Newton Director joins GB Rifle Team

In a nutshell

Rosanne Furniss, a Director in our Public cluster, will soon be celebrating her thirteenth anniversary with Newton which happens to coincide with another brilliant achievement: her upcoming tour of Kenya and South Africa with the England and GB rifle teams.  

Newton Europe

WRITTEN BY

Newton Europe

Posted February 16, 2023

Target rifle shooting uses real ammunition fired at paper targets with bolt action rifles. The closer a shot gets to the middle of the target, the higher the score, with 1 being the lowest point score and a “v-bull” (5.1) the highest. There are three key parts to the skill: the shooting itself, the ability to read the wind and determine how this will affect your shot and ensuring the ammunition is the best specification. It’s a sport of precision and analysis - a perfect fit for a Newton Director!  

 Unlike many sporting professionals, Rosanne discovered rifle shooting relatively late on, in fact not until she first joined university. Having decided she wanted to try something new, Rosanne came across the sport by chance, taking to it instinctively and has been competing ever since.  

"
I love the challenge of shooting, making the most of the opportunity to be outside and among the amazing people who compete. It’s been a great anchor for me to understand individual and also team success in sport.
"

For Rosanne, something that really appeals about rifle shooting is that it is one of the few sports where women and men compete on a completely equal playing field. There are no age limits, so teams will not only be mixed, but also have considerable age ranges. Rosanne will be touring with competitors in their 20s to their 70s! 

 At the end of February, Rosanne will be travelling with the England Team to Kenya to compete against the Kenyan National Team. Part of this competition involves raising awareness of the sport and promoting it through work with Kenya’s army and police teams. The journey doesn’t stop there, as Rosanne will then travel to South Africa to join the GB team for a competition in preparation for the World Championships in 2024 which will also take place in South Africa. Conditions will be very different to those in the UK, so this is an opportunity for the team to gauge whether they have done the correct preparation and to suss out the competition for next year.  

 This whistle-stop tour will comprise a three-week mini sabbatical for Rosanne before coming back to work refreshed and hopefully with a few more wins under her belt!  

Untitled design (10)-1
"
I work nine days in ten which gives me more time to train and Newton have always been very supportive of me doing that.
"

 At Newton, we acknowledge the importance of enabling people to pursue interests outside of work and understand that these wider skills can often embellish how individuals perform in their professional roles. For Rosanne as a leader, rifle shooting has taught her the importance of inclusive leadership and having role models. She was supported in applying to team GB by a man she shot with and without this encouragement from a male role-model (in a sport that has a significant gender disparity) she never would have applied. This allyship helped Rosanne to better understand the impact that people around her could have on personal experience, and to consider this in her working life.  

  ‘It’s so much more pleasant in sport and at work if you are enjoying it and having fun, something that can be achieved by doing the right thing for those around you.’  

It’s so exciting to be able to support Rosanne in pursuing an amazing talent and everyone at Newton wants to wish her and the whole England and GB rifle teams the best of luck with the upcoming tour!