number of any current member of the playing squad, no refund can be provided or alteration made to the kit should the player in question cease to be a member of the playing staff through a transfer or otherwise.
7 Equal opportunities
7.1 The club operates an equal opportunities policy which is contained within the employees' handbook and is issued to all employees on joining the company.
8 Customer service
8.1 Where required, the club will acknowledge receipt of any contact from a customer within 48 hours and a full written response, if deemed necessary, will be exercised within 14 days. Contact .
8.2 The club responds by telephone, e-mail, fax or letter. If a customer requests a response in writing they receive such a reply.
8.3 The club encourages customers to contact the department relevant to their query. If a customer feels that they have not been satisfied by the relevant department, they are encouraged to write directly to the senior manager responsible.
8.4 The club endeavours to ensure that every telephone call is answered within four rings.
8.5 The club undertakes that all messages on its automatic telephoning answering service will be as current as possible.
Any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or otherwise, will be deemed as a complaint and is therefore subject to the club's complaint handling policy. Receipt of the complaint will be acknowledged, in the first instance, within 48 hours. A response will then be provided within 14 days. If the complaint cannot be satisfactorily resolved within this period, it will be escalated via the office of the chief executive and may ultimately be subject to the club's league governing body.
Signed
Stephen Kavanagh (chief executive)
June 29th, 2012
For and on behalf of Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited
Safeguarding Children Policy
Introduction Safeguarding policy
Charlton Athletic Football Company Ltd acknowledges and accepts, as one of its responsibilities, the wellbeing and safety of those children and young persons who partake in activities in the name of the Company/Club. It does so in the belief that placing their welfare at the centre of its concerns provides a solid foundation for the development of young persons and for good Safeguarding Children practice.
A Club Dedicated to Welfare
Charlton Athletic Football Company/Club is a caring and responsible institution.
Summary of Charlton Athletic Safeguarding Children Policy
Objectives
• Promotes and supports good outcomes in terms of health, development and educational achievement for all children attached to the Company/Club.
• Enables parents and other members of the child's family to be as involved as is practicable in a working partnership with the relevant departments of the Company/Club.
• Recognises the significance of ethical and cultural diversity.
• Acknowledges its responsibility to set high football, academic and social standards, behaviour, be honest and take the feelings of others into account.
• Seeks opportunities for celebrating children's success and recognises achievement, effort and good behaviour.
• Recognises that good behaviour will be achieved if those involved at the Company/Club have a clear and mutual understanding of the aims of the Company/Club.
• Provides a disciplined environment where children will work together taking a pride in themselves and their surroundings.
• Ensures that all staff directly involved with working with children and young persons are only employed after clearance from the Criminal Records Bureau and other appropriate recruitment/vetting procedures and have undergone the relevant Safeguarding Children awareness sessions.
• Charlton Athletic Football Company Ltd is a registered body with the Criminal Records Bureau. The Company has one lead signatory and several 'Activity' related countersignatory's with the CRB and has a working party that meets every 6-8 weeks to discuss issues or as and when required if urgent attention is required. The working party regularly invites representatives from other relevant agencies or governing bodies to participate.
• For the purpose of clarification it should be noted that this policy specifically covers Charlton Athletic Football Company Ltd and those designated activities that sit within the Company/Club, for example Youth Academy and Young Addicks.
• Charlton Athletic Community Trust as a business in its own right has developed and implemented it's own Safeguarding Children policy which covers the designated activities of all the Community programmes, including Women's & Girls Football
Safeguarding Children
Charlton Athletic Football Company Ltd accepts and adheres to The Football Association Safeguarding Children's Policy. Along with this, the Company adopts the guidelines and procedures on Safeguarding Children as advised by the appropriate bodies, Greenwich Council, Football League and CEOPS.
The Company/Club recognises that the various Social Service agencies, the NSPCC and the Police have a statutory duty to protect children and young persons at risk. The Company accepts that it must work in partnership with these agencies when safeguarding children issues arise and will always refer to the appropriate agency. The list of contact details below cover a range of national organisations or individuals within governing bodies who can provide assistance to any safeguarding children enquiry.
Useful contact details
• The FA/NSPCC 24-Hour Helpline: 0808 8005000
• Ann Hussey, Child Protection Advisor, The Football League, Operations Centre, Edward VII Quay, Navigation Way, Preston, PR2 2YF. Tel: 01772 325811 or email
ahussey@football-league.co.uk.
