Chair’s Update – July 2026

I would like to thank everyone who attended the UKPSA Annual General Meeting where myself, along with Ben Ducker and Gareth Cooper were re-elected to serve on the Charity Board. There were no candidates standing against the current incumbents and membership votes were cast as follows:

Chair Martyn Spence Votes For 160 Against 19

Treasurer Gareth Cooper Votes For 160 Against 11

Lay Member Ben Ducker Votes For 160 Against 8

I would like to thank our General Secretary, Jayne Lawley-Morris, for organising the meeting and Angus McCall for providing the technical set up and support.

The UKPSA annual report and financial statements for 2025/2026 demonstrated that overall UKPSA finances are sound but some prudent cost cutting and financial management had been required to bring spending under control which had significantly exceeded income in the previous year. With the Board adopting a new system of budget setting for 2026/27, this has also meant some hard decisions have had to be made about what was affordable. One of the key questions posed by a member was that given the financial pressures faced by the association and members, how do we deliver a sustainable and affordable competition calendar in the future. Our Regional Director, Kev Strowger working with the Sports Council, and Gareth the Treasurer, committed to developing a plan for this for the 2027 season and beyond. 

Also at the AGM we discussed the new extended service for UKPSA members from Firearms Licencing who, as well as providing advice and advocacy, will also take on the role of providing SGC/FAC revocation legal services. UKPSA members can access their support by filling out a simple online form with their contact details.

One of the great joys of our sport is to meet people from across the world. At the recent European Handgun Championships, I got to proudly wear my GB shirt whilst competing in the pre-match with a whole squad of Austrian ROs. They were a wonderful group to shoot with and along with our NROI President, Jason Clarke, I later got to work with some of them as part of the team running this huge IPSC event. I know a record number of UKPSA members will be competing in the Shotgun World Championships in Greece later this year, and I hope they get to enjoy the same sense of camaraderie, competing hard but at the same time making life-long friends. Of course you don’t have to travel abroad to compete in quality IPSC matches, with plenty of opportunities to still shoot your rifle, shotgun and handgun at UKPSA matches in the coming months. Check out the UKPSA match calendar for more details and get shooting. 

Martyn Spence

Chair, UKPSA Board