Member of Hobby Club getting aggressive where do we stand?

Splashdown · March 2018

I apologise if this is not the place to ask this question, but I find myself dealing with a very delicate situation.
I am a committee member of a club that is associated with a hobby. On regular occasions we provide an activity for members of the public the majority of which are children with parents.
We have a member in our group who we have been given to understand has certain issues. We do not know exactly what they are are none of us are in anything to do with healthcare, we suspect it is autism.
This individual used to attend our club with a 'friend' who we know know was a support worker. This chap now comes along unaccompanied. There have been various incidents recently when our member got quite quite agitated and aggressive. Twice this has been with youngsters who are grandchildren of a club member. One of these occasions I had to restrain our member as they were in the act of chasing these children with a length of timber. I witnessed the arrival and activities of the children prior to the event and they were not doing anything that could be construed as 'winding anyone up'.
After the event I sat with our member and calmed them down and then later gently explained to them that this behaviour is not acceptable, this was met with a comment that went along the lines of "They were annoying me by being there and playing loudly" (they were playing hopscotch).
This was later discussed by the committee and concerns were raised about future possible behaviour by our member and whether or not the member should be asked not to come again.
It was decided that this might be the best course of action as we are worried about the issue safety for both members of the club and the general public. The majority of people in the club are elderly and would not be able to restrain this individual should something like this happen again.
We are a small club and enjoy what we do, we are very concerned about this and have no idea what our position is or what else can be done. We are worried about our duties of care to both this particular member, our other members and the public.
My feeling is that the individual concerned should not be allowed back unless he is supervised by someone who knows what they are doing.
Sorry for the length of this post but we really do not have any idea how to proceed or how to get more information about this

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Nystagmite · March 2018

I've been at two clubs with a similar issue and both were handled differently:
First group was an Autism group. I raised my concerns. (I was being harassed) The person in charge said he needs to discuss this with someone to decide what to do. Apparently, others had similar issues with his behaviour and it was decided it was best that he couldn't attend.

Second group was a running group. The guy had mental health issues and he, like the other person, harassed me and I felt really uncomfortable around him. I raised my concerns. I was told "oh, he's just like that. You'd have to put up with it". I announced that if nothing was going to be done, I was leaving, which they weren't happy about! I was then told he was leaving because other people have issues with him.

It's not a babysitting service and other people shouldn't have to put up with this kind of behaviour.

Splashdown · March 2018

Thank you both for your replies,
In answer to your question Victoriad; we have a committee and a club constitution. There is nothing in this about behaviour, when the club was set up ( 40 plus years ago) I would not have thought anyone would have even thought this was needed. However, times have changed and I think we need to go down this route although any policy to be worded extremely carefully.
Putting up with it is not an option.

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Splashdown · March 2018

Thank you.
If anyone else wishes to comment or point me in the direction of any information please do.

thespiceman · March 2018

Hello @Splashdown Sorry for late reply. I am pleased to meet you. All clubs and associations have set of rules around behaviour. Some to the extreme being too much in my opinion. PC madness.

Any way you have been established 40 years great. Unfortunately now the attitudes has changed. Especially behaviour.

I do think you have handled it correctly. I do know similar situations I have been in.

The offender was dismissed and a letter sent to his home with the reasons stated

In one other incident the police were called..

Please think of your members their safety and concern. My concern if the member who had caused the problem hurt the children or other members. We live in culture of compensation think of that.

Beside I would have called the police no excuses at all. You are not trained to deal with that situation. The most important thing is you have done the right thing.

I have been a member of several mental heath charities. The rules and regulations is a telephone book. Remember you need to put something into place.

Not only that but to protect yourself from compensation claiments who see your club to make a fast payment from any insurance claim.

Believe me I have seen this. I do not want to frighten you. It is happening.

I wish you all the best sounds a lovely club to be in. You just have to be street as they say.

Take care

Splashdown · March 2018

Thanks for the reply.
We have drafted a "Aggresive and Threatening behaviour policy"
It goes along the lines of this.
"All members of XXXX club are reminded that they are to behave in a manner that is appropriate to the situation at the club. Violence, threats of violence, aggressive behaviour or actions that could be reasonably construed as violent, threatening or aggressive will not be tolerated.
Any member seen behaving in such a manner will be immediately be asked to leave the premises.
Following this, the member may ask the committee after (24 hours and no later than 1 week) for permission to attend again. Should the committee agree, then the member agrees to any special conditions placed on their attendance. These may include, but not be limited too,
1. Reparations to be paid in the event of any damage to club or personal property.
2.Close support and or supervision from another appropriate individual.
3.Restrictions of activities in a public facing context.
4.A period of probation.
Should the Committee not agree to allow the member to return or the member not agree to any special conditions or fails to make contact with the committee within 1 week then membership will be forfeit. No monies paid in respect of membership will be returned. "

The thoughts of others would be appreciated.

We are also planning to change our membership forms to include a section that new and renewing members MAY fill in that asks about any health or other issues that we might need to be aware of in order to comply with any relevant H&S legislation and keep members safe.

Sam_Alumni · March 2018

This website might be useful to you @Splashdown - it is the Resource Centre and has lots of information for community groups.

thespiceman · March 2018

Hello @Splashdown Thank you for the terms and contract of behaviour. I assume every person who joins must sign that an a copy for you and for them.

That is the normal code of practice. May I also suggest a health and safety awareness course for all supervisors and those who wished to do that.

First aiders and anything health and safety wise.

Also a disclosure of any illness and disabilities you have said that.

May I add a disclaimer for insurance purposes as I said . Just to cover yourself as a club. Trust me.

This is what you have to do now. I am sorry about what happened. All clubs courses and associations I have joined have at least couple hours of standard paper work. Dealing with everything I said. It is common practice.

Take care

Member of Hobby Club getting aggressive where do we stand?

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