WBUK was founded in 2013, after an initial investment of £300 from England Basketball via their Ball Again project. Since that informal partnership was formed, both organisations have been working hard to formalise an official partnership.
In 2015 the BBL Foundation funded a number of Walking Basketball sessions in partnership with BBL Clubs and many of which are still going today, and since the last event at Crystal Palace in 2016, WBUK have been working diligently alongside Basketball England to obtain major funding for greater national activity. However, unfortunately after 12 months of many meetings and consultations, a joint funding bid in 2017 to Sport England was rejected. This put WBUK plans for the growth of the activity back substantially and was very disappointing.
Walking Basketball is an activity that everyone can enjoy, regardless of their age of physical ability, and the partnership, initially for six months, will see Basketball England commissioning Walking Basketball UK to launch ten new Walking Basketball clubs with the ambition of encouraging 300 new players to the game of Walking Basketball.
As part of the joint project, Basketball England staff will work with Walking Basketball UK to upgrade the Walking Basketball Activators Award, identify training requirements for referees and officials and to review the rules of Walking Basketball and present them to the Basketball England board for adoption by the governing body.
Moving forward with the new partnership, Basketball England aims to deliver on certain key outcomes to help grow Walking Basketball across the country.
In the last three years, WBUK has attracted funding, albeit local, for all of their target areas. However, a major objective that still remains is to obtain national funding to put WBUK in a position to fund, facilitate and/or develop more Walking Basketball sessions across the country.
To this end, Walking Basketball UK welcomes anyone wishing to start a WBUK session and become an activator. WBUK have associates across the country who can deliver WBUK Activators courses and provide details of funding applications that have been successful for Walking Basketball activities in the past in your area.