• Val Hajialexandrou , County Welfare Officer ,The Kent County Football Association, 69 Maidstone Road , Chatham , Kent , ME4 6DT. Tel: 01634 812032. Fax: 01634 815369. Mobile: 07790 049 445 or email Val.hajialexandrou@kentfa.fa.com. Alternatively, visit www.kentfa.com.
• Sue Gill, County Welfare Officer, London Football Association Ltd, 11 Hurlingham Business Park, Sullivan Road, Fulham, London, SW6 3DU. Tel: 0207 751 2420. Fax: 0207 610 8370. Mobile: 07525237350. Email ue.gill@londonfa.comwww.londonfa.com.
• CEOPS - Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, 33 Vauxhall Bridge, London, SW1V 2WG. General enquiries: Tel 0870 000 3344 or email www.ceop.gov.uk.
• Children's Services - Greenwich Council, Initial Response & Assessment Team. Office hours; 0208921 3172. Emergency Duty Team; Mon-Thurs, after 5.30pm; Fri; after 4.30pm, weekends and public holidays.
• Matt Baker, Pastoral Support Director in English Football. T 0161 962 6068. www.scorechaplaincy.org.uk or email matt.baker@cafc.co.uk.
IN THE EVENT YOU BELIEVE A CHILD MAY BE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER, CALL THE POLICE
Identification and Referral of Child Abuse
The protection of children is the proper concern of everyone in a position to help. All staff and volunteers at the Company/Club who are involved with children and young persons, will be made aware of how to recognise child abuse and make appropriate referrals to the designated person. Training in this will be provided by the company, usually in the form of the FA learning Safeguarding Children workshops and subsequent re-certification process or any other appropriately recognised training programmes deemed current at the time.
Grievance/Complaints Procedure
The Company/Club has in place a complaints procedure in order to address any complaint from players, parents and staff alike appropriate to the department that is responsible. Each area of the Company/Club that is directly responsible for working with children and young persons has produced their own code of conduct that includes an appropriate complaints procedure which have been designed and approved by the appropriate governing body or with the assistance of the experts in the field.
Experience confirms the importance of apparently small matters needing to be taken seriously, listened to and addressed. A recurring pattern of 'minor' complaints could indicate deep-seated problems that need to be addressed. All staff and volunteers at the Company/Club who are involved with children and young persons, should take complaints seriously and report them to the designated person for their activity. Students should have direct access to the designated person and complaints should always be acknowledged and logged.
The Company/Club provides easily accessible contact information for all appropriate bodies to which a child or young person could contact for help if they felt unable to go through the Company's own procedures.
Discipline and Sanctions
The Company/Club recognises that children need to discover where the boundaries of acceptable behaviour lie and this can sometimes lead to challenging situations.
Disapproval should be of behaviour and not the person.
Unacceptable behaviour should be prevented through verbal reprimand.
No form of corporal punishment (including striking, slapping, pushing or nudging a student).
Model behaviour is exemplified through the coaching staff.
The imposition of formal disciplinary measures - a sanction - should only be considered after other approaches have proved ineffective. The young person should first be warned that a specific sanction will be imposed if behaviour does not improve. If a sanction is subsequently necessary, it should be clear and appropriate to the misbehaviour. The young person and the parents of the young person should be informed why the sanction is imposed.
Staff and volunteers must make themselves aware of the sanctions operated by their department and to whom the responsibility of imposing sanctions has been delegated. In the first instance speak to the designated Safeguarding Children Officer.
For more detail, copies of the Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures or general information on any matter relating to Safeguarding Children, please contact the appropriate individual as listed below, who have hands on involvement in delivering these services. A pdf of the policy can be seen here.
Signed:Stephen Kavanagh (chief executive)
Date: March 7th, 2011
Safeguarding Children Officers/Officials for CRB Procedures at Charlton Athletic Football Company Ltd:
Helen Reed - personnel manager, CAFC. (CRB Lead signatory) helen.reed@cafc.co.uk.
Joe Francis - head of education, youth academy, CAFC. joe.francis@cafc.co.uk.
Safeguarding Children Officers/Officials for CRB Procedures at Charlton Athletic Community Trust:
Matt Parish - community director, CACT. (CRB Counter signatory) matt.parish@cact.org.uk.
Barry Simmons - disability & mental health manager, CACT. Barry.simmons@cact.org.uk.
Natalie Thomas - personnel officer, CACT. (CRB Counter signatory) natalie.thomas@cact.org.uk.
Tina Johnson - admin officer, CACT. (CRB Counter signatory) tina.johnson@cact.org.uk.