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2022-10-02-accounts

World Rescue Organisation

WRO Executive Report – 2022

Introduction

Welcome to the 2021 – 2022 WRO Executive Report, the report takes account of the work and activities undertaken by the WRO Executive team over the past ten months. The report is subdivided into updates per function within the Executive and aims to highlight the work undertaken as part of the continuous development of the WRO.

Chairman’s message

The past twelve months have seen a look towards the return to a more normal World Rescue Challenge, whilst still being aware of potential issues associated with COVID-19. As Chair of the WRO and as part of the Host team I have had the unique opportunity to see the development of a WRC from both perspectives. This knowledge and understanding will greatly assist when we undertake the annual review of the World Rescue Challenge MoU, when working with future hosts and existing and new sponsors and supporters.

Over the course of the last two years, we have been operating a number of working groups, with the new Membership Working Group commencing this year. Due to the work involved within each working group they are all expected to report at different times over the course of the current business plan, I look forward to reviewing the findings of all our working groups. I wish to record my gratitude and that of the WRO for the work undertaken by each of our working groups and the many individuals who are giving their time and knowledge to these groups.

During last year as a result of the work undertaken to develop the first ever Virtual Rescue Challenge we learned a lot in terms of producing, developing and maintaining a virtual space of this type. This year we applied that learning in the production of our updated WRO portal. I want to thank Andy Fyfe for his excellent work in developing a first-class site which we will further develop into our main location for the new WRO Academy. The focus this year has been to develop a space for our Sponsors and Supporters. I believe that as an international organisation, WRO will have to continue to use the possibilities offered by new online technologies, as it will facilitate networking among members and help to get a better outreach of our activities throughout the world.

As you will see throughout this report there are many areas of work ongoing which requires the ongoing commitment of the executive team and our members it is for this reason that I want to thank all of our WRO members for their continuing support, it is very much welcome and will always be encouraged. I also wish to acknowledge the work of the WRO Executive team and our functional officers, without them it would be difficult to see how the WRO could exist and thank them for their considerable effort, time and in some cases sacrifice they take to deliver and uphold the WRO and its work.

Vice Chair’s Report

The Vice Chair has over the past year been working on a number of areas which includes providing support to the Chair and WRO Executive members, undertaking work relative to the Vice Chair function within pillar plan three, the development of key WRO policies and standards in particular.

This work cannot be done in isolation and will require a number of Member Organisations to assist with the drafting of such policies for presentation to the WRO Executive and wider committee. It is proposed that a Working Group will be formed following this AGM from interested members, firstly to share existing policies and to propose a standardisation to these for use by all member organisations. It is also proposed to follow a similar structure that was used by the Membership Working Group of weekly meeting and a focus on achieving the tasks in a short timeframe.

In addition to this, we previously agreed to begin work on a quarterly WRO Newsletter to highlight the work of all the member organisations, although this has not been delivered yet, it was highlighted during the committee briefing sessions held mid-way during the year, which was somewhat successful in increasing communications between all member organisations and the executive however greater

communications will be required to create a newsletter which will be of benefit to the wider community. A solution to this may be in communication and changes that will be proposed by the Secretary.

Further to this is a proposal to record Key Performance Indicators for each member organisation, as a way to highlight the great work done by the members and also to highlight areas requiring attention. The proposed format and matrix will be discussed during the 2022 AGM.

Secretary’s Report

2021/22 has once again been a very busy period for the WRO Secretariat. The work over this period has seen the regular annual, monthly and daily routines, such as the programming and management of strategic and operational, meetings with internal and external partners, maintaining communications with WRO members and partners, other programmed work in line with the WRO Business Plan, the Secretariat plan under pillar 2 and other key areas of work as outlined below.

