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CODE OF CONDUCT 

Twickenham Rowing Club Code of Conduct Twickenham Rowing Club is a British Rowing affiliated community club, run by volunteers for the benefit of its members and the people who share our club and work with us.

 

Our culture, our reputation and our success depends on how each and every one of us acts, talks and behaves – each and every day and in all of our interactions with others. We never compromise on safety. We like to race and be competitive, but we always put our people, our club, our positive participation and enjoyment at the heart of what we do.

 

Our TWRC values reflect what we expect from everyone who is part of our club.  We expect all members to actively opt into our values & behaviours, so you will be asked to agree to this Code of Conduct when you join our club and when renewing your membership.

 

Teamwork

As members we are better together. We take things in a positive spirit and start from a position where we assume the best of intentions from those around us. If things go wrong, we work together to resolve them, rather than to seek further division.

 

Welcoming

We take personal responsibility for making our club a welcoming and inclusive place to be. We foster a culture that respects and celebrates our differences, united by our shared passion for rowing and community. We support and champion each other with a spirit of sportsmanship, kindness and integrity.

 

Respect

We have rights but also responsibilities to each other and to those who volunteer and coach at our club. We trust each other to behave in line with the club rules, policies, values and culture.

 

Community

We put the needs of our community ahead of our needs as individuals. We have a personal duty to listen & seek to understand other people’s perspectives. We are a community of people first, a club of rowers second.

 

We translate our Code of Conduct into behaviours in the following ways:

 

Conduct off the water

Including but not limited to around the club, land-training, and in public

  1. Take time to listen, speak sensitively and with respect

  2. Be mindful of upholding the good reputation of TwRC in public both in words and actions (e.g. language and volume, courtesy to the public when un/loading boats)

  3. Discuss sensitive subjects privately and only with the appropriate people

  4. Do not give unsolicited land-training coaching advice

  5. Do not speculate on or question other’s training

  6. This is our rowing home; we expect everyone to look after the club & equipment as we would our personal home and belongings

 

Conduct on the Water

Priorities in order: safety, enjoyment, performance.

  1. Before boating, be clear of the outing plan, and specific roles of crew members 

  2. Voice any limiting factors that may affect the expectations or safety of the outing (e.g. illness, injury, fatigue or confidence) to your coach, and where relevant to the crew

  3. No uninvited coaching from inside the boat - any feedback only by mutual agreement of everyone in the crew

  4. Ensure time for a debrief on the hard. Focus on the positive first, and improvements second! (E.g. one good point, one point to work on for you or the crew as a whole). Rowers - please don’t give unsolicited post-outing feedback to individuals

  5. Treat other river users respectfully, no matter who is in the wrong

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Group communication

  1. Within squads, committees, sub-committees and whole club comms (including but not limited to emails and WhatsApp groups): Frequency – please avoid overwhelming any channel with repeated or unnecessary volume of messaging whether in person, on email, messaging or online

  2. We communicate with facts – avoid spreading rumours or speculation

  3. Tone – always seek to be clear, concise and constructive. Be positive, supportive, not accusatory or judgemental. Listen, ask questions, don’t assume

  4. Agenda – stay on-topic. If it emerges a topic needs more attention than planned decide how/when it will be addressed and follow up

  5. Subject matter – keep it relevant and appropriate to the recipient/s If in doubt, leave it out, or ask for a second opinion before communicating

  6. Social media – ensure all posts tagging TwRC uphold the values of the club We place responsibility on all our members to behave in line with our ethos of inclusivity and respect and according to our principles. We do the right thing even when no-one is watching.

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This Code of Conduct applies to all club members, volunteers, sessional contractors and employees when engaging in club activities, irrespective of membership status either with TwRC or British Rowing.

 

Don’t stand by if you see our Code being broken – call it out if you can, or seek advice from a committee member and refer to the document “Suspected Breach of a Code of Conduct”

 

We always welcome feedback

Please feel free to share ideas for improvement to this Code of Conduct with any Committee member.

 

Further References The BR rules and policies that Twickenham Rowing Club follows can be found on the websites (links correct @March 2024).

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LAST UPDATE: 22 April 2024

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