There may be times when you as a parent or carer look to further develop your child’s skills and abilities in a particular discipline of cycling which may result in yourself looking at private coaching or lone operators.

This can be of great benefit to your child and further progress them within the sport they love, but this can also come with some risk. Lone operators are individuals who are set up to provide a private coaching service and are not necessarily set up as a club as they will most likely be set up as a private business. There is no legal requirement for them to affiliate with Scottish Cycling and therefore may not have the appropriate minimum operating standards in place that is required with a Scottish Cycling affiliation. This does not mean that lone operators undertake their business without any safeguards in place, it means additional checks by you, the parent/carer, need to be encouraged. 

Appropriate Checks & Questions - (Links to Scottish Cycling guidance included for reference)

You should be looking to find out:

1. Are they affiliated to any governing body or accreditation scheme? Are their coaches affiliated or registered?
2. Do the coaches who will be delivering sessions have membership to the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme? If the individual is self-employed, you will be able to ask for confirmation of PVG scheme membership statement – Disclosure Scotland can provide this for self-employed individuals only
3. What safeguarding training have the coaches undertaken and how recently?
4. What qualifications do the coaches have and are these appropriate for the activity they will be leading?
5. Have the coaches completed any first aid training? How recently was this?
6. What are the operators safeguarding/wellbeing & protection policy, and can you get a copy?
7. Do the operators have an individual responsible for safeguarding/wellbeing & protection? Who is the lead for safeguarding/wellbeing & protection and what are their contact details?
8. What training has the lead for safeguarding/wellbeing & protection undertaken and how recently?
9. What does the operator’s procedure for managing any concerns look like? Can you get a copy?
10. What safe recruitment process do the operators follow and what does it include?
11. Have the coaches undertaken any additional training or CPD over and above coaching qualifications and safeguarding/wellbeing & protection training?
12. Do the coaches have a code of conduct that they sign up to upon recruitment?
13. Are they aware of the adult:ratio or 1-1 working guidance?
14. Are they looking to take images or videos for their social media? If so, has a consent form been signed or approval been sought after from yourself?
15. How will they communicate with you about the sessions/training? Do they have a social media/communication policy?
16. How will you, as a parent/carer, be involved in the sessions if they are to be 1-1?
17. Have they completed an appropriate risk assessment for the activity they look to undertake with your child?

You do not need to ask all the questions above; you may wish to ask some of the questions over others but asking some of the questions above will help you understand the procedures and standards that are in place within their lone operator business and help you make an assessment if that is a safe place for your child to go. Most lone operators will have the above in place and will be more than happy to share it with you.