Membership Working Group – originally planned to commence in 2021, this bit of work was pushed back a year due to poor uptake from members and the shift in focus to the virtual event in 2021. Due to the reporting timeframes required under the WRO decision making process it was necessary to undertake an accelerated meeting programme with the main body of work by the team running for ten weeks in line with the approved workplan. The process sub divided the requirements within the Terms of Reference into manageable segments which could be worked through during each of the weekly meetings. This focused approach worked very well and proved to be beneficial to the team members attending the meetings and undertaking the work. Detailed notes from each meeting were taken and circulated to the team for any final adjustment, allowing that segment to be signed off for inclusion into the final report. This approach proved to be highly effective in getting the necessary work completed and at the same time ensuring that team members were aware of the structured workload and the completion date for the main body of work. Such an approach may be beneficial to future work groups and volunteers.

The MWG full report and recommendations in several languages, were circulated on the 13[th ] of June providing an eight-week consultation period, returns from members were collated and placed into a feedback document. Following the AGM further work will take place, new documentation produced, and the constitution updated as per the report.

I wish to acknowledge the team, Diana Aristizabal, Joel Biever, Quentin Botha, Michael Chippendale and David Cockbain. Without them and the support of their own organisations, this work would not have been possible, there expertise, professionalism and commitment to this essential work has been exemplary and I thank them on behalf of the WRO.

WRC Bid Process – For a number of years the process adopted by the WRO to approve future hosts has worked well, which in the main has been based on one bid for a particular year, with that bid being the only bid for that year. However, as WRO grows, and more organisations become members, there is the likelihood that we could see competing bids for the same year, as was expected for WRC2025. Approving bids based on limited information can bring its own risks to the WRO and its members, therefore a more formal process is required which will assist the WRO General committee in the decision-making process to approve all future WRC’s. It is also important for the WRO that it is able to measure all competing bids on a like for like basis. Please see the updated guidance and bid template.

Future expressions of interest and bids to host a WRC, I continue to work with and support members who wish to submit a future bid to host. The next available years, 2025 – 2028, have already received expressions of interest from Brazil for 2026 and the Republic of Ireland for 2028. Both members will be invited to produce an official bid using the above template and present at the 2023 AGM. Expressions of interest to host the 2025 WRC from Miami and Tyne and Wear were both withdrawn. Australia have indicated that they are interested in hosting the 2025 WRC, however they require further information, a meeting is planned with the ARRO rep at WRC2022 to discuss.

WRO Portal – The Executive opted to create a new portal for the WRO as part of the planning for WRC2021, the delivery and application of which was a success. The original aim was to ensure the usage of the portal in future years to compliment and link with future WRC’s. Its aim is to promote the WRO, WRC, the WRO Academy and link dedicated WRO sponsors and partners to this work. This year the WRO has taken full control of the portal which will now be managed and further developed

through our communications officer, Andy Fyfe supported by the WRO Secretary and WRO Treasurer.

New Executive reporting process – A new reporting process has been introduced to support the Executives monthly meetings.

Proposed Secretariat – Last year, I indicated that it was my intention to establish a Secretariat to support better communications, share some of the workload and help with resilience. This has proved to be more difficult than anticipated in obtaining suitable volunteers. Therefore, I have decided to establish a Secretaries Forum consisting of all WRO members Secretaries or where an organisation does not have a secretary the nominated main contacts as per the WRO contacts list. From a WRO perspective it will help with communications, language, development, and support resilience for example which in turn will aid the overall development of the WRO. From a member’s perspective it will help to share good practice, enhance, and develop contacts, plus a number of other benefits to our members. Current anticipated commitment would be 4 or 6 hours a year for any meetings.

Communications – are as always, a challenge and need constant attention to ensure they are being effective. It is for this reason that we now have a WRO Communications Officer. The next stage is to look at enhancing and supporting our ability to communicate. Andy Fyfe will provide an update at the AGM with regards to development of new communication roles and the WRO website.

Team Entry Criteria Implementation – WRC2022 saw for the first time, the application of the new team allocation and entry criteria. The application of which added additional complexities in terms of communications and timing, whilst the issue is not with the TAEC document itself it sits with applying the process. In conjunction with the WRO Communications Officer investigations will take place to identify options for introduction of an electronic system to register teams for future WRC’s.

WRC MOU – this has been updated for WRC2022 and a master template produced for future hosts. APRAT and ANSD have been sent the master MOU for their information. Following WRC2022, the MOU will be updated as appropriate and in line with feedback from this year’s host.

