The British Ju Jitsu Association (BJJAGB) has met the conditions imposed upon it by the Home Country Sports Councils, meaning it can continue to be recognised as the national governing body (NGB) for the sport in the United Kingdom.
In August 2023, following a comprehensive recognition review conducted by Sport England in line with the Sports Councils Recognition Policy criteria, the Boards of Sport England, sportscotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland unanimously decided to accept the review’s findings and proceed to derecognise the BJJAGB.
The BJJAGB was given a deadline of 1 October 2023 to submit relevant evidence and information showing it was capable of meeting the policy criteria in order to maintain its NGB status.
Following an extensive review, in May 2024, the Home Country Sports Councils agreed that their continued recognition of the BJJAGB would be subject to the following conditions:
- The BJJAGB would publish a written statement, on or before 16 July 2024, that was satisfactory to the Home Country Sports Councils, setting out its commitment to embed cultural change in the BJJAGB to create an NGB that was able provide welcoming environments for everyone who takes part in ju-jitsu.
- By 13 August 2024, BJJAGB would have established an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working group which reviews, on an ongoing basis, the BJJAGB’s EDI policies and practices. Membership of the EDI working group needed to reflect the diverse nature of the BJJAGB’s membership and include BJJAGB Board members as well as representatives from member clubs and associations. The EDI working group was also bound to adopt Terms of Reference that were satisfactory to the Home Country Sports Councils.
- BJJAGB had to adopt recommendations towards the BJJAGB becoming a more open and welcoming organisation as specified by the Moving to Inclusion framework.
Sport England, on behalf of the Home Country Sports Councils, allocated a Moving to Inclusion mentor with whom the NGB has worked with to evaluate their EDI practices and has since created a Continuous Improvement Plan that is satisfactory to the Home Country Sports Councils.
The Plan set out recommended changes across the areas of culture, leadership, experience, relationships and communication within the organisation.
Sport England, on behalf of the Home Country Sports Councils, continually reviewed progress against its recommendations and their ongoing implementation and has now found these conditions have been met in full.
We will also continue to monitor the organisation and reserve the right to review BJJAGB’s status if the organisation fails to maintain these standards or fails to foster an environment in which everyone would feel welcome when taking part in ju jitsu.