Over the weekend (26-28 August 2022), BCA President, Catherine Quinn, attended the first face-to-face meeting of the International Federation of Sports Chiropractic (FICS) in Barcelona, where executives and members from 32 countries gathered to plan strategically the future of the federation.
Catherine delivered a leadership workshop to the federation’s Executive Committee (ExCo), Commission Chairs and National Sports Councils on the topic of Encouraging an Inclusive Contribution and Inspiring a Remote Volunteer Workforce. The workshop was also attended by delegates from all over the world, including Canada, Australia, America, South Africa and across Europe.
Discussing the BCA’s remote working environment, Catherine said, “Over the past 5 years we have transformed the way in which the BCA operates, embracing a remote working environment. This has meant that we can hire the best people for the role our members need, regardless of location. This had clear benefits during the pandemic but ensuring that our dedicated staff and our amazing volunteer member workforce felt engaged and valued was a firm goal for me. It was exciting to speak to the leadership teams at FICS about the challenges and opportunities this way of working brings, and how they can best support their International Workforce“.
As the leaders in Sports Chiropractic, FICS strives to provide equitable access to sports chiropractic care, education, mentoring and research to all athletes and sports chiropractors regionally, nationally, and internationally. FICS maintains relationships with international sporting federations, educational institutions with a chiropractic programme and 28 National Chiropractic Sports Councils (NCSC) across the globe.
This week, the BCA also held its first in-person all staff meeting for over two years in Birmingham, where the newest members of staff, Lindsay, Katrin and Hannah met face-to-face for the first time since the beginning of their employment at the Association. The day was full of excitement and ideas about the further development of the BCA, all united under our one common Vision, for chiropractic to be integral to UK healthcare.
Sharing his joy of meeting the new staff members for the first time, CEO Tom Mullarkey MBE, said, “I greatly enjoyed meeting Katrin, Lindsay and Hannah and it was wonderful that we all got together for the first time. It’s so helpful to meet face to face but I have to say that I felt it was like meeting people I already knew well, so the remote working system does fill in most of the gaps.
“I was very proud of the way in which everyone had a say, made comments and asked questions, making key contributions and interventions in an open and constructive way – definitely feels like a strong and supportive team.”
The BCA staff, Board and committees are all united to provide quality services and resources for our members, which is a key reason for the excellent results that we have achieved over the years.