We will be publishing resources and key information on the dedicated Return to Play page
It was good to be able to share our 5 Step Return to Wheelchair Rugby plan with you on the webinar recently and to hear about individual club challenges. While some indoor sports will be in a position to return to play already we still have a few challenges to overcome. Our draft guidance has been with DCMS for over a week now and we are waiting their comments. Likewise a copy is with our legal advisors and with our insurers. When we have received the advice of all three agencies we will be able to complete the guidance which the GBWR Board will then review and approve. Regrettably the challenges do not end there as we are aware that some of the venues which clubs use are not currently available. I only heard last night that the Life Centre in Plymouth, where my local club West Country Hawks train and play, will be closed until at least next April. We are also aware that clubs who use schools are unlikely to be able to access those facilities next term, whilst others are finding that their commercially managed training venues are not available. I have asked our National Development Director, Lauren Templeton, to review the position of each of our clubs and to ensure we support you to overcome any venue availability issues. In some cases, such as West Country Hawks, this will be a case of trying to find a different venue which I appreciate is not always that easy, but we are committed to doing all we can to help you get back to training as soon as possible. We are also looking at ways in which we can support you to meet some of the additional requirements which will be necessary to ensure your safety. One of these is to look at how we might be able to assist those clubs that need extra help to fund PPE and hygiene requirements.
Thank you to all of you who have provided details of your COVID-19 lead. The role description for this position is now available and will be uploaded to the website as soon as we have confirmed the process for submitting information to the GBWR office.
A big welcome to Kate, Paula, Sam and Chris who you will have seen are joining our Board as new Trustees. All four bring a wealth of experience and skills which will really help us as we look to the next phase of our sport’s development. Chris has already proved invaluable as he has served on the Governance & Finance Committee for the past two years and he will replace Andrew Flatt as the Finance lead whilst also becoming Chair of the GFC, taking over from Simon Le Fevre. Paula comes with a wealth of high performance expertise – as well as being a five times Commonwealth Games medallist she has been the UK Athletics Paralympic Head Coach since 2012, so we look forward to her helping us achieve our medal ambitions. Sam will bring us a commercial and sponsorship expertise that will be increasingly important as we seek to diversify our income. Kate brings sports marketing experience, and is the Paralympics Corporate lead at Channel 4. To have recruited such high quality individuals from a strong list of candidates says a great deal for the credibility and profile of our sport and we have much to thank our departing Chair Kevin, and our departing Trustees Mike, Andrew, Simon and Suzy for the huge part they have played in establishing GBWR as a such a strong and prominent NGB. We will save our goodbyes to them until the AGM.
Turning to the AGM. We intend to stick to the date we have in the diary which is 23 September at 5pm. It will be a different AGM though as it will be held virtually and we will be unable to consider the Annual Report and Financial Statements as our audit has been delayed due to coronavirus and the auditors not being available. Our plan however is to open the AGM, complete the handover of Chair from Kevin to Ed, formally appoint our new board members and deal with any Resolutions which are tabled. We will then adjourn the meeting and reconvene later in the year when the audit has been completed and the Annual Report is available for consideration. So please note the 23rd for your diary and it is hoped that the virtual format will allow many more to attend the meeting and to say their goodbyes to the departing Chair and board members who have served our sport over the last ten years.
I think that’s about it for now I will be back in touch with news on our return to play as soon as I have clearance for our plans.
David Pond, Chief Executive
