What Is The Club Colours Award?
The BMABA Club Colours Award (also referred to as the Club Colours Licence – the issuance of which collectively forms the Award) is an industry leading accreditation process which provides clubs with the highest level of on-going vetting available anywhere in the United Kingdom. It also includes accreditation and recognition from both in and out of the martial arts industry, including the accolade of ‘The Colours’ also automatically entitling our clubs to be awarded the Safeguarding Code For Martial Arts, a Sport England funded project. Only a fractional number of UK clubs will meet the threshold, so it is very much a 'School of Excellence' mark from BMABA.
Why Bother Doing It, And What Are The Benefits?
Accreditation & Pass Marks
‘The Colours’ is our answer to Sport England’s Clubmark, however we believe the requirements and on-going compliance monitoring we undertake is above and beyond this. Because we can check the credentials of everything from identity to insurance to DBS checks in real-time across your entire team, we’re comfortable issuing every club who completes the Award our ‘School of Excellence’ status along with the below certification;
In addition to this, because every club registered to the Club Colours Licence will have it’s own publicly searchable national registration record, you can link back to your club’s online check status in real-time using a range of special marketing graphics. These are all designed to help parents and students trust the high standards you’re aligning yourself to. Here’s just a couple of examples;
Already registered?
See and manage your Club Colours Licence fully from the dashboard.
We will also undertake paid marketing on Google, Facebook, Instagram and so on for those clubs of ours who hold the Club Colours status, so we will actively work to push more clients through your doors.
The Safeguarding Code In Martial Arts
Club Colours represents BMABA's highest level of vetting and excellence, with all Clubs who successfully register being awarded our ‘School of Excellence’ status on completion.
We have worked tirelessly to ensure that the safeguarding aspects of the Club Colours Award match the standards required within the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts. Since 2018 we have worked with the Safeguarding Code team to ensure that this National Lottery funded project (guided by Sport England) can automatically accept any BMABA Club Colours awarded clubs who apply without needing to complete the usual application process. BMABA's compliance unit are now able to offer you an automatic Safeguarding Code Status upon successful completion of the Club Colours Award. You will receive a personalised certificate and access to the Safeguarding Code logo for use in your marketing with permissions that run alongside your BMABA Club Colours Licence.
The SCiMA (Safeguarding Code) team will contact you directly to share this certification and the SCiMA relevant information. Please look out for their email, bearing in mind it can take up to 4 weeks to issue.
We have championed The Safeguarding Code since its inception and believe every instructor and club working with children should be registered. This now means your BMABA Club Colours aligns to this standard and entitles you to automatic issuance or renewal. We will continue to work closely with their team to ensure ongoing compliance for all licenced clubs.
Recognition From External Bodies
Our close work with The Safeguarding Code required a licence agreement with Sport England. We’re also the only organisation in martial arts receiving referrals from the Home Office’s #knifefree campaign, along with our membership to professional organisations like Sport & Recreation Alliance, Welsh Sports Association and the Scottish Sports Association. This is in addition to our partnership with the Fighting Chance Foundation, who work with major names in and out of the industry. By association to BMABA you already benefit from the superb reputation we carry and the Club Colours Award is championed by us to all of our partners and industry peers.
Public Image & Safety
Parents, schools and students will feel safer and be safer if they train under clubs holding The Colours. This is because they will represent the most highly qualified and up to date settings in UK martial arts. We also have a publicly searchable register which provides real-time checking for all instructor and club details. This can be found here, and provides an amazing amount of comfort for parents, schools, potential corporate customers and students who may turn to you for training. In addition to individual instructor records, clubs registered with a Club Colours Licence will receive a Club Named register entry too.
Perks & Benefits
Clubs registered with The Colours will continue to receive the latest updates and CPD across the board, along with access to a growing range of new and upcoming features. We also have the ability to use The Colours status to barter for discounts with insurers, suppliers and other essential partners as the obvious enhancement of quality and accountability is evident. We’ll pass these benefits back to our clubs.
What Are The Checks & Requirements My Club Need To Demonstrate To Register & Remain Compliant?
Summary
The BMABA Club Colours Award is designed to provide a point of recognition for BMABA registered instructors and clubs in respect of professional standards. The award aims to consolidate the on-going professional standards required of all BMABA instructor clubs along with the ethics and standard set by the executive team.
The format of the award is designed to assist clubs in attaining the highest standards of best practice available anywhere in the UK Martial Arts. The award is renewable annually to ensure onward compliance with updated standards and requirements.
