Following the update shared in May, I wanted to provide some further information on the progress made over the last 12 months and the direction of travel for the British Crown Green Bowling Association.

During that period, a significant amount of work has taken place to better understand the strengths of the sport, the challenges facing the Association, and the changes needed to the organisation is stable, sustainable and capable of supporting Crown Green Bowls in the years ahead.

That work has involved listening to people across the sport, including players, staff, volunteers, counties, leagues, clubs, officials, coaches and board members. It has also involved reviewing the Association’s governance, staffing, safeguarding, competitions, finance, communications, systems and long-term legal structure.

What has remained clear throughout is that Crown Green Bowls continues to be built on passion, history, volunteer commitment and local pride. The purpose of the work underway is not to replace that tradition, but to protect it by putting stronger foundations underneath the organisation that supports the sport.

What the last 12 months have shown

The work undertaken over the last 12 months has shown that many of the challenges facing BCGBA are connected. They are not simply about one role, one committee, one process or one decision.

In the early stages, it became clear that the Association needed stronger foundations in several core areas. Staff and officers were often working with limited shared systems, inconsistent documentation and significant reliance on individual knowledge. Some important processes had developed informally over time, which meant that continuity, accountability and resilience were not always as strong as they needed to be.

The HR review undertaken in summer 2025 highlighted some of these issues clearly. It identified the need to strengthen employment contracts, HR policies, pension arrangements, Right to Work processes, staff equipment, IT systems, data protection and the way staff are supported and managed. These are not always the most visible parts of a governing body, but they are fundamental to running the organisation properly and protecting the people involved.

Similar themes have appeared in other areas. Safeguarding has been through a period of change, with the Association needing to increase capacity, improve case management, and create clearer routes between safeguarding, conduct and discipline. Competitions remain one of the sport’s most important shop window, but the current model also needs stronger financial planning, clearer oversight and a better understanding of the true cost of delivery.

The Association has also had to work through a high volume of historic conduct matters that have been escalated nationally (many of which we are still working through). This has required careful fact-finding to understand what happened, when concerns were raised, what action had already been taken, and what still needed to be progressed. This has reinforced the need for clearer processes, better records and more consistent routes for escalation and resolution.

Governance has also required attention. There have been periods where interim arrangements, vacancies and overlapping responsibilities have made communication and decision-making harder than they should be. Concerns raised around transparency, procurement, conflicts of interest and the separation between Board and executive roles have reinforced the need for clearer structures, better records and more consistent accountability.

To make this clearer, the table below sets out some of the main themes identified, what they meant for the Association, and the action now being taken.