WRO Committee Meeting – These meetings which are now more in the form of briefings have proved to be effective over the past two years. They will continue in 2023 with two meetings planned for next year, this is in addition to the AGM. Dates to follow once date for 2023 AGM confirmed.

Limpopo project - In October and November, the WRO was invited by the GRSP to bid for a potential project in the Limpopo region of South Africa. The bid was submitted on the 15th of November, we are awaiting from news from the funding organisation with regards to the outcome of the bid.

GRSP – The Secretary and the WRO Treasurer continue to work alongside our colleagues in the GRSP, see project and Partner updates below.

UNRSC – The Secretary and the Treasurer continue to work alongside our colleagues in the UNRSC,

see project and Partner updates below.

Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards – As part of an initiative from the MFG, I along with the WRO Treasurer collaborated on the application process for the award. Notification of the outcome is expected in October/November with any awards being presented in December.

New Members – We continue to work with organisations interested in becoming members and have this year provide information and support to Singapore and Dubai.

WRO Business Impact Assessment – this area of work reported last year has progressed, however it is not complete at this time

Pillar Plan 2 – The work associated with the Business Plan and relative to the WRO Secretariat can be found on SharePoint, Pillar Plan 2 The plan shows the progress of work over the period of the Business Plan which has been undertaken by the Secretary.

Treasurers report

2021-2022 has been an active year to date, following on from the Virtual challenge in November 2021 which was a success in many ways. The virtual event provided a platform for building a further opportunity for Marketing and Funding going forward.

The Treasurer’s role under pillar 4 of the WRO strategic business plan, has several areas that have been active since the last AGM which I have outlined the key points below.

Follow up on WRC2021 – After the completion of VWRC 2021 I undertook to ensure all accounts where balanced, with both monies owed and monies due had been accounted for and appropriate documentation had been administrated. The analytics provided by the virtual event allowed me to provide sponsors with stats and data to assist with marketing and funding, showcasing the social media exposure and interactivity on the WRO platform. Over 990k interactions took place during the event and another sizeable activity in the weeks post event.

WRO insurance – The WRO has been investigating the purchasing of a corporate insurance policy to cover the executive and functional officers with regards to Management liability. To the greater extent, most of the executive and functional officers attend events under the WRO are not covered by their service, so therefore it is imperative that cover is in place. There is also the matter of directors' responsibility, each WRO Executive member is potentially liable under Companies house and the charities commission for any activities that contravene the rules associated with a registered charity. There is the same argument for travel insurance which is a complex issue to manage. The other element is securing the integrity of the organisation.

It was with all the above in mind that I set out to access the potential policy cover required, with the assistance of an MFG member, the WRO Secretary and Chair we manage to engage PIB brokers and are currently closing in on securing adequate cove. We are hopeful of having this in place for this year's WRC.

CBMM – Following on from the successful partnering with CBMM, regular scheduled meetings have taken place with two of CBMM’s representatives [also a fellow GRSP member], the WRO Secretary and myself. The key aim is to expand the networking capacity and potential collaborations. In July 2022 the partnership was formerly broadcast and reached out to an estimated potential billion viewers through the combined WRO/CBMM and associated media platforms. Further discussions led to the initiation of a road safety project by CBMM to take place in India, the WRO have been requested to assist with the event, which is due to take place in January 2023, the final plans are yet to be confirmed.

The MFG – The Marketing and Funding group reconvened in March 2022 following the VWRC, albeit there had been interactions with some of the MFG members within the months in between. Utilising the expertise and networking of the group members we were able to reach out to potential points of contact that otherwise would not normally have been available to us, I have listed some of these below. The MFG continues to actively pursue all possible avenues of revenue accrual. Like the EFTG the MFG is an invaluable resource and asset to the WRO. Some of the MFG members will attend in person at this year's WRC.

Extreme E – The FIA affiliated offroad electric vehicle event organiser was introduced via a MFG member, and a meeting took place along with the WRO Secretary to discuss potential shared information on EV and EV rescue. There has been no further update as yet, but we will revisit this in due course.