We hope clubs won’t feel overwhelmed by what may at first glance look like an exhaustive list of checks and balances. In reality, 85% are checks you should already hold – such as insurance and first aid. Any policies required also have free BMABA templates you can work through so the overall requirements should not be a barrier to entry for any club already teaching or running classes.
Instructor, Assistant & Volunteer Check Requirements
Instructor, Assistant & Volunteer Check Requirements
Club Colours Requirements / Checks
We've tried to keep the eligibility process as straightforward as possible. That said, because of the elite nature of the Club Colours process, there is a fair bit to work through. To keep this as straight forward as possible, we break this down into easy to follow steps.
If you're ever unsure how well verified your club is against the standards, the best thing to do is to head here and start an application. Each Step of the application will check and confirm for you, making it really easy to work out what's still pending.
STEP 1 - Club Colours Award & Once Per Club Checks
We'll automatically assume the lead instructor is the one to hold the 'once per club' checks and balances, but it can be an appointed other person, for example, an appointed DSL.
For the ease of reference, we'll refer to this as the Lead Instructor for now, but it's effectively the 'once per club' checks.
This is an abridged list. We include a detailed breakdown on each element of cover or check below.
You'll need;
Verified Insurance
Verified Enhanced DBS Check
Verified Safeguarding Qualification
Verified First Aid Qualification
Verified Identity
STEP 2 - Instructors, Assistants And Volunteers
For any instructors linked to the club, you'll need;
Verified DBS Checks
Verified First Aid
Verified Safeguarding Qualification
Verified Instructor Insurance
Verified Identity
For any Assistant Instructors and Volunteers, you'll need;
Verified Identity
Verified DBS Checks
Verified First Aid
Verified Safeguarding
Confirmation of active Public Liability Insurance
Confirmation of First Aid Qualification
Confirmation of Coaching Qualification
BMABA Level 1 and 2 for all lead instructors. BMABA Level 1 or alternative pre-agreed course for all assistant instructors. Volunteers are not required to hold any coaching qualifications.Enhanced DBS Check
For those working with children or adults at risk. The check must be dated within 3 years or be on the update service. As is often the case for enhanced checks, it must assess the barred referred list for suitability to work with children. This check is required by all instructors, assistants and volunteers.Safeguarding Qualification
Also for those working with children or adults at risk. This does not have to be the BMABA Safeguarding Qualification, but all instructors, assistants and volunteers will need to hold this training / qualification from a credible source. Clubs not working with children or adults at risk do not need to submit this. There must be one designated safeguarding lead per club (if teaching children) and they must hold a lead safeguarding qualification or alternatively the club must be registered to the BMABA DSL Service.Identity Confirmation
As part of our ‘KYC’ (Know Your Client) we need to have a verified address and form of ID on the record for every instructor, assistant and volunteer. In some cases we can allow the club to confirm the identity and address of secondary instructors, assistant instructors and volunteers if you hold the BMABA Level 2 Instructor qualification and have adhered to the Safer Recruitment principles, with copies of each check for every named person held on the file.ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) Registration Verification
Once per club, we need confirmation that you are exempt from the ICO registration, or a copy of the ICO Registration must be submitted.
Club Requirements
Club Requirements
Just once per application, we will need the club to provide evidence of a range of checks and policies. Most or all of the checks below are included as part of the Level 2 qualification, or one of our other various online qualifications and training courses so there shouldn’t be anything too surprising. We provide free templates for all of the below, so you won’t need to create these from scratch and our Club Colours Award will walk you through each requirement too.
You won't need to update or attach these to the application - this is done as part of the free Club Colours Award and this is automatically checked by our system upon completing the Club Colours Qualification.
Confirmation Of Club Policies
Club safeguarding policy
Assumption of risk forms
Club photography and videography policy
Safe practice policy
Data protection and privacy statement
Social media usage policy
Club charter and club rules
Parental standards agreement
Safer recruitment policy for all instructors, staff and volunteers
Complaints procedure
Risk assessments and fire safety assessments
Escalation and safeguarding complaints flow chart
Club Key Facts Schedule
CLUB WEBSITE
In order to satisfy the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts, you need to have Safeguarding information clearly visible on your website.
Before you apply we need you to update your website to ensure the public know we’re acting as your DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) and how they can contact us if they have any concerns. Please ensure all of the below is shown clearly on your website, either;
In the footer of every page, if you would prefer to have this in the footer OR
In a dedicated link on your menu named ‘Safeguarding’. This can be nested under another item (i.e: About Us > Safeguarding) should you wish.
