This week we are taking a break from our webinar series but we will be back next week with our session Communications Workshop: How to Positively Promote Your Club to help club volunteers who may not have a lot of time and/or experience to explain what makes a good story and what is the best way to get it out there so we can support shooting clubs in improving their profile, as well as the profile of the sport as a whole. We have also made available a recording of the session delivered last week: Getting the Best Out of Your Scatt - Deeper Drive so you can watch this back if you missed it.

One of the recommendations HMICS made following their inspection of NFEL in 2018 was that: 'Police Scotland should routinely assess user satisfaction with its firearms licensing service and use the feedback provided to develop and improve its licensing arrangements'. As a result, a survey consisting of 12 questions was developed with the assistance of the Analysis and Performance Unit and made available to the public via the Police Scotland website in April 2019 for a 12 month period. This survey has now been reopened to understand the experience of people who use our firearms and explosives licensing service. This is an important exercise which will help Police Scotland identify areas for improvement so STS would encourage members to spend a few minutes to provide your feedback and also for clubs to spread the word.

This weeks update about our lock down webinar series sees two sessions taking place this week. Disability Inclusion Training (DIT) for Clubs and Coaches has been developed between Scottish Disability Sport and Scottish Target Shooting aimed at clubs and coaches interested in becoming involved in sport for people with a disability. Getting the Best Out of Your Scatt - Deeper Drive follows on from the successful course on Scatt held at the end of May, this course will follow on from that to help show pistol and rifle how to get the best out of your Scatt, whether you are an athlete wanting to train more effectively or a coach wanting to know how best to use the Scatt at the club to get the most out of your athletes. We haven’t added any new sessions to the programme as we look to reflect over the next 2 weeks about the programme. However, we do still have sessions scheduled for early July so can still sign up for these.

Today, Thursday 18 June 2020, the First Minister confirmed that due to the positive action and response to date by the Scottish public, Scotland will be entering Phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s Route Map to recovery. As the First Minister stated today, Phase 2 will see a staged introduction of measures over the coming weeks. This is a clear, positive and welcome step forward in Scotland’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to this statement and the details contained in it, STS will be working on Phase 2 guidance that we hope to be able to provide soon, however we will need to make sure we carefully review the details of what has been published to make sure we can provide the correct advice to clubs. However, in summary from what was announced today, Phase 2 will not mark a significant change to the guidelines issued under Phase 1 with respect to target shooting.

To help members during this time of lock down, STS announced its programme of online webinars on areas of interest expressed by members through our education survey. This week we are hosting a session called Shotgun - Maximising Your Training Sessions focusing on how to get the most out of your training by looking at elements of session planning and season planning and delivered by world class coach Marco Micheli. STS has also now confirmed 2 more exciting session - Strength and Conditioning Training for Shooters looking at getting your body physically ready for the rigours of shooting, to be held on 14 July, and back by popular demand Getting the Best Out of Your Scatt - Deeper Dive, to be delivered again by STS Performance Rifle Coach Andrew Ross on 24 June.

To help members during this time of lock down, STS announced its programme of online webinars on areas of interest expressed by members through our education survey. This week we are hosting a session called A Shooting Mindset - Shooting Psychology for Athletes and Coaches. This online session is aimed at all discipline and will be suitable for both athletes wanting to learn how to improve their mental strength, as well as coaches wanting to know more about using psychology as part of their coaching toolbox. STS has also now confirmed 2 more sessions - Disability Inclusion Training (DIT) for Clubs and Coaches in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport, and a communications workshop on How Best to Positively Promote Your Club, to be delivered by the new STS Marketing & Communications Director. We are also planning for another Scatt session following the success of our previous event. To keep sessions accessible they are completely free, are normally only an hour long and run in the early evening so members still working can access them.

To help members during this time of lock down, STS announced its programme of online webinars on areas of interest expressed by members through our education survey. This week, STS will be facilitating the Child Wellbeing & Protection in Sport course, developed by Children 1st and sportscotland. The course is FULLY BOOKED. STS is close to confirming 2 new sessions for the last two weeks in June - Disability Inclusion Training for Shooting in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport, and Positively Promoting Your Club, to be delivered by the new STS Marketing & Communications Director. We are also looking to deliver another Scatt session following the success of last week’s event. To keep sessions accessible they are completely free, are normally only an hour long and run in the early evening so members still working can access them.

