CHAIRMAN'S COLUMN by Samir Patel Chair of the Board of Trustees
Having recently published our strategy for Croquet in England to inspire players in a safe, inclusive, and diverse community, the Board of Trustees is now moving towards developing more detailed work in each of the seven areas. These groups will look at the work already being implemented by volunteers within Croquet England and in Clubs and Federations, building on these to identify more detailed plans. This will include determining the relative priorities for each, the targets we wish to reach and how we will monitor our progress. Each group will be trustee‐led, but we are looking for knowledgeable and passionate individuals from across our community to support this work. If you have ideas, knowledge of these areas and want to help us drive the development of Croquet, please contact me (samir.patel@croquetengland.org.uk). • Play: More people playing more people in more places. • Coaching and Tournament Officials: Supporting Roles that grow and sustain our sport. • Safety: Ensuring everyone can enjoy croquet in a safe environment • Inclusion: Actively encouraging more people from diverse backgrounds and identities. • Wellbeing: A sport that is accessible and enjoyable at any age. • Funding Growth: Securing more money to grow all levels of our sport. • Sustainability: Responding to the challenges of climate change.
The trustees set completion of this work as one of our objectives for the coming year. The others are: • Establishing Trustee Elections as business as usual. Our constitution sets out the role of an Electoral Commission to define the number of constituencies and their boundaries, and the procedures and timetable for elections. A group, independent of the Trustees, has been working on this, and the Trustees wish to ensure that implementation is mature so that elections are held no later than the next AGM. • Improve succession planning – We are aware that we have a number of individuals in important roles who will be difficult to replace, and there are examples of one person having to be replaced by several. We are obviously delighted by the commitment shown but recognising that no‐one can remain in a role forever, need to look at improving our resilience. • Working towards Compliance with Tier 3 of Sport England’s Code of Governance. This code incorporates established practices and research findings from multiple sports, large and small. Each of these changes are small, but collectively they will improve how we govern and run our sport and open opportunities for other forms of support from Sport England.
CHARITY ONE‐BALL 2025 CALLING ALL CLUBS WILL YOU PLAY A HEAT OF THE CHARITY 1‐BALL IN 2025? 46 clubs together in 2024 raised the magnificent sum of £8288.51 for the British Heart Foundation. In 2025 we are playing for the Alzheimer's Society, wearing something blue, and sending heat winners to either regional Final at Surbiton or Nottingham on 17 May.
Want to know more? Contact: Debbie James
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 7
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