What To Include
Please make sure there is a photograph of the DSL for your club, accompanied by a section confirming their full name, their role and how to contact them with a safeguarding concern. You should also ensure you have contact details for BMABA as a governing organisation, or specifically, our safeguarding information, to satisfy the Safeguarding Code.
If you’re not sure what’s best, you can use BMABA as your DSL for free and this satisfies the Sport England Safeguarding Code requirements. Click here to learn more and to setup BMABA as your DSL.
CLUB AUDITS & SPOT CHECKS
A big part of the assurance offered by the Club Colours Licence for the public, schools and other stakeholders is the ability to rely on the accuracy of the details being validated. To help us ensure our records remain up to date and accurate we’ll be undertaking three types of Audits at random on clubs registered to the Club Colours;
Digital Audits
Applicable to c. 1 in 25 clubs per year, we’ll inspect your website and any other public-facing content (such as social media) to ensure you have a clear Safeguarding mandate (if relevant to your club) as well as ensuring other accreditation, information and the professional standards are being met. We’ll pass over the feedback we have, good or bad, to ensure you can constructively build your online presence to be the best it possibly can be for finding and retaining students.
Realtime Twice Daily Checks
In addition to random audits, our specialist AI and automation will check every Club Colours licence twice per day to ensure you and your team remain fully vetted and compliant.
Mystery Shoppers
Applicable to c. 1 in 150 clubs per year. We send in both online and in-person ‘mystery students’. They consist of both parents with children and adult participants, who will make contact online via various sources to ask questions about joining. The digital mystery shoppers will stop there, and we’ll be able to then provide back a full review of the service experienced with any notes and comments to help constructively improve the experience where relevant. We’ll also have a larger part of mystery shoppers attend for a class. Likewise, they will feedback to us and we can pass this feedback onto you. Mystery Shoppers will look to ensure professional and credible martial arts lessons are being delivered and we hope the feedback we can pass over from this will really help to motivate you and your club as we’re sure most clubs do a superb job night in and night out.
Club Colours Course Modules
Club Colours Course Modules
As part of the award, one person within the club must obtain our Club Colours Award which comprises of an online course. The modules included are outlined below. This course is completely free.
Club Colours Award – Lesson Modules
The UK Martial Arts Landscape Including The Role Of Sporting Agencies, Government And Associations
This module looks at the legal framework and structural hierarchy within which martial arts clubs reside in the UK, especially when working independently. It looks to ensure clubs understand key obligations, where government agencies and bodies (such as Sport England) fit in, and where their legal liability resides.
Club Legal Structures & Responsibilities
This module considers the different legal structures that clubs may assume (sole trader, limited company, LLP etc) weighing up the pros and cons for both the club’s future and for participants. It also looks at the key legal responsibilities clubs have under common law and Health & Safety law, to deflate the myth that there is ‘zero regulation’ for martial arts clubs and instead points out that whilst there isn’t direct legislation for martial arts, the duty of care clubs legally have is still very much presence. Many clubs trade as sole traders without any formal registrations. This is not best practice from a HRMC standpoint and is often not the best form of protection or support for the club, either.
Cashflow, Social Enterprising & Good Governance
This module assists instructors in understanding firm principles of good governance within their clubs, with a special focus on financial sustainability. A major part of BMABA’s national strategy is ensuring clubs have financial resilience and are working to financially sound ethical models that sustain the long-term survival of the club without relaying on the personal continued funding from the instructor, whilst recycling excess profits back into the club’s equipment, functions and wider goals.
Lead Safeguarding Refresher
This is not a full safeguarding module as instructors must already hold a lead safeguarding qualification, however a refresher will ensure those who have not undertaken training for a period of time are refreshed on the core competencies.
Health & Safety
This modules looks at H&S law in the UK, as well as the obligations, priorities and processes clubs must adhere to when practicing in the United Kingdom.
Ethics & Code of Conduct
This modules looks at the BMABA’s code of conduct for professional instructors, as well as the broader question of ethics around teaching, grade progression, business practice etc for those operating martial arts organisations.
Student Onboarding & Student Memberships
This module assesses the ethics and governance of student onboarding, helping clubs to ensure their onboarding process is commercially sound but also fair for students in terms of their advertising, registration forms and the use of assumption of risk disclosures, fees and memberships.
BMABA Regulation & Governance
This module refreshes instructors on their requirements under BMABA regulatory mandates, including our guidance and regulation on safeguarding, health and safety, ethics, professional standards, best practice and more.
