Bowls England commits to good governance actions

30th April, 2021

Good governance is at the heart of any successful organisation and we recognise its importance in operating effectively, ensuring we are relevant in today’s society and securing the confidence of our stakeholders. At the recent meeting, the Board of Bowls England committed to implementing a number of the initial recommendations of the Governance Working Party.

These include:

  • The development of a statement outlining Bowls England’s strong commitment to achieving greater gender parity and diversity throughout the organisation.
  • A commitment that the Board, led by the Chair, shall undertake an annual evaluation of its own skills, its own performance, its directors and its committees.
  • The formation and adoption of a director’s code of conduct that includes a director’s conflict of interest policy and Board terms of reference.
  • The delivery of an annual satisfaction surveys will be circulated to both the staff team and volunteers, with the results to be presented to the Board for evaluation.
  • Updating our website with relevant policies and Board documentation.

The Bowls England Annual Report has been produced and circulated to Counties and Stakeholders, this has been well received with plenty of positive feedback. Going forward we plan to continue with this format in future years including competition information.

A Bowls Inclusion Advisory Group has been setup by our colleagues at the Bowls Development Alliance, with the aim to provide expert advice and guidance in the future development, implementation and evaluation of a new and improved quality, diversity and inclusion strategy for the sport of bowls. In addition, we will continue to have representation on the Disability Action Group as we explore ways to make our sport more accessible to people with disabilities.

A further review of governance policies will be discussed at the July Board Meeting. The Board thanked the members of the Governance Working Party for their time and input.

The Story of the Year application period has now closed, with 103 entries. Shortlisting will now take place, before a public vote to decide the 2021 winner.

On the green, plans for the Bowls’ Big Weekend, taking place over the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend (Friday 28th to Monday 31st May) are progressing well. Over 1,000 individuals signed up to be the first to hear about the news and over 450 clubs signing up to the event within the first week. Click here to register your event.

In addition, the performance team has been working to re-engineer a summer programme to ensure our Commonwealth Games squad have effective preparation and competition time. The outline plans for the 2021 season are detailed below:

Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May
Performance Squad Training Camp (Oxford City & County BC, Oxfordshire)

Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd May
Test Match v Ireland (Essex County BC, Essex)

Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June
Performance Squad vs International Select – North & East Regions (Brampton BC, Huntingdonshire)

Wednesday 27th July to Sunday 1st August
Home Nations Test Event (Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa)

Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th August
Performance Squad vs International Select – South & West Regions (Clevedon BC, Somerset)

Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th September
Home Nations Invitation (Ayr, Scotland (TBC))

Saturday 25th September
Senior International Trials – Men & Women (Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa)

Sunday 26th September
High Performance Squad Day (Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa)

The Bowls England team has recently been working through a period of staff transition. We have welcomed Rob Short (Head of Communications) and Katy Shilladay (Marketing Officer) to the team and have said goodbye to both John Hughes and Jamie Chestney. We wish them both well in their future endeavours. The application process has now closed for the Finance Manager, Clubs and Participation Officer and the People and Governance Officer positions. We are currently still recruiting for a Para Team Manager and you can view the vacancy here.

To read the full minutes of the recent Board meeting, please click here.

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