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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
Have a response plan for when someone needs help
Make sure everyone at your club knows what to do, and who to involve, when someone needs help.
A response plan means everyone at your club responds in the same way when someone needs help, whoever they are and whatever the situation.
Jump to the game plan
Why it matters
Nobody has to work it out on the spot.
People know what to do, who to involve and when to hand over.
It covers every level of need.
It covers the full range of situations, from someone going through a difficult time to an emergency, as well as how the club responds after a serious incident.
It works when the usual people aren't around.
Including evenings, events and out on the course.
What good looks like
The club has an escalation procedure and a support route flowchart, approved by the committee or owner, and the people who need them know where to find them.
Staff, volunteers and people in support roles know how to respond to different levels of need, and feel confident doing it.
A trained Mental Health First Aider is available to support, and nobody waits for the right person before getting help in an emergency.
The plan works alongside safeguarding, with clear rules for juniors and adults at risk.
The plan works when the usual people aren't around, including evenings, events and out on the course.
The club knows how it would respond after a serious incident or a death, and how it would support the people affected.
The plan is reviewed every year, and after it's been used.
What we recommend your plan includes
We recommend your response plan includes two documents. We provide templates for both.
For people in support roles, managers and the committee
Escalation procedure
A short document that sets out how your club handles concerns:
- Who does what, including evenings, weekends and events
- When and how to escalate a concern
- Privacy and consent, and when safety comes first
- How it links to your safeguarding policy and welfare officer, especially for juniors and adults at risk
- What gets recorded, where it's kept and who can see it
- What to do in an emergency on the course, including how to direct emergency services
- How the club responds after a serious incident or a death
- How people who've helped someone are supported afterwards
- Who owns the procedure, and when it's reviewed
For everyone: staff, volunteers and members
Support route flowchart
A one-page guide to what to do if you're worried about someone. It sets out four levels of need (everyday, ongoing, urgent and emergency), what to do at each one, and who to tell at your club.
- Everyday
- Ongoing
- Urgent
- Emergency
Once it's complete, it can be printed and placed where both staff and members will see it.
Responding at the right level
Concerns range from someone going through a difficult time to an emergency, and your plan should help people respond appropriately to each. Whatever the situation, these principles apply:
Listen and connect.
Nobody at the club is expected to judge how unwell someone is. The role is to listen, and help them reach the right support.
Know when to act straight away.
Call 999, or go to A&E, if someone is in immediate danger, has seriously harmed themselves or taken an overdose, talks about suicide and has a plan, or seems seriously confused or out of touch with what's real. Stay with them if it's safe to do so.
Don't let waiting for the right person delay help.
In an emergency, anyone can call 999. Let your Mental Health Lead or welfare officer know afterwards.
Ask directly about suicide
if you're worried. Evidence shows that asking directly does not increase risk. If you're worried about suicide
Respect people's choices,
unless their safety is at risk.
Follow your safeguarding procedure.
If the concern involves a junior or an adult at risk, or someone tells you about harm or abuse, tell your welfare officer, and don't promise to keep things confidential. Your response plan works alongside your safeguarding policy, not instead of it.
Getting everyone on the same page
Once your documents are in place, share them with everyone in a club role. That includes seasonal staff, volunteer starters and marshals, and anyone who coaches juniors. Sharing them can be part of induction for new staff and volunteers.
Talking through an example scenario with your committee and key staff once a year can help build confidence and show up any gaps.
After a serious incident or a death
Planning ahead helps the club respond with care
A club may need to respond to the death of a member, member of staff or volunteer, or to a serious incident such as a suicide attempt. Planning ahead helps the club respond with care. Our free template for a plan after a serious incident or death, sometimes called a postvention plan, includes a first-steps sheet and example messages, so you don't have to write them at a difficult time.
Agree who will coordinate, who will contact the people affected, and who will speak for the club. At a smaller club, one person may cover more than one role.
Agree what's shared, and check with the family first. That includes the noticeboard, social media and members' WhatsApp groups.
Avoid speculation about how someone died, and don't share details of the method or location.
Offer support to the people most affected, including friends, playing partners, staff and anyone who witnessed or discovered something.
Agree any memorial with the family, following Samaritans' guidance after a suicide.
Take care with any public statement, as an inquest may follow.
Support anyone returning to the club after a crisis or time away, at their own pace and with their privacy respected.
From policy to practice
Three documents, each one more practical than the last. The policy from step 3 says what the club commits to. The two in this step turn that into what people do.
Your mental health and wellbeing policy
Step 3: what the club commits to
Your escalation procedure
This step: who does what
Your support route flowchart
This step: the one-page guide for everyone
Start with
Use our templates to create your escalation procedure and support route flowchart, and share them with everyone in a club role.
Going further
Talk through an example scenario
With your committee and key staff once a year.
Add the plan to induction
For new and seasonal staff and volunteers.
Create a plan for after a serious incident or death
Using our template. It sets out who coordinates, who contacts the people affected, who speaks for the club, and how people are supported in the days and weeks that follow.
Check your on-course emergency arrangements
Including how emergency services would find someone.
Review the plan
Each year, and after it's been used.
Resources for this step
Our templates are a starting point. Adapt them to your club and your safeguarding policy. Volunteers aren't expected to be experts, only to act reasonably and in good faith within their role.
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.
Make the commitmentNeed help now?
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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