Concussion, Sparring & Head Injuries
This module considers the risks posed by physical contact whilst training, including sparring, and the knock on impact of head trauma on participants. This includes a 1 hour webinar.
Club Policies Modules
We walk the instructor or administrator through all of the above listed policies, providing guidance and template documents to help with completion. These modules can be skipped for those clubs already in possession of the required policies.
On conclusion of the Club Colours award, clubs must then formally apply for a Club Colours Licence which is renewable annually and provides the opportunity for BMABA to audit clubs against all of the above requirements. Clubs are awarded a ‘Club Licence’ upon completion and a live-time national record is also created for the public to verify the on-going suitability of an organisation under the BMABA’s banner. The application process should be relatively straight forward and easy to complete as most checks are done in advance of application (such as verifying DBS checks, for example).
Minimum Standards
Minimum Standards
Lead Instructor
| Instructor & Volunteer Minimum Eligibility |
ü Minimum Technical Competency ± | ü Minimum Technical Competency ± |
ü Lead Safeguarding Qualification | ü Safeguarding Qualification |
ü Advanced First Aid Qualification | ü Sports First Aid Qualification |
ü Enhanced DBS Check | ü Enhanced DBS Check |
ü Sufficient Instructor Insurance | ü Sufficient Instructor Insurance |
ü Level 1 & 2 Coaching Qualifications | ü Level 1 Coaching Qualification Or Alternative |
* Clubs not working with children or adults at risk are excused from the requirement of holding enhanced DBS checks and safeguarding qualifications.
For the avoidance of doubt;
± Minimum Technical Competency
See our full BMABA Eligibility Criteria, available on request and from bmaba.org.uk. In summary, all members joining BMABA in any teaching capacity that will facilitate unsupervised access to students must hold a minimum 1st Dan Black Belt or equivalent.
In graded disciplines, this will need to be actively vetted and will need to have been issued by a substantial and credible Organisation, with documentation clearly visible.
In ungraded disciplines, a portfolio of evidence including testimonials, time-served and video assessments will need to be presented to the executive committee for critical review. This must be from style-specific examiners and then executive committee collectively.
In addition to minimum technical standards, criminal history disclosures, personal conduct and professional standards expectations will need to be satisfied.
If the member joining is not joining in a sole teaching capacity (for example, assistant instructors or volunteers) then internal club policy may dictate what level, if any, of technical ability is required. This will be subject to review from BMABA.
Safeguarding Qualifications
All lead instructors are expected to hold Lead Safeguarding Qualifications. Even if a club welfare officer or lead safeguarding officer is appointed, this does not negate the requirement that the lead instructor also meets this same level of proficiency. For all other staff, volunteers and assistant instructors a standard safeguarding qualification is required.
This standard is not applicable if children and/or adults at risk are not taught.
Advanced First Aid
All lead instructors are expected to hold Advanced Sports First Aid training with specific training in Head & Spinal Injuries. This same requirement also extends to any other instructors and/or staff who will have unsupervised access to students. All secondary staff (additional instructors or volunteers) present in a support role, in attendance of an advanced trained instructor, will be accepted with a Sports Specific Emergency First Aid Qualification however it is not compulsory provided a first aid trained person is always in attendance.
DBS Checks / PVG Checks
All DBS checks are to be presented within atleast 3 years date of issue, unless the update service is in place. In Scotland, PVG scheme enrolment must be presented.
This standard check is not applicable if children and/or adults at risk are not taught.
Sufficient Instructor Insurance
BMABA mandates all instructors with unsupervised access to any students to hold Public Liability of atleast £2,000,000 (£5,000,000 is recommended). Professional indemnity of £1,000,000 is also recommended. All BMABA instructors opting for BMABA in-house insurances are also provided with £250,000 Abuse Extension as part of this protection.
These are minimum standards only. These do not meet our best practice guidelines expected of all active clubs, and serve only to ensure we set a minimum entry point for those wishing to refer to themselves as ‘BMABA instructors’.
Activating Your Club Colours Licence
Our digital dashboard makes the application fast and automatic. Start by heading to the Club Colours Dashboard.
If you don't already have an active Club Record linked to your account, you'll be prompted to create one on-screen. This should be visible after around 1-2 minutes; just refresh your screen periodically and when setup, you'll see an unlicenced club card.
If you scroll down, you'll see a summary table of your entire team. The Licenced / Unlicenced status refers to their individual Club Colours Vetting status. To become Licenced, the individual instructor, assistant or volunteer will need all of the shown verifications to be fully Verified.
You can click the 'VIEW' button to see what's currently pending, live or expired.
