Help BYSA Stay on Target

Aim

Help us to renovate a clubhouse at Bisley to provide facilities to support young people in taking up target shooting sports.

Help the British Young Shooters Association Stay on Target!

Who We Are & What We Do

Founded in 2016, the British Young Shooters Association (BYSA) is a not for profit community organisation run by a growing group of passionate volunteers. We are dedicated to supporting the increased participation of young people in the sport of target shooting, whatever their ability level or background.

We facilitate access to the sport for young people throughout the UK though our two annual flagship events held at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley, as well as single discipline events held at various locations nationwide. We keep our prices as low as possible to keep the sport accessible, with membership starting at only £12 per year.

We support our members by providing access to equipment, encouragement and training. We help experienced shooters to compete and all shooters to develop with one to one coaching. We train shooters from a probationary level to being able to shoot independently, safely and accurately with competency certification from the national governing body – the National Rifle Association of the UK. Currently, we provide training and events in smallbore target rifle, fullbore target rifle, gallery rife, historic service rifle and civilian service rifle.

This range of disciplines means that there is truly something for everyone. Target Rifle has the potential for exceptional equality; age, gender, race and physical ability have no bearing on a shooter’s potential. Very different people compete shoulder to shoulder as equals. BYSA is encouraging this diversity and our members come from a range of backgrounds. We further extend this reach by keeping our prices low, enabling those from lower socio-economic backgrounds to access the sport.

Achievements

BYSA has only existed for 5 years, but we have many things to be proud of. Firstly and most importantly, we are achieving our aim of increasing the participation of young people in the sport of target shooting, and helping those people continue their participation in the sport after they leave their school/university/cadet unit.

Due to our success in this, we have become a hub for youth shooting in Britain. We have excellent relationships with a large number of youth shooting clubs (schools, universities, cadets) and have become the go to people for youth shooting – both for clubs and individuals wanting help, and also those wishing to support young shooters.

BYSA has seen rapid, unprecedented growth, which we wish to continue in order to further increase the participation of young people in the sport of target shooting. Over the past four years our membership has grown around 350%, our club affiliations have tripled and we have increased the number of disciplines we offer from one to five. Our assets, liabilities and determination have all grown too. However, this growth is expanding beyond our current capabilities, which leads onto…

Why We Need Your Support

BYSA has benefited from excellent relationships, with many people in the shooting community offering their support (and we are very thankful for it). However, as a consequence of keeping our prices low, we have a fragile bank balance that cannot cover the required expansion of our capabilities – we do not have enough money to support our growth.

Due to Covid-19 forcing the cancellation of our two flagship training events and associated activities, we have lost up to 80% of our annual income at the time when we needed it the most.

In February 2020, before the pandemic took hold in the UK, we agreed with the NRA of the UK to take on the lease of the former masonic Sit Perpetuum Lodge at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley.

With your support, we will substantially renovate the Lodge to provide the modern, high standard, low cost accommodation that is essential for enabling new participants from all backgrounds and from across the country to train and compete. Your help will allow us to cover the rent, rates and utilities of the lodge in the absence of events and fund key renovation for a grand opening in summer this year. We will install new beds in dormitories, an armoury, equipment storage, a kitchen and ladies toilets and showers which are currently absent. You can keep up to date with our progress here: http://sitpetlodge.co.uk/

In the short term, we will make the accommodation Covid-19 compliant to support us in our return to play this year. This will facilitate safe training and target shooting events in line with the guidance put in place by National Rifle Association of the UK during the pandemic.

Any funds raised beyond that required to renovate and maintain the new clubhouse will be funnelled back into supporting young shooters.

Contributing to the Community

We are a community building organisation bringing people together from across the country at the National Shooting Centre and elsewhere through our events. Alongside shooting, we create a vibrant social scene where people have developed lifelong friendships.

We work closely with university rifle clubs to support them through the unreliability of having a high turnover of membership and committee, as well as assisting in their expansion and development.

BYSA’s ultimate goal is to expand the target rifle community through engaging, encouraging and maintaining young shooters. We wish to destigmatise target shooting and bring it to a larger audience who can benefit from its inherent even playing field.

Our facility at Sit Perpetuum Lodge will be available for community use during the various open meetings for all disciplines held at Bisley, with a priority for supporting youth organisations including the Cadet forces, Schools and University Shooting Clubs. It will also give us a facility to host community events, such as barbeques during the Imperial Meeting – which was first contested on Wimbledon Common in 1860 when Queen Victoria fired the first shot and is now held at Bisley every year. 

What the club means to our members

Alex Thomas

Without BYSA I would have been certain to end my involvement with target shooting after leaving university. I didn’t have knowledge of rifle clubs outside of university, and being naturally shy and unconfident I wouldn’t have wished to approach them. However, with joining BYSA I have maintained my interest, developed the confidence to join my local club and have competed in national competitions. I am now committed to the sport and have bought a lot of my own equipment. Most importantly, I have maintained friendships I would have lost and developed new ones at a time in my life when I was moving away from everyone I knew. I have BYSA to thank for all of that.

Christy Chan

BYSA has provided so much for me, and for that I am forever grateful. As a university student, the BYSA trips have allowed me to carry on in a sport that I love at a reasonable price, with top quality coaching and range hire. They have even allowed me to borrow truckloads of equipment when all of mine seems to break! I have seen first hand the vital role that BYSA plays in developing and nurturing younger and newer shooters, often being the first point of contact for a lot of individuals, providing a one stop shop for all things shooting. Without them, I’m sure a lot of us would have never joined the sport in the first place!

Beth Beard

As the former president of Nottingham Trent University Shooting Club, BYSA’s help has been invaluable. There were many times throughout my three years at university in which our club was supported by BYSA. This support ranged from last minute gun hire and supplying ammunition to friendly advice, we knew we could always rely on them. With shooting being more of an individual sport we always felt that social events were incredibly important to gel and bond as a club. BYSA’s shooting weekends at Bisley always provided a fantastic way to get to know everyone from NTU and also become friends with members from other areas which provided us with amazing opportunities for collaborative events.

Tom De La Cour on behalf of Exeter University Rifle Club, its committee and members

Since BYSA’s creation our club has had a great deal of support from this great organisation. They have helped us run several of our fullbore trips to Bisley assisting with lane hire, food, accommodation and access to equipment. Decreasing the cost of these trips substantially, allowing more of our student members to take part.  This has meant our club can continue to offer shooting trips to new members who have never shot before to get a taste and become enthusiastic about this great sport. Their student trips have also become a great place for us to meet other students from across the country and create a larger community of young shooters. Furthermore, BYSA has given its support to several individual members of our club assisting them to purchase their first target rifles so that they can continue the sport into the future.  We have no doubt that without BYSA there would be considerably fewer young people taking part and interested in target rifle shooting. Ultimately, BYSA has become an indispensable affiliate to our club and students.

Abyl Kaium

I joined BYSA  to attend their Fullbore Target Rifle sessions, both to experience shooting Fullbore and get some Target Rifle training. They have helped me with applying for my Firearms Certificate and purchasing my own firearms, and through them, I found out about Gallery Rifle as a discipline. The club was really helpful organising an experience day which led to my chance to shoot a lever action rifle, and introducing me to the awesome Derby Rifle and Pistol Club. BYSA is full of experts and enthusiasts across almost all the shooting disciplines meaning there is access to advice and coaching from some of the best shooters in the country. And all of that at a fraction of the cost you would normally see!

Thank you to everyone for your support! We couldn’t do it without you!

This project successfully funded on 2nd June 2021