Read BMC organisational review reports

Posted by Tony Ryan on 05/03/2018

Climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are changing, and the BMC needs to adapt to meet future challenges. Read the reports from the BMC organisational review here.

What is the BMC organisational review?

The BMC Organisational Review Group (ORG) was formed in May 2017. Its role is to look at the way the BMC currently works – in terms of organisation, governance, and decision-making structures – and evaluate how this reflects current best practice, whilst continuing to act in the best interests of the membership. The group will also recommend new ways to increase engagement and consultation with all BMC members on key issues.

What’s happened so far?

Headed by independent chair Ray Wigglesworth, an eminent QC and climber, the ORG volunteers gathered views via an online survey (with over 5,000 responses), focus groups and individual feedback from across the BMC. The ORG has balanced these views against information on best practice in sporting organisational structures and modern codes of governance to produce its initial report, which contains 51 recommendations for change and was launched in Kendal on Saturday 18 November.

Where can I read the report?

There are three versions: full, summary and highlights. It is also possible to read an executive summary of the online survey.

READ: The Summary and the Full Report

READ: The Report: highlights

READ: The Member Survey Summary

What else has happened?

Following publication of the report, ORG members attended the November round of BMC Area Meetings, to present the report and receive feedback from members, organised a further members’ survey, and held more focus group meetings, as well as discussions with National Council.

Some members expressed concern about the timescale, so the ORG proposed that the BMC adjourns its AGM and moves the date back from April 2018 to June 2018. The ORG produced a briefing paper for discussion at the January / February round of area meetings.

READ: Local Areas Briefing Paper

Taking into account some constructive criticism, the ORG also decided to change some of the detail and produce an addendum to the report which was published on 2 March. The final report includes some significant amendments compared to the original document, including:

Greater recognition for the role of clubs within the BMC;
A revised board structure with improved member representation;
More member representation on the Nominations Committee;
Greater clarity on organisational structure (ref: structure chart, p 17);
Clarification on the promotion of growth and participation in climbing & hill walking; and
A firm recommendation to set up a subsidiary for competition climbing and the GB Team.

READ: ORG Amended Recommendations Report

Your AGM: Thanks for your vote!

This year's historic AGM had a record voting turnout, with 6,796 of those votes being made online. We want to thank everyone for having their say and helping to shape the future of the BMC.

READ THE FULL REPORT: The BMC's historic 2018 AGM

Detailed info on the BMC AGM 2018

Find out more about the last AGM. It's a complicated topic, so start with this one:

READ: It's your BMC, and we need your vote

We were asking our members to vote on some significant changes to the BMC's constitution. Part of the discussion was the relationship between the BMC and Sport England.

READ: What are Sport England Tier 3 and Tier 1 relationships?

There were two constitutions to vote for: Proposal A (as recommended by National Council) and Proposal B, proposed by a group of members. To learn more about the two proposals, you can read a detailed comparison written by BMC honorary solictor Martin Wragg.

READ: A comparison of alternative constitutions

How did the recommendations get decided? Read more about the process that lead to this stage, including the reports from the Organisational Review and more.