All people undertaking regulated work with a protected group, children or adults, are required to become a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme.
It is the responsibility of each club to ensure all persons (voluntary or paid) who work with vulnerable groups – children or adults at risk – are suitable to do so.
Getting started with PVGs
- The club must have in place a Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer (CWPO), who will act as a PVG ID checker. This role and the person carrying it out should be registered with Mountaineering Scotland via the membership portal.
- Clubs can identify more than one person to act as the club ID checker, each person must be noted on the membership database.
- If you are unsure how to register a CWPO/ID checker or need support on completing PVG request forms please contact
- If you have any queries on the PVG process including eligibility or what constitutes regulated work, please contact Mountaineering Scotland Child Wellbeing Protection Officer Jamie Smith at
Who Needs a PVG?
Not everyone in your club requires a PVG, only those who have a role that that comes under the definition of ‘regulated work’. If you would like to know what that means, or want to know who in your club should apply for a PVG check, please click this link.
PVG processing for Clubs
In order for clubs to PVG scheme register members and volunteers, they have to Enrol the club – with Volunteer Disclosure Services (VSDS) directly. This then allows clubs to register members and volunteers directly through the online VSDS system.
We recommend that all club CWPO and ID checkers familiarise themselves with the VSDS Online PVG Application Process Guidance Pack which can be found here and provides a step by step guide to processing PVG applications.
PVG Secure record keeping
Secure PVG record keeping guide, which explains the feature available through our membership portal for securely recording PVG scheme registrations for your club against registered members profiles.
Find out more about the PVG scheme on the Disclosure Scotland website.