Today, Thursday 28th May 2020, the Scottish First Minister confirmed that Phase 1 of the recovery plan would now be enacted as a result of the improved situation in Scotland regarding the spread of COVID-19. Phase 1 will come into force from tomorrow, Friday 29 May, and enables a relaxation of lockdown around some outdoor exercise, meaning that some sporting activities can now be undertaken outdoors, providing all activity is consistent with current Scottish Government guidance on health, physical distancing and hygiene – information on Scottish Governments approach to managing covid-19 is available at www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/.

For some shooting clubs this will mean that a return to OUTDOOR shooting can now begin to be considered, on the condition that it is safe to do so and does not contravene any of the Scottish Government guidance.

To help members during this time of lock down, 2 weeks ago STS announced its programme of online webinars on areas of interest expressed by members through our education survey. This week, STS will be holding its second session in the programme - a Getting the Best Out of Your Scatt, tomorrow at 6pm. STS is also close to confirm 2 new sessions for the last two weeks in June - Disability Inclusion Training for Shooting in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport, and Positively Promoting Your Club, to be delivered by the new STS Marketing & Communications Director. We’ll let you know more once the dates are confirmed later this week. To keep sessions accessible they are completely free, are normally only an hour long and run in the early evening so members still working can access them.

On Thursday 21 May the NPCC (National Police Chief’s Council) issued a letter titled ‘Shooting grounds and COVID-19 Recover Phase’. STS would like to advise members that although this is not specifically stated, this letter refers to the recovery plan issued for England. As our members will be aware, Scotland has devolved authority to manage its own response to COVID-19 and is operating on a slightly different timescale and recovery plan, being prepared by the Scottish Government. Read on to see more about the Scottish context and what we are doing to support members.

Police Scotland have recently issued an update on their website with regards COVID-19 the processing if grants and renewals. We have included a copy of the update, as well as a link to the source of the material. STS will continue to keep members updated as and when we changes are made.

To help members during this time of lock down, last week STS announced its programme of online webinars on areas of interest expressed by members through our education survey. This week, STS will be holding its first session in the programme - a Q&A with Police Scotland, tomorrow at 6pm. STS is also pleased to confirm a session specifically for our shotgun members has been added with world class coach Marco Micheli on 16 June - Shotgun: Maximising Your Training Session. To keep sessions accessible they are completely free, are normally only an hour long and run in the early evening so members still working can access them.

This week marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week which is why STS felt it is important to remind the shooting community about the leaflet shared in March. Visit the articles on the STS website for more information about the leaflet and to download your copy. For this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, the theme is kindness. To read more about mental health Awareness Week and the importance of kindness, as well as ways of getting involved and donating, visit the Mental Health Foundation website.

To help members during this time of lock down, STS is pleased to announce a programme of online webinars on areas of interest expressed by members through our education survey. To keep sessions accessible they are completely free, are normally only an hour long and run in the early evening so members still working can access them.

On 1st April STS launched a campaign to highlight our members supporting the NHS front line. In return for individuals getting in touch to let us know about their shooting and what they are doing on the front line, we are rewarding these key workers with free Enhanced STS Membership in 2021. This is our May update, letting you know about our members doing amazing work on the NHS front line, highlighting these superstars so we can say thank you to them! We also understand there will be many more of our members working in essential services so while this project is focused on the NHS for the time being, we also want to say a big thank you to all those working in other essential services. Keep up the fantastic work you are doing!

STS has been reflecting on and refining the process used in 2019, as well as reviewing and benchmarking the scores against international standards and making some alterations. With that in mind, STS is pleased to confirm that the selection policy for the 2020/21 Performance Programme is now available on the STS website for anyone to access.

This article contains a brief which will be uploaded to the Police Scotland website today (20th March 2002) and has been approved at Executive level and which outlines Police Scotland’s interim processes. STS understands that these matters are of huge importance to the shooting community so are supporting the dissemination of this information through our website, social media channels and directly with members. We have also included a summary of the latest news government announcement tonight.