Honiton Gymnastics

Photography, Filming, and Digital Media Policy for Honiton Gymnastics Club

At Honiton Gymnastics Club, we love celebrating the progress and achievements of our gymnasts. To ensure we can share these moments while maintaining a safe, focused, and respectful training environment for everyone, we have the following guidelines. This policy is designed to protect every child’s privacy and support their learning process, working alongside our Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Policy, and Privacy Notice to maintain the high standards expected of our community. Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in action taken under our Disciplinary Procedures.

View our full Code of Conduct HERE
View our Privacy Notice HERE
View our Disciplinary Procedures HERE

  1. Respecting the Training Environment (Spectators)
    Spectators, including parents and family members, are strictly prohibited from filming or taking photographs within the training hall during sessions. ‘Sessions’ refers to any activity within Honiton Gymnastics Club that is not a competition or official performance event. This rule is enforced to:
    • Maintain Safeguarding: We cannot monitor unverified footage captured on personal devices.
    • Respect the Learning Process: skill development/acquisition is easily viewed out of context and can be misinterpreted as incorrect technique. We want to ensure our gymnasts’ progress is represented accurately, which is at the discretion of coaches. We also invest a lot of time creating unique drills and routines, and we require these to stay within the gym.
    • Ensure Gymnasts’ Concentration: Filming can cause distraction or undue pressure, increasing the risk of injury during complex skills.
  2. Squad Coaching Footage
    Coaching staff may capture video of squad gymnasts to provide technical feedback and document skills. This is a coaching tool used under the legal basis of “Legitimate Interest” to support gymnast development.
    • Distribution
      When ‘new moves’ are videoed, footage may be sent directly to relevant parents via WhatsApp or via approved club channels.
    • Frequency
      Video analysis is discretionary. You may receive videos frequently during skill acquisition phases, or none for several months.
    • Minimisation
      Coaches will endeavour to keep the primary partnership as the sole focus. However, in an open-plan gym, incidental background capture of other gymnasts is sometimes unavoidable.
  3. Privacy Opt-Out
    If you have significant concerns and do not wish for your child to appear even incidentally in the background of squad coaching videos:
    • Notification: You must notify your child’s coach in writing via the WhatsApp Group with your child’s squad coaches. This ensures a time-stamped digital record of your request is logged for our administration.
    • Action: While a completely “video-free” background cannot be guaranteed in a shared facility, coaches will take reasonable steps to adjust filming angles and positioning for that gymnast.
  4. Social Media Code of Conduct
    Parents can share their child’s achievements to celebrate their hard work, but this is not a requirement. When posting content provided by the club or taken at events, you must adhere to the following:
    • Primary Subject: Ensure your child’s partnership is the clear and sole focus.
    • Privacy of Others: If another gymnast is clearly identifiable in the background, you must crop or blur the video/image to protect their privacy if you have not received consent from their parent to post.
    • Mandatory Removal: If the club or another parent requests the removal of a post because their child is identifiable in the background, you must delete the content immediately.
  5. Professional Photography
    The club engages professional photographers for official events, competitions, and promotional shoots.
    • Consent
      We process these images based on the consent provided in gymnasts’ LoveAdmin account.
    • Usage
      If you have consented, images of your child—individually, in a partnership, or in the background of a wider shot—may be used for club publicity and website materials.
    • Competition Entry & Public Events
      British Gymnastics events are designated as public events. By entering a competitive event, you acknowledge that photography and video recording take place in the arena and that images of your child (individually or in their partnership) may be used for editorial and promotional purposes (legitimate interest).
      Important: This specifically applies to the competitive environment and differs from your general club photography preferences in LoveAdmin. If you have specific safeguarding concerns (e.g., a court order) that require total anonymity, you must contact the Welfare Officer prior to entry, as we may need to assess if participation is feasible under those restrictions.
  6. Official Events & Competitions
    Parents and guardians are generally permitted to video their own children at official Honiton Gymnastics Club events and typically at external competitions (e.g., Club Competition, Christmas Show, Honiton Invitational).
    • Specific Focus: Recording must be limited to your own child/their partnership
    • Variable Rules: Please note that specific photography rules may vary by event organiser or venue. Always check the specific guidelines for each competition, as they may differ from our general club policy.
  7. Recreational Groups
    There is currently no provision for the routine filming of recreational groups by coaching staff. If a parent has a specific reason for a skill to be filmed (e.g., a distinct milestone), they may make a request to the lead coach of the session. However, due to safeguarding ratios and class structure, the club cannot guarantee this.
  8. Turbo Toddlers (Open Play Exception)
    Turbo Toddlers is the only session where parents are permitted to use mobile phones
    within the activity area, strictly for the purpose of capturing their own child’s
    enjoyment.
    • Permitted Subjects: You may only photograph/film your own child. You may film friends’ children only if you have their explicit verbal consent.
    • Background Risks: Please position yourself to avoid capturing other children in the background. If another parent asks you to stop filming because their child is in view, you must comply immediately.
    • Instructors: You must obtain permission from the coach involved before posting any video to social media that includes Honiton Gymnastics Club coaches.

Updated: 20 February 2026