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- If life's at risk When there's immediate danger to life. Call 999
- Samaritans Free to call, any time, for anyone struggling. Call 116 123
- Prefer to text? Free and confidential, any time. Text SHOUT to 85258
- NHS 111 in England and Wales Choose option 2 for mental health. Free, 24 hours a day. Call 111
- NHS 24 in Scotland Choose the mental health option. Free, 24 hours a day. Call 111
Include mental health in your club policies
Make your club's commitment to mental health part of how the club is run.
For most clubs, that means two things: a mental health and wellbeing policy that sets out the club's commitments and roles, and making sure your existing policies work alongside it.
Jump to the game plan
Why it matters
Policies shape everyday club life.
From how members treat each other to how staff are supported and how concerns are handled.
It doesn't rest on a few people.
Written into your policies, the club's commitment is part of the way it runs, rather than resting on the goodwill of a few people.
Everyone knows where they stand.
Concerns are handled consistently, staff know their wellbeing at work will be taken seriously, and everyone is clear about what the club does and doesn't do.
What good looks like
The committee or owner has approved a mental health and wellbeing policy that sets out the club's commitments, roles and boundaries.
Everyone at the club can see what it commits to, and who's responsible for what.
Concerns are handled the same way, whoever hears about them first.
People in support roles know the limits of their role, and what the club does and doesn't do.
When a member of staff is struggling or off work, their manager knows how the club will support them.
Members are treated with respect, and the club's rules back that up.
The club's policies work together, so nobody is caught between rules that contradict each other.
The policy is reviewed every year, and sooner if something significant changes, so the club's commitments carry on when people change roles.
Making it work with your other policies
Your mental health policy doesn't replace your other policies. It points to them. Check that these work together:
Safeguarding policy: concerns about juniors and adults at risk, and disclosures of abuse, follow your safeguarding route.
Members' code of conduct: it covers how members treat staff and each other, including "banter" that crosses a line.
Membership policy: consider flexibility for members going through illness, bereavement or financial difficulty, such as pausing a membership or spreading payments.
Staff handbook: sickness absence, return to work and workplace adjustments treat mental health in the same way as physical health.
Health and safety: your risk assessment covers work-related stress and lone working.
Data protection: information about someone's mental health is kept to a minimum, stored securely and seen only by those who need it.
Emergency action plan: includes mental health emergencies alongside your first aid procedures.
Equality and inclusion: mental health is part of how the club makes golf accessible to everyone.
What a mental health and wellbeing policy covers
Our template is written for golf clubs of any size. It covers the club as a place to play, a place to work and a place to volunteer.
- 01Why the club has the policy
The club's commitment, and how the policy links to your response plan and your yearly priorities.
- 02What we mean by mental health
That it's part of everyone's health, and that the club listens to what someone says would help rather than making assumptions.
- 03Who it covers
Members, staff, volunteers and visitors, plus what's different for staff, and for juniors and adults at risk.
- 04The club environment
Respect and belonging, how members can ask for changes that would help them take part, and keeping information about support available all year.
- 05Working conditions
Identifying and reducing pressure at work, such as seasonal shifts, lone working, busy competition days and difficult interactions with members.
- 06Talking about mental health
Who people can speak to, how managers handle a private conversation, and an alternative contact if the concern involves the usual one.
- 07Support and training
Where support is listed, and what briefing or training each role needs.
- 08Time off and returning to work
How the club supports staff who are off with mental ill health, and helps them come back.
- 09When someone needs help now
How the policy links to your escalation procedure, and that nobody waits to call 999.
- 10Roles and boundaries
What the committee, general manager, Mental Health Lead, First Aider, welfare officer and managers each do, and what they don't.
- 11Privacy and fair treatment
What's kept private, when information needs to be shared, how records are kept, and how to raise a concern about unfair treatment.
- 12Review
Agreeing priorities each year, gathering feedback, reporting to the committee and reviewing the policy.
From policy to practice
Three documents, each one more practical than the last. The policy says what the club commits to. The two in step 4 turn that into what people do.
Your mental health and wellbeing policy
This step: what the club commits to
Your escalation procedure
Step 4: who does what
Your support route flowchart
Step 4: the one-page guide for everyone
Start with
Adopt a mental health and wellbeing policy using our template, and check it lines up with your safeguarding policy, members' code of conduct and staff handbook.
Going further
Work through the rest of the checklist
Above, one policy at a time.
Involve staff, volunteers and members
When you review the policy each year.
Share a summary with members
On your website or noticeboard.
Brief managers and support roles
On what the policy means for them (step 6).
Resources for this step
Our templates are a starting point. Adapt them to your club, and check employment and legal points with your HR or legal adviser.
These ten steps are what clubs commit to when they make the free Florio Club Commitment.
Commit to working through them at your own pace, and join a growing movement across the golf community to improve mental health in the game.
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Need help now?
- If life's at risk When there's immediate danger to life. Call 999
- Samaritans Free to call, any time, for anyone struggling. Call 116 123
- Prefer to text? Free and confidential, any time. Text SHOUT to 85258
- NHS 111 in England and Wales Choose option 2 for mental health. Free, 24 hours a day. Call 111
- NHS 24 in Scotland Choose the mental health option. Free, 24 hours a day. Call 111