Following on from our announcement last year regarding the completion of the Governance Structure Review Project, we’re delighted to provide an update on the significant progress made in implementing the recommendations. Our commitment to fostering a more robust, transparent, and empowering framework for our members remains unwavering, and we’re pleased to share the strides we’ve taken towards a stronger, more unified British Wrestling.
Progress Against January 2025 Recommendations
The Board has been diligently working through the initial set of recommendations that were targeted for completion by January 2025. We’re proud to report that several key actions are now complete or ongoing:
- Current Structure Maintained: The sport will maintain its current structure in relation to nations and regions.
- Monitoring Elections: The process and results of elections for nations and regions are being monitored and publicised.
- Public Positions: All nations and regions are committed to making available committee/board positions public.
- Board Representative Rota: British Wrestling has implemented a rota for Board representatives to be present at events.
- Membership Awareness of Democratic Process: Our membership system will be utilised to ensure all members are made aware of opportunities for representation, indeed we recently shared details of board member positions for Scottish Wrestling.
- Community Awards Expansion: A nations and regions category has been added to our Community Awards, reviewing how these awards can stimulate a culture of taking responsibility for the sport’s success and development.
One recommendation, the code of conduct and responsibility for those elected to national and regional positions, has been approved by the Board and is ready for implementation.
Looking Ahead to July 2025 and Beyond
Our efforts continue with recommendations scheduled for completion or significant progress by July 2025. This includes vital work on:
- Refreshing Our Strategy: We are refreshing our strategy with a long-term vision, ensuring everyone understands their role in achieving success.
- Nations and Regions Integration: Ensuring nations & regions, and clubs, are integral to the creation of a new strategy to foster ownership and a culture of collaboration.
- Lobbying National Sports Councils: Together with the nations, British Wrestling is lobbying national sports councils to lead on compliance work, allowing volunteers to focus more on wrestling development.
- Communications Strategy: Prioritising the creation of a comprehensive communications strategy, we have recently appointed Path Sport to support this work. As part of this, we will use data and technology to track the delivery and understanding of our communication, with annual results published to demonstrate improvement.
- Review of Sport’s Values: Undertaking a review of the sport’s values as part of the strategy development.
We acknowledge that the goal for nations and regions to strive for Tier 2 compliance with the Sport England code of governance is yet to commence, but it remains a key objective.
Our Continued Commitment
The Board is fully committed to continuing to track the progress against these recommendations and assigning responsibilities for actioning them. Key next steps include completing the new strategy, developing a balanced scorecard for reporting organisational effectiveness, establishing a service level agreement with nations and regions, and advancing the communications strategy.
This ongoing work is crucial for building trust with our membership and ensuring the continued development and success of wrestling across the UK. We are dedicated to providing further updates as we continue this important journey.
For a full list of all 25 recommendations and their timelines, please refer to the Executive Summary of the Governance Project.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to shape the future of British Wrestling together!
