AN influential report published today (FRI) has used a BASC case-study to evidence shooting’s ability to make more people active in the outdoors.
The Sport and Recreation Alliance highlighted BASC’s introduction of almost 6,000 scouts and girl guides to clay pigeon shooting at the week-long Essex International Jamboree last summer.
The report – Reconomics Plus – says ‘the scouts and girl guides came to understand how shooting has broader positive social outcomes, in that joining a shooting club can give them the opportunity to get out, meet new people and build friendships’.
It adds: “They also learnt that shooting has huge personal and physical wellbeing benefits via spending time in the outdoors and providing enjoyment and relaxation.”
The Sport and Recreation Alliance is the umbrella organisation for 320 national governing and representative bodies of sport and recreation in the UK. The Alliance acts to promote, protect and develop the interests of sport and physical recreation from the grassroots through to elite level.
Their report also highlights that shooting comes second only to recreational walking as a provider of employment in the outdoors. The Alliance drew on the The Value of Shooting Report , published in 2014, which estimated that shooting provides 74,000 full-time jobs in the UK.
Peter Marshall, who organised and coordinated BASC’s presence at the Essex International Jamboree 2016, said: “We are delighted that the value of shooting and our efforts at the Jamboree have been recognised by the Sport and Recreation Alliance.
“The Jamboree gave us an opportunity to instill in thousands of young people the importance of safety and personal responsibility and to help them learn about the huge benefits of shooting. For some of the young people that took part this will be the start of their pathway into shooting and the life-long enjoyment that brings.”
BASC chairman Peter Glenser said: “We would like to thank the Sport and Recreation Alliance for their continued effort in promoting the economic and social value of sport and recreation.”
The Reconomics Plus report can be found here.
The BASC case study can be read here.
A BASC infographic on the personal value of shooting can be found here.
ENDS