TRUST Wrestling announced its soft launch on Friday with the goal to safeguard British wrestling.
In the wake of the Speaking Out movement and unsafe environments coming to light regarding the British Wrestling, many companies have taken steps to help prevent further alleged predatory actions from taking place.
A non-profit by the name of TRUST Wrestling will look to better the scene as well, promising to safeguard the industry. The group hopes to be fully operational in August.
From TRUST Wrestling:
BRITISH WRESTLING PROFESSIONALS HAVE COME TOGETHER TO FORM A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION TO SAFEGUARD THE INDUSTRY
Trust. Wrestling aims to provide a ‘safe haven’ for people within the pro-wrestling business.
United Kingdom – A growing group of professionals from across British professional wrestling have come together following the #SpeakingOut Movement, using the opportunity to incite positive change and progress safeguarding across the business. A broad combination of wrestling talent, production, parliamentary representatives, Equity, charities, media and fans are all contributing to the establishment of the organisation.
With a view to become operational in August, Trust. has released a pre-launch statement for transparency on what is being worked on in the background and to provide a provisional line of support of those in need.
The team is helmed by veteran ring-announcer and successful professional Kimberlei Brown (Kim), who started work on Trust within days of the #SpeakingOut Movement. Having worked across the country, not only in wrestling but in her permanent role as a Business Development Manager for Avon, Kim very quickly used the resources and contacts she had built up over the years to set the wheels in motion for Trust.
“When I first started, I was aiming for full regulation of the industry” Kim explains, “but as the team has grown and we liaised with various groups it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t realistic at this point, and felt that concentrating on the protection of those at risk was the way to progress.
“We have a solid and ever-growing team in place that not only has years in the business in some capacity but even more years in various other sectors, bringing different skills and experience to the table that can benefit the industry immensely. There are various links in the team, but most of us didn’t know know each other personally when we got started, and that is one of the things that we feel makes us special – this isn’t a ‘group of mates’, it’s a group of people who care coming together for the greater good.
“We have established focus groups to represent the community, including the LGBTQIA*+ community, female wrestling talent and wrestling media with groups for outside influence, fans, the BAME community, male wrestling talent, production, training schools and promotions all in the works. It is imperative that people across the industry have their voices heard, with experiences and opinions considered as we continue.”
The group are liaising with the new Wrestling APPG (All-Parliamentary Party Group) co-chaired by Labour MP Alex Davis-Jones and Conservative MP Mark Fletcher, as well as working with and being advised by DV (Domestic Violence) Assist, Social Work England, Equity and others to establish their policies and procedures.
“The support we have received from both inside and outside the business is overwhelming and humbling, we’re so excited to be working with so many amazing individuals across both spectrums. Equally, there has been some criticism from a minority but this has been crucial to ensure that we are establishing the most diverse and efficient platform,” Kim continued, “we are striving to work with everyone from talent, fans, promotions & everyone in between. Speaking on behalf of the Trust team I can ensure that we are more than aware that this is a marathon, not a sprint. There are no personal agendas, our only goal is to help introduce and encourage safeguarding to UK wrestling and to be a safe place for those who need it, whether it be to report an offence, offering advice and/or help, advise on training schools to attend or to help a promotion be the best they can be. Progress is often met with resistance, change can be intimidating, that is why it is imperative for everyone to work alongside each other, rather than against. At this point, we decided that it was important be transparent about who we are, what we are working on and where we are up to before we become operational in August.
“There are still so many wonderful people in wrestling, and they need support too so many people have been deceived, manipulated and lied to and in a lot of cases, been deemed ‘guilty by association’ and that includes some of our team members. It is important to highlight that none of us are claiming to be perfect, we are simply trying to create positive change with the tools and assets that available to us and we only hope that the entire industry can work towards a brighter future for British wrestling, together.”
The main motivation for the creation of Trust., is not only to progress the industry, but to assist others in their progression as the organisation continues to learn and grow.
The group champions that recognising mistakes, learning from them and taking that learning forward within personal and professional development is essential in the rebuilding of the institution that is British wrestling.
A holding website has been set up whilst Trust is preparing to become operational, you can visit the site here – www.trustwrestling.com.
Media Contact:
Lauren Woodward
lauren@ trustwrestling.com
About the Trust Team:
Kimberlei Brown – Relationships & Trainee Protection Trustee
Hollie Nelson – Company Secretary & Safeguarding Trustee
Lauren Woodward – International Relationships & Communications Trustee
Mark Adams – LGBTQIA*+ Community & Equalities Trustee
Ross Jones -BAME Community & Conduct Establishment Trustee
Kalom Dunne – Health & Safety Compliance Trustee
Anthony Jones – Digital & Fan Liaison Trustee
You can learn more about the organization by clicking here.
