About the BPA
Updated 15 February 2010 Contact us
The National Governing Body for Sport Parachuting
The British Parachute Association was founded in 1962. It is a democratic, not-for-profit organisation of individuals whose purpose is to organise, govern and further the advancement of Sport Parachuting in the UK. The BPA is has no shareholders - it is owned and run by its Members. The BPA is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. Its governing instrument is the BPA Memorandum & Articles of Association.
Aims and objectives
The BPA maintains and promotes the highest standards of safety and training in the sport. It encourages participation and promote excellence at all levels of skydiving from novice to world class competitor.
For more see BPA Form 224: About the BPA and the BPA Annual Report. (Sorry, due to a website malfunction we have not yet been able to upload the Chairman's Annual Report 2009, published in February 2010.)
Minutes of BPA Council and Committee meetings are published regularly.
Each year, the BPA publishes an Action Plan.
Membership and Affiliated Centres
The BPA has a membership of more than 30,000. There are a number of different categories of membership. In addition, there are around 27 BPA Affiliated Parachute Clubs & Centres.
Click here for BPA Facts and Figures.
Governance
The BPA is run by a governing Council of Management. Council Members are drawn from, and nominated and elected by, the voting Members of the BPA. Council Members are the Directors of BPA Ltd. The Council controls all aspects of skydiving on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority. Unlike some sports, which may suffer from fragmented and divided governing bodies, the British Parachute Association represents most UK skydivers and the majority of skydivers within the UK are members of the Association.
Funding
The Association is funded mostly by membership subscriptions. See the BPA Accounts These accounts were approved at a General Meeting on Tuesday 8 December 2009
AGM
The BPA AGM is held on a Saturday in mid-to-late January each year. Click for minutes of AGM 2010. See the diary of events page for date and venue of the next AGM.
Staff
The Council employs a small staff to help to carry out its policy. Safety, training, competitions, finance and development are administered by the full-time officials of the Association who include a National Coach and Safety Officer, Technical Officer, and financial and administrative support staff.
Links
British Parachute Association is a Member of the of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, which is the UK National Aero Club (NAC) of the World Air Sports Federation (Federation Aeronautique Internationale).The BPA nominates the UK Delegate and UK Alternate Delegate to the FAI's International Parachuting Commission. See the links page for more sport parachuting-related links.
