Who Are We?
Black and Gold Archers are a target archery club in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. We are a friendly, social club keen to support anyone who wants to learn and develop Archery skills. We have a large number of recurve archers and growing numbers of compound and longbow archers.
The club was founded at GCHQ in 1948 as a Civil Service Gun and Archery Club. It took its name from the colour of the centre of both targets: black from the rifle target and gold from the archery target. The gun club later folded and the archery club became known as The Black and Gold Archery Club.
It has been a long time since we’ve been a GCHQ-only club shooting on GCHQ grounds, but we are proud to celebrate our origins through association with the Cotswold Area Civil Service Sports Association, where we shoot in the Summer. We also support the Civil Service Archery Association, hosting the annual South West Regional Tournament on the CACSSA field.
In 2017 we revised our logo following some work carried out by one of our members. You will see both logos displayed proudly if you are able to visit a tournament or beginners course.
The Committee
Executive
Chairman - Russell Shepherd
Vice Chair - Josie Williams
Treasurer - Michael Reynolds
Secretary - Katy Graham
Officers
Club Captain -Pete Himsworth
Tournament Officer - Carol Williams
Media Officer - James Graham
Records Officer - Barbara Webb
Equipment Officer - Chris Squires
Fundraising Officer - Lee Niblett
Development Officer - Josie Williams
Reps
CSSC Member Sec - Marilyn Parker
Rep to CSSC/CSAA/AGB - Ginger Parker
Rep to GAS - John Swinton
Longbow Rep - Bob Davies
Junior Rep - Kitty Squires
Most of our committee and coaches are also trained field captains
Coaches
Ginger Parker
Barbara Webb
Josie Williams
Lee Niblett
Mark Kent
Barry Liles
Club Constitution & Privacy Notice
Please see below our Club Constitution which was ratified in April 2018 following a comprehensive rewrite. In line with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) we have also published below our Privacy Notice.
Organisations & Affiliations
Archery GB and World Archery
Archery GB is the governing body for all forms of archery in the UK. It is also known by its former title the Grand National Archery Society (GNAS).
World Archery, also referred to as FITA from its former French name of Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc, set the Olympic rules for the sport.
GWAS
The Grand Western Archery Society is our regional body. It covers Devon & Cornwall, Dorset & Wilts, Gloucestershire and Somerset. As well as holding regional records and inter-county tournaments, GWAS also run a week of tournaments at Dunster Castle.
GAS
The Gloucestershire Archery Society supports 15 archery clubs in Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, and Bristol: Bath & Phoenix, Black & Gold, Minchinhampton, The Deans, Bristol, Cheltenham, Cleeve, Deer Park, Fast & Loose, Glevum, Gt Rissington, Newnham, Tyndale and Tockington.
Other Archery Organisations
Black and Gold host the South West regional tournament of the Civil Service Archery Association in the summer months.
There are also national and international associations for most types of archery including the International Longbow Archers Association (ILAA), The British Longbow Society, The English Field Archery Association and the National Field Archery Association.
Other B&G Organisations
All Black and Gold club members also join the Civil Service Sports Club to be able to use the beautiful grounds at Uckington.
Cotswold Area Civil Service Sports Association are our outdoors hosts from April-September, where we host our Spring and Summer tournaments as well as the SW regionals of the CSAA.
Our Favourite Shops
Wales Archery just up the road in Chepstow is where many of us get our first set of equipment. They know the club well and are really knowledgeable and helpful.
If you can travel a little further afield, Merlin Archery in Loughborough also have a great range of equipment and helpful staff with plenty of time to help queries large or small.