Our FOI to UK Sport
In our FOI to UK Sport, we are asking: how public money is being used to protect athletes and prevent abuse in sport? When public money funds elite gymnastics, how is safeguarding being monitored and enforced by UK Sport on behalf of the DCMS?
Prioritising People over Podiums
This week, we met with British Gymnastics to discuss the significant decision to pause the World Class Trampoline Programme. This move, which includes withdrawing from the 2026 European Championships, follows reports from numerous gymnasts who felt “unsafe, uncomfortable, unprotected, or under distress”.
“Real Reform Has Only Just Begun.”
“We need sustained, coordinated efforts that bring together a power base of athletes, so that our narratives can't be minimised in the way that they traditionally have been.
The reality is that athletes have been speaking out about abuse in gymnastics for 40 years and they were shut down again and again.
Now it is crucial to maintain the pressure, because the work on real reforms has only just begun.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Interview with Claire Heafford
“It is extremely difficult to dismiss coaches. Abuse is often confirmed in hearings, but then legal standards are applied that do not account for these forms of abuse. As a result, coaches are allowed to continue working.
This is a major injustice. A large part of our work involves challenging such decisions. Recognising coercive control as abuse is essential for protecting children in sport.”
Unpicking the ICP: Solidarity Quilt Launch
On 30 January 2026, we launched the Gymnasts for Change International Solidarity Quilt with an intergenerational conversation between award-winning textile artists, Jane Thakoordin (project lead for the Solidarity Quilt) and Jahnavi Inniss, moderated by Matilda Pye.
Kat Craig provided a compelling introduction outlining the failings of the Independent Complaints Process (ICP), setting up the context for the construction of our quilt. Our initial quilters will comprise of whistleblowers and allies involved in the ICP. Over the course of the quilt, we are opening its construction up to any gymnast who has been through similar challenges as they have raise their voice in complaints processes, worldwide.
“Has British Gymnastics Cleaned Up Its Act?” asks The Sports Agents Podcast
British Gymnastics has been on a journey of root and branch reform since the damning 2022 ‘Whyte Review’ exposed systemic abuse and cultural failings.
We are now three years into its "Reform 25" plan, which was designed to "create safe, positive and fair experiences for all in gymnastics by 2025" by implementing the Whyte Review recommendations.
So as the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships starts, The Sports Agents ask, “has enough progress been made?”
In 2020, G4CI set out exactly 78 demands for change. In 2025, we compared them with the progress of British Gymnastics’ reforms. Roughly one third of our demands have been implemented, one third are in progress, and one third have not yet been addressed. Gymnasts are expected to give 100 percent in training - I would like to see the same standards applied to protecting athletes.
— Claire Heafford, CEO & co-founder, Gymnasts for Change International speaking to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung