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Disinformation and Deceit at the British Wheel of Yoga

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  I am writing this blog to bring to the attention of British Wheel of Yoga members and others in the yoga community the extent to which the current leadership of the British Wheel of Yoga is prepared to spread disinformation and engage in deceit. I hoped that the campaign to reinstate me as a BWY member following my expulsion in September 2022 would conclude with an olive branch offered by me and my supporters. We put forward a motion at the BWY Annual General Meeting on 9 th May 2024 calling for an independent mediator to be appointed to review the decision to expel me after what we say was an unfair process and with insufficient evidence. We were expecting BWY to announce that it would agree to mediation, giving an opportunity for an independent person to scrutinize the decision reached by the NEC in my case and judge whether or not my expulsion was justified. It was a fair proposition to resolve the deadlock and prevent further reputational harm to BWY from the ongoing saga, now
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The Death of BWY Democracy

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Democracy died in the British Wheel of Yoga at the AGM on Thursday 9th May 2024. BWY members voted by a clear majority (58%) in favour of the organisation appointing an independent mediator to review the decision to expel me in September 2022 – but their wishes were dismissed. The proposer of the motion was not even invited to speak – unprecedented and unheard of in any democratic organisation. Despite spreading misinformation and trying to smear my character in its communications to 5,000 members, the National Executive Committee saw the motion to appoint an independent mediator pass by 186 votes to 132. However, the Chief Executive of BWY immediately rejected the vote, literally moments after the result was announced. You would expect the NEC to reflect on the vote and discuss the matter at a meeting of Trustees. But that didn’t happen. Instead, they demonstrated that they had made their minds up beforehand and were already determined to ignore the vote and the views of BWY members.
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Is the British Wheel of Yoga a Safe Space for People of Colour?

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In 2017, a black teacher training student on a British Wheel of Yoga course said to me: “BWY – that stands for British White Yoga, right?” She had a glint in her eye and was no doubt partly winding me up because I was Chair of the organisation at the time. However, her comment conveyed an uncomfortable truth about her perception of BWY. Seven years later, has anything changed? When I was Chair of the British Wheel of Yoga between 2016 and 2018, one of the most rewarding things I did was connect with Dr Stacie CC Graham and Jaz Mullings Lambert. I turned to these leading black yoga teachers to try to understand why BWY was predominantly white and had so few Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic members, teachers, and teacher trainers. I was elected Chair of BWY, promising renewal based on diversity, inclusion, and standards. One of my first actions was to commission an analysis of the composition of the membership. These figures in June 2016 showed that BWY had just 0.5% of members wh
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Paul Fox Response to BWY Statement of 30th January 2024

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Those of you who are British Wheel of Yoga members will have received a statement on Monday 30 th January 2024 about my expulsion from the organisation. Each of the main assertions in that statement are either wholly or partially inaccurate. Let me take you through them one by one: 1. “(Paul) …. was expelled due to financial impropriety during his time as Chair” .   I totally refute this statement and consider it to be defamatory and libellous. Nowhere in the findings of the governance consultant’s review is there a reference to “financial impropriety”. The consultant refers instead to various failures of “governance” – how potential conflicts of interests were recorded, minuted and managed. The Oxford dictionary defines impropriety as dishonest and improper behaviours – examples given include fraud, embezzlement and so on. Using that term in this statement appears to be a deliberate attempt to destroy my reputation and character. As I have shown in detail in my previous blog, I
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Reinstate Paul Fox

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Booted out of BWY! By Paul Fox Some of you may be surprised to learn that I have been expelled from the British Wheel of Yoga “in the best interests of the charity”, after serving BWY as a volunteer for over 20 years (including as Chair) and training over 200 BWY teachers. Since this happened in September 2022, I have been seeking to overturn what I consider to be an unjust and unfair decision but have now reached the point where I am waiving my right to anonymity and going public with what has happened. This decision has not been taken lightly. However, until the decision to expel me is reversed and I am reinstated as a BWY member I live under a cloud that at any time someone could post online or elsewhere that I was kicked out of the British Wheel of Yoga for misconduct while Chair. Those who know me personally and professionally understand my commitment to honesty and integrity. I refute the claim that I broke the Trustees code of conduct and set out here exactly what happen
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