Key plan for reforming British Gymnastics in wake of abuse

British Gymnastics has issued a reform plan to change how that organisation operates and treats its gymnasts in the wake of the Whyte Report, published last summer, that revealed significant abuse of gymnasts by coaches.

Reform ’25 is to be delivered over four phases leading up to 2025, with the reforms focused across four key, interconnected areas: Culture & Strategy; Welfare, Safeguarding & Complaints; Education & Development; and Performance. The plan sets out what needs to change and how it will be done, with issues addressed through, for example:

• A zero tolerance of abuse of any kind – whether that be emotional, physical, or sexual – with British Gymnastics working with clubs, coaches, gymnasts and parents to understand and communicate what an open, transparent, caring, empowered and safe environment looks like, together with increased and better support for those involved in complaints and for those who have previously been abused. A list of banned coaches will be published on the British Gymnastics website
• Fostering a culture of continuous learning and development for everyone in the sport, including creating a new generation of coaches to break the cycle of poor past practice, with coach education that is not just predominantly technical but concentrates on ‘how’ things should be done as well as ‘what’ should be done
• Ensuring parents and gymnasts are involved and have a meaningful say in decisions about their development, with an approach to things like training loads and competition age limits that is informed by experts and puts the gymnast’s health and safety central to the thinking.

“Reform ’25 reflects our commitment to reconnecting with the gymnastics community and being open to new thinking and ideas,” British Gymnastics said on publication of the plan this autumn.

“The plan has been informed and shaped with input from the community and expertise from outside the sport. New gymnast, coach and club groups will play a central role in informing actions and providing insight and knowledge as plans evolve and develop over the next two years.”

Reform has already begun, including reshaping and redesigning British Gymnastics as an organisation to ensure it is fit for the future, the association said.

“We put a greater emphasis on engaging with the gymnastics community, bringing in experience around performance gymnastics and safeguarding to the British Gymnastics Board, together with recruitment of people to key leadership and senior positions, expanding our safeguarding team by bringing in expertise and experience from the police, Local Authorities and gymnastics, and increasing our focus on welfare to provide support to those affected.”

Fundamental to the Reform ’25 plan is a commitment from British Gymnastics to be “open, transparent and hold ourselves to account for the delivery of the reforms”, keeping the gymnastics community and the wider sports sector updated on progress made over the next two years by publishing progress updates every six months.

An expert independent adviser, Dr Catherine Bishop, will provide additional scrutiny and independent perspective on how it implements the reforms.

A former rower, Bishop is a three-time Olympian who went on to be a diplomat for the British Foreign Office for 12 years, specialising in policy and negotiations on conflict issues. She now works as a widely respected leadership and culture consultant, executive coach, speaker, facilitator and author.

• For more on Reform ’25, visit British Gymnastics website here.