‘So what exactly do you lot do, then?’ 

I was talking to a long-standing member of BASC the other day about the work our political and firearms team were doing on firearms licensing, and he wryly remarked: “So what exactly do the rest of you lot do, then?”

Having covered lots of topics, we chuckled when he admitted that he doesn’t read the magazine and is not signed up to our weekly BASC Live newsletter. But it got me thinking that we are so busy helping members, and protecting and promoting shooting, that perhaps we do need to be louder about those activities.

Here are some statistics from last year, taken from the recently published BASC 2024 Annual Review.

BASC’s full-time specialist firearms department handled 8,537 inquiries. We held more than 110 formal meetings with firearms licensing departments and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC). BASC to School educated a record-breaking 52,655 children about shooting and the countryside.

We delivered more than 6,000 shotgun coaching lessons as well as 1,000 courses to individuals and businesses. We held more than 100 introductory shooting events. Regional and country teams delivered more than 400 shoot briefings and took part in more than 500 stakeholder engagements.

Our website had 5.5 million visits and was accessed by 1 million people. BASC YouTube content was watched more than 203,000 times.

Two major reports were published last year showing the benefits of shooting for society. First was the Natural Capital benefits account for shooting, totalling some £1.1 billion across carbon sequestration, recreation, health and wellbeing and food, forestry and farming. This was followed by the Value of Shooting report which showed that shooting directly contributes £3.3 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy. The report also showed that £500 million worth of voluntary time is spent on habitat and species management as a result of shooting.

BASC continues to use these research findings to evidence the positive impact of shooting with decision-makers.

Politics

Last year BASC encouraged members to engage with candidates for the PCC elections and the general election. Our political team continues to make good on the promises made by PCCs and MPs that were subsequently elected, in our efforts to improve firearms licensing and make the case for sustainable shooting.

That advocacy work is bearing fruit, such as police forces investing more resources into firearms licensing and the deregulation of sound moderators. With pressures on gamebird releasing, moorland management and an expected public consultation later this year on quarry species and seasons in England, it is vital that we continue countering misinformation with evidence.

The latest litmus test for these efforts will be the outcome of the 30 June Parliamentary debate on Wild Justice’s petition to ban grouse shooting – the result of which is on the BASC website (basc.org.uk).

It is easy to lose sight of external perspectives of BASC. Our newly elected council members often remark after a few months that they had no idea of the scale of our operation – with dozens of projects being delivered daily across the UK and beyond.

So if you are interested in a deep dive into all that BASC did last year, visit the AGM area of our website where you can download our annual review. And if you want to keep abreast of the weekly key issues we are currently tackling, visit the news area of our website to sign up for the BASC Live newsletter, published every Wednesday and emailed free to members and non-members.

You could also check out our social media accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn, and listen to our monthly podcast.

If you are attending any of this summer’s game fairs and country shows, please visit the BASC stand and collar one of us with the question “What exactly do you lot do, then?”