KSA – Another MFG contact, the contact who has connections in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [KSA] and is involved in providing assistance with training and coordination for rescue elements. There were no firm plans formerly agreed on, but the door is open for potential collaboration.

PWC.com - This MFG contact is based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, this well-established company provides a similar opportunity to the KSA contact. Once again while no formal agreement is in place, the WRO are now on their radar as a point of contact should they require assistance.

Thatcham Research UK. - One of the founding entities of EuroNCAP, Thatcham has been carrying crash testing data analytics for nearly thirty years now. The meeting was very informative and a keen interest from both sides with a follow up to take place in the future to see how we can collaborate between the two organisations. Once again, the link came via a MFG member and was attend also by the WRO Secretary and myself.

Anglo- American – In association with the GRSP the WRO submitted a bid to assist in a project in Limpopo, Africa. [see Secretary’s report]

GRSP & UNRSC – Continued to assist the WRO Secretary with supporting the work with both the GRSP and UNRSC [ see updates below]

EFTG – Following the covid-19 forced hiatus, the Entry Fee Task Group reconvened to review the entry fee criteria and document, in-line with the EFTG process. The group reviewed the document and provided a draft document for the WRO Executive to feedback on. The draft document has now been submitted for ratification at this year's AGM.

Rescate Jota – Following an approach from Rescate to become an official supplier at WRC 22, the WRO proposed an MOU agreement between the WRO and Rescate Jota which following associated amendments and acceptance both parties signed off on the partnership.

WRO Portal – Assisted the WRO Secretary with the transition of control of the portal platform to the WRO comms officer. The Marketing and Funding element is of key significance under the pillar 4 plan, so it is worth investing time into this task. For more information see the Secretary’s report.

Continued sponsorship strategy – The retention and recruitment of sponsors and partners is a living project; it is continuous and diverse and remains a key component of the pillar 4 plan.

PMIRSA – The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards take place in December 2022, and this year the WRO Executive assisted by an MFG member submitted an application under the postcrash care section. The WRO Secretary and I completed the application which was accepted at stage one of the awards process.

Project EDWARD – There was an initial contact made with Project Edward a number of years back when it was a more European based entity, it was more a networking capacity building at that point for both organisations with a view to potential collaboration in the future. These days they are mainly UK based and are on occasion assisted by WRO member the UKRO. Following a further link up organised by an MFG member this year, the potential for P.E to expand back out into a more international landscape and therefore have revisited possible collaborations with the WRO. One such collaboration is participation in a P.E podcast due out on September 2[nd] , 2022.

Pillar plan 4 - The work associated with the Business Plan and relative to the WRO Treasurer can be found on SharePoint, Pillar Plan 4 The plan shows the progress of work over the period of the Business Plan which has been undertaken by the Treasurer.

- Financial Reports WRO Financial reports 2022 AGM

Operations Directorate

The operations directorate continues to support the advancement of professional rescue by continuously testing the knowledge and capabilities of participants with ever challenging scenarios, highly trained assessors, and quality assurance of all aspects of the directorate.

The present Directorate structure is:

Rui Santos – Logistics

Zsolt Beres – Trauma & Extrication Medical Standards

Ian Marritt – Head Assessor, Assessor Coordination and Standards

The Operations Directorate has continued to work during the present global circumstances to ensure progression and enhancement of the future of the rescue challenge. This has been achieved by the establishment of the Challenge Review Group (CRG), an umbrella working group consisting of members from WRO member organisations.

The CRG will continue to act as an umbrella group consisting of task and finish groups covering the references of Challenge Development and there has been some minor changes as follows:

The CRG will consist of:

CRG Chair Director of Operations Kevin Lennon UKRO (Scotland) CRG Lead WRO Head Assessor Ian Marritt UKRO (England) WRO WRO Logistics Lead Rui Santos ANSD (Portugal) Member Education Liaison Ian Marritt UKRO (England) Member QAA Lead Oscar Campillo ALAREV (Latin America) Member HSW Lead Steve Meyer LRO (Luxembourg) Member CSD Lead Pepe Ortiz APRAT (Spain) Member MABL Lead Mark Brennan ROI (Ireland)

The above will be achieved by establishing task and finish and working subgroups to ensure a full cross section of ideas from our diverse organisations are considered.

