British Rowing launches new Inclusive Club Guide

British Rowing has today, (Thursday 8 March) launched a new Inclusive Club Guide to further improve inclusivity and diversity in rowing. The new Guide has been written in partnership with Sporting Equals and in consultation with the rowing community across the country.

British Rowing and the wider rowing community recognises the positive contribution that a more inclusive and diverse community can have in the development and growth of a vibrant sport, alongside the benefits that rowing can have on the lives of those involved.

Currently, the make-up of the sport is not representative of today’s society, with significant under-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities (BAME), disabled people, as well as lower income groups.

Currently, fewer than 5% of British Rowing members are from BAME backgrounds and 10% of British Rowing members have some form of a disability (British Rowing Membership Diversity Survey, 2016), compared to one in five people in the UK.

In response to this, British Rowing has developed an Inclusive Sport Plan which is underpinned by a brand new Inclusive Club Guide, designed to provide best-practice guidance and offer practical advice to rowing clubs.

The aim of the guide is to support rowing clubs to become more inclusive by:

• Highlighting the benefits of being inclusive
• Explaining inclusivity and its importance in creating a diverse sport that is open to all
• Providing practical advice on developing or creating an inclusive club

The Guide is supported by the English Federation of Disability Sport, Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation, Sport Allies, Sport England, Sport and Recreation Alliance, Women in Sport, Women’s Sport Trust and UK Sport.

Annamarie Phelps CBE, Chairman of British Rowing said:

In my final month as Chairman, I am asking the rowing community to stand with me and British Rowing in support of our vision for the sport. We want rowing to be an inclusive sport, representative of the diverse society that we live in today. We want everyone to have an opportunity to experience the sport we all love. This will, in turn, support the continued growth of a healthy and vibrant sport. I am, therefore, urging all rowing clubs to help drive change across the sport. Together, we need to educate, encourage and empower everyone to acknowledge and actively address any barriers to inclusivity that may exist. We can make rowing a sport that is truly open to all.”

The Inclusive Club Guide is the first of British Rowing’s Club Hub Guides, a new suite of resources that will provide clubs with the knowledge they need to run their clubs as small businesses.

The guides will cover a range of topics and specialist areas including employment, tax, facilities management, tenure, health and safety, volunteer and community engagement as well as marketing and PR.

Visit the British Rowing website to check out their new Inclusive Club Guide.