The April Board was the first official meeting for newly elected Board members Sian Honnor and Steve Warren. It was also the final meeting for Senior Independent Director Anna Molony, who has served on the Board since 2018. We thank Anna for her hard work and dedication to Bowls England.
Jon Cockcroft updated the Board on the activities of his team since the previous meeting and the Board discussed a range of matters as detailed below.
Safeguarding non-compliance sanctions agreed
The Board was advised that 95% of affiliated clubs have a Safeguarding Officer in place with around 88,000 of 91,000 affiliated bowlers protected within the Bowls England safeguarding framework. Ahead of the deadline of 1 May 2025 for every affiliated club to have a dedicated Safeguarding Officer, the Board agreed the sanctions that would be put in place for those who had not complied. It was agreed that the non-compliant clubs would be informed of their loss of certain affiliation benefits and would be suspended if not compliant by 1 October 2025.
Since the notification to the 89 non-compliant clubs, 69 have now notified Bowls England of their Safeguarding Officer leaving 29 affiliated clubs non-compliant. The Board would like to thank all those within County Associations and affiliated clubs for their efforts in this area.
New Presidential Team Model to be progressed
Following significant research amongst interested parties, and consultation with County Association, the Board approved to progress the new Presidential Team model. With recruitment challenges linked to the existing time and travel commitments required, the changes will see a President undertaking national ambassadorial and spokesperson duties and a group of regional Vice Presidents primarily supporting local activities.
Further detail on term lengths and regional voting is to be agreed before role descriptions are finalised. The aim is to implement the new model for the 2026 season.
Governance Working Party (GWP) to conclude
After four years, the GWP will be discontinued having achieved the majority of the governance changes necessary for Bowls England to be compliant with Sport England’s Code of Sports Governance. Outstanding items will be picked up by the operational team or the Governance and Risk Committee, a board committee, which will also monitor our ongoing compliance as the Code evolves. Thank-you to Foster Johnson, Jo Doust, Ann Molony and Lindsay Collin for their efforts over recent years.
Board Terms of Reference approved
As stipulated by the Code of Sports Governance, Bowls England must have Board Terms of Reference that are fit for purpose. An update was presented to the Board who approved the new Terms. These can be found within the new Rules and Regulations.
Corporate Communications Strategy agreed
To help Bowls England and its representatives communicate in a coherent, consistent and compelling manner to influence key stakeholders, the Board discussed a proposed corporate communications strategy. The strategy detailed the key messages that will help shape the perceptions of our sport and what we can collectively do to ensure bowls is valued by government, partners and other groups that can play a role in supporting our mission. The Board was pleased with the work done on this and committed to play an active part in building Bowls England’s profile.
The Board meets again in June and will be in attendance at the Aviva National Bowls Finals.
Full minutes of the April Board meeting can be found here.