If an instructor is eligible for the Licenced Status, you'll see 'ACTIVATE'. Clicking this will automatically switch them to fully Licenced.
Once you're ready, click the 'ACTIVATE OR RENEW' button at the top of the screen;
Step 1 is to confirm you have completed the Club Colours Qualification. The system will show this as confirmed if so, or if not, will prompt you to go and complete that first.
Step 2 will ask you to check your vetting status. On doing so, you'll see the summary screen. If everything is in place, you'll be able to continue. If not, you should go back to verify this first.
Step 3 is to work through your team's vetting status by clicking 'Check My Team's Vetting'.
You'll see the full team here. If they are eligible for a licence but not yet connected, you'll see a button to activate them in realtime.
If they show Not Eligible you should look at what check is not validated, correct this, and return back when the evidence has been accepted.
Once your whole club is vetted, you can continue.
Step 4 requires a few checks and balances. First is to confirm that you as a lead instructor are also Club Colours Licenced as an individual instructor. You'll see your current Status, which may well already be active if you've validated this earlier.
If it's already Licenced, you can ignore this. If not, press 'Activate My Club Colours Licence'.
This will then confirm for you;
Next, the form will ask you to input a club website. If this has already been done, it will be visible. You just need to confirm it's correct, and that it has the relevant Safeguarding Information.
This is one of the biggest reasons clubs fall out of a licenced status. Please double check this before continuing.
Finally, you'll be asked to confirm a series of terms and conditions, including permission to share your information directly with external safeguarding agencies, such as LADO or SCiMA where appropriate.
When complete, you'll see the 'Activate Club Licence' button illuminate. Press this for an instant on-screen confirmation. The page will redirect you to a confirmation tab, and from there you can head back to the Club Colours Dashboard where you'll see your active status.
How Do I Renew My Licence?
From time to time you may find you need to renew or refresh your club colours licence, for example on expiry or if a piece of evidence has remained out of place for too long, and the licence has been suspended.
You can renew whenever you're ready from here. You can also use either of the links shown below to work through the activation process (mentioned above).
This will ensure the club remains fully compliant with the Colours, and will automatically refresh the licence from the date of reactivation through to the lead instructors' renewal.
What If A Piece of Evidence Falls Out Of Date?
The bigger your club, the more complicated it can be managed compliance. We always email instructors, assistants and volunteers to remind you of upcoming evidence expiries but we understand these can be missed.
If at any point a single piece of required evidence right across the club - from the lead instructor to a volunteer - becomes no longer verified, that person will automatically move to an Unlicenced Club Colours status. This puts your Club Colours Licence for the club into a PENDING REVIEW stage.
During Pending Review, we'll make it clear from the homepage of MyBMABA, the dashboard and the Club Colours Dashboard. We won't email.
You'll see an obvious notice when the Club Colours enters this state. From here, you have 14 days from the point at which the licence enters Pending Review to correct any outstanding validations or checks.
If you need more time, you should speak with our team who can address this on a case by case basis.
If you do not address the outstanding issue after the deadline, your Club Colours (and any associated SCiMA) will automatically be suspended.
If you do address the outstanding issue before the deadline, the licence will automatically revert back to full Active.
Whilst you're within the Pending Review stage, the public will still see your Club Colours as active, as this is an internal state.
To find out who's become unlicenced, you should head to the Club Colours Dashboard here. There you can view all of your team. If you resolve the outstanding checks, you'll see the 'ACTIVATE' button next to them on the table. Click 'Activate' and provided they revert to 'Licenced' you will stay onside.
If you're ever in any doubt, or need any help, please reach out to the team.
What Do The Public See?
The public can search our national clubs register from https://bmaba.org.uk/verify/martial-arts-club-checker/ where they'll be able to see the current status of your Club Colours, as well as a few key details. This is updated in realtime 24/7.
Accessing Documentation
Provided you have an active licence, you can download your Club Colours Certification along with the School Of Excellence mark from the 'Download' button at any time.
This can be found on the Club Colours Dashboard.
How Do I Apply To Start The Club Colours Application?
You can start at any point from the Club Colours Dashboard. It's completely free, and always will be.
Who Funds The Club Colours?
We have never received a penny in external funding for the Club Colours Award. The entire scheme, including the initial application and licencing with SCiMA, all of our tech innovations, the discounts we offer clubs who obtain this, and everything else associated with Club Colours is done entirely at BMABAs own cost, without remuneration.
We do this to uphold our value of Championing Safeguarding Standards in UK Martial Arts.