Decide to get involved

As a member of the Community Games you'll become part of a national movement, one that exists to make our communities more active and healthy places where every child gets the opportunity to take part in sports and arts activities.

Child safety and protection is extremely improtant and Community Games has a full suite of policies, all of which are written in conjunction with the Code of Conduct. These policies can be found here: Policies

It is recommended that each Area adapt the User Friendly version of the Child Protection Policy to include important contact details.

Build your team

There are a few roles that need to be filled to get your team up and running in your Area. You'll need a Chairperson, a Secretary a Treasurer and a Children’s Officer to get started. These roles sound formal but don't worry, you can support each other to make everything run smoothly.

Each person's role is as follows:
Chairperson

• Take responsibility for the direction of Community Games in the Area.
• Chair meetings.
• Co-sign cheques with the Treasurer and ensure that the Community Games complies with all legislation.

Secretary

• Complete affiliation forms and return with affiliation fee to County Secretary. Affiliation forms must also be signed by the Secretary.
• Communicate with the County Secretary and circulate information to all Area committee members.
• Notify committee members of upcoming meetings.
• Take minutes of meetings and circulate to committee members.
• Complete Area participation form and return to County. Deadline for this to be defined by the County Secretary.
• Ensure that panel sheets are completed correctly and returned to County Secretary, including signatures of all participants.
• Maintain committee books.
• In conjunction with the Treasurer, ensure that all monies are collected, paid and received.

Treasurer

• Maintain bank account
• Ensure all monies due are collected.
• Pay Area Bills.
• Obtain cheque approval and signatures.
• Maintain accurate accounts and prepare end of year financial report.
• Organise fundraising.
• Ensure that additional activities outside of the National HSE Community Games Programme of Events are covered under insurance.

Children’s Officer

• To ensure that the welfare of all children in the Area is at the fore front of all decision making and of all planning
• To advise coaches, parents and children on issues relating to bullying or discrimination
• To help ensure that all members in the Area abide by the National Child Protection Policy, Anti-Bullying Policy and Code of Conduct.
• To act as a point of contact for parents, coaches or other committee members in relation to any queries regarding child protection and welfare
• To ensure the safe recruitment of all volunteers in the Area, this includes vetting and obtaining credible references
• To liaise with the County Children’s Officer and/ or the National Children’s Officer in relation to any child protection or welfare concerns

Other potential but not obligatory positions on the Committee include:

• Public Relations Officer (PRO), Development Officer, Youth Officer and Games Director.

Affiliation and Admin

New Areas (Areas never affiliated or those that have lapsed for 5 years or more) may affiliate at any time – please click here to contact the County Secretary to find out more. The affiliation fee for new Areas for year one is free and for year two is half price.

You must have your team of 4 in place and the positions of Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Children’s Officer must be filled.

1. Vetting
   All volunteers living and volunteering in the Republic of Ireland must complete a Garda Vetting form. All volunteers living and volunteering in Northern Ireland must complete and Access NI form. These forms must be returned to the Authorised Signatory via the County Children’s Officer who must verify the identity of each application. For more information on the vetting process see www.communitygames.ie under ‘Vetting’ or contact the National Children’s Officer/ Authorised Signatory.
2. Area Registration and Participant Registration
   Areas must register online by going here. For new Areas please first contact your County so that you can you register your intent. Participants are also registered online through this same portal.
3. Dates and Venues
   When you log on to www.communitygames.info, you will see all information about closing dates and events for your County. You'll need to host Area events before these dates. All Events will be available to view on the Community Games online Calendar. For a full list of available Events and their rules please click here

Training

‘Code of Ethics’ training is available for all adults working with children. Local Sports Partnership (please see under ‘useful contacts’ for contact details) will run the following courses at a minimal cost:

• Code of Ethics Training
• Children’s Officer Training
• First Aid
• Active Leadership

The LSP’s provide education and information at local level:

• Training courses targeting volunteers: such as Code of Ethics, First Aid, Disability Awareness
• Access to sport specific courses through the national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport The key aims of the LSP are to increase participation in sport, and to ensure that local resources are used to best effect. Some of the outcomes are:
  • Club development
  • Volunteer training
  • Enhanced planning of sport at local level
  • Local directories of sports bodies & facilities
  • School, club, community and national governing body (NGB) links
  • Increased levels of local participation, especially amongst specific target groups such as older people, girls & women, people with disabilities, unemployed people, and those who live in identified disadvantaged communities

Get Started

Now it's time to get started and launch your Community Games group!

Get local kids involved, host your first event, and decide what activities you're interested in and best fit the group