These subgroups are:

Quality Assurance and Assessment Working Group QAA Health Safety and Wellbeing Working Group HSW Challenge Structure Development Working Group CSD Medical Advisory Board Liaison Working Group MABL

In addition to these SBP priorities the directorate will explore a restructure and streamlining of the Operations directorate with consideration to the following:

Under each of the above posts a group was formed from WRO Member Organisation members to work on the development of each of the group’s references.

Whilst member support and participation has improved throughout the year, any lack of communication by members makes it exceedingly difficult for the executive to carry out their function as a quick response is required to progress all functions. I urge member leads to continue this improvement and to assist and communicate when required in a timely manner.

The Rescue Challenge is an ever-evolving event and to continue to stimulate and explore the bounds of rescue we intend to:

The above can only be achieved through the assist of member organisations who have a vast amount of knowledge and experience and it is only with the assistance from all member organisations can we truly advance professional rescue globally as a team.

Education and Development Directorate

2021/2022 has been a period of implementation for this new education and development department. After the virtual event which demonstrated our know-how, it is now a question of developing our exchanges all year round outside the annual WRC meeting.

A working group whose objective is to work on the creation of a collaborative and educational space has been launched. It is only at the beginning of its work.

You will have observed that this edition of the WRC is marked by the organization of numerous workshops. They testify to our desire to promote our knowledge, to create debates. It is also an opportunity to offer our partners spaces for discussion with rescue professionals from all over the world. We have therefore worked to organize workshops in different areas and in line with current events. They are sometimes intended to lead to future work within the organization.

It is also a matter of monitoring new technologies, the new risks presented by vehicles and getting closer to the rescue and automotive industries. All this is the objective of the second working group which is committed to developing these workshops, including outside the WRC

We have had numerous contacts with Italy, which is going to join the association as a new member, and I want to welcome them. This demonstrates all the interest shown in the parallel development of the work carried out by the secretariat to support Singapore and Dubai.

The third working group, the objective of which is to define an education and training strategy, will start after the WRC because most of its members have worked in its organisation.

I would like to thank Sharon Kelly from ROI, Joel Biever from LRO and Laurent Dupont from FNSPF for supporting me in this work which is only just beginning. And thank all the people who have expressed an interest in participating in the working groups.

Business Plan, Projects and working groups status

Business plan status – The WRO business plan is a five-year plan 2020 - 2014, with the plan currently is currently sitting at mid-point. A review of the plan will take place in 2023, followed by an update in terms objective and relevant content. The updated plan will be presented at the 2023 AGM.

All to provide relative information via the Pillar plan template Cameron to compile – Appendix with compiled pillar plan status

India - This is a project which has come about as part of the WRO’s partnership with CBMM and the GRSP. Planning is ongoing to deliver a road safety event within India in January 2023, the WRO will contribute to this event in the form of highlighting the benefits of effective post-crash intervention and care.

Membership Working group – see relevant section within the Secretary’s report.

Marketing and Funding –

Challenge Review Group –

Education and Development -

Partner Updates

Global Road Safety Partnership

Earlier this year the WRO was invited to become a co-opted member on the GRSP Executive, this was approved at the GRSP AGM in June 2022. Work with the GRSP continues to identify new areas of collaboration. We also appreciate the support provided by the GRSP in terms of work within the MWG and the MFG.

CTIF

A joint MoU has been produced between the WRO and CTIF, the WRO Chair has been in contact with the new CTIF President. A meeting between the WRO and CTIF is arranged for during the WRC2022. Details will follow after that meeting.

Look Forward

The areas outlined below are planned as part of the ongoing work under the WRO Business plan and associated work by WRO Executive members and Functional Officers

This report is submitted by the WRO Executive members as listed below

Chair Paul Schroder

Vice Chair Mick Gahan

Secretary Cameron Black

Treasurer Declan Cassidy

Director of Operations Kevin Lennon

Director of Education and Development Yannick Auloy