The organisation started out as the Wildfowlers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, (WAGBI) in 1908. It was founded by Stanley Duncan, an engineer from Hull, who was also a highly experienced wildfowler and naturalist.

In 1981 WAGBI changed its name to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). This change was agreed at the Annual General Meeting of that year in recognition of the fact that shooting sports required a single representative body and that WAGBI was the most suitable placed organisation to take on that role.

There are currently 129,000 members and that number is growing every year.

The association’s national headquarters is based at Marford Mill in Rossett, North Wales. There are also five regional centres across England and three national centres in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

There are currently 110 people working for BASC across the country.

The organisation is run by a democratically elected council of members. The council is charged with overseeing the management of the affairs of a growing, multi million-pound turnover organisation, which has very public responsibilities. In practice, the Council, as a body, delegates day-to-day running of the Association to the chief executive. This does not, however, detract from the Council’s overall responsibility.

The organisation’s patron is the Duke of Edinburgh. There is also a president, chairman, council and a chief executive.

The following departments are based at head office: firearms, gamekeeping and game shooting, media and communications, deer, research, conservation and land management, biodiversity, marketing, fundraising, wildfowling, membership and shooting standards and training. These are overseen by directors and heads of department.

The regional offices are headed up by directors who oversee regional officers and administrative staff.

Our mission is to promote and protect sporting shooting and the well-being of the countryside throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. We represent our members interests by providing a voice for sporting shooting which includes wildfowling, game, and rough shooting, deer stalking, target shooting and air gunning, pigeon shooting and pest control, gun dogs, promoting practical habitat conservation, training and the setting of standards and undertaking appropriate research.