The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) was founded in 1925 and represents over 50% of UK chiropractors. It is the largest and longest established association for chiropractors in the United Kingdom. The BCA have implemented campaigns regarding awareness of many modern technologies and the injuries that can result from them, such as 'Repetitive Surf Injury',text messaging,iPod thumb and using a Wii.
Chiropractic first emerged in Britain in the years before World War I, but a formal association of chiropractors in the United Kingdom did not exist until 1922, when the Chiropractors’ Association of the British Isles held its first meeting in Belfast. This was a short-lived organisation but, in 1925, another association of chiropractors was formed; the British Chiropractors’ Association.
The Association began with fewer than 20 members but, despite this, an insurance scheme was set in place for its membership. In the ensuing years, the BCA gradually developed to take the form that it does today. When the British Chiropractic Association announced the purchase of premises in Bournemouth for the establishment of a chiropractic college in 1964, the number of chiropractors practising in the UK was quite small. The opening of the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, in 1965, led to a steady increase in the numbers of chiropractors in the UK and, in 2010, there were more than 1,300 practicing members and over 600 student members. Today, members have practices spanning the whole of the United Kingdom and BCA members are graduates of 20 different internationally accredited chiropractic educational institutions. The association only accepts into membership graduates of a Chiropractic degree course validated by a member of the Council of Chiropractic Education International (CCEI). Individual applicants must also ensure their course meets the requirements of the UK regulator, the General Chiropractic Council. The association provides a wide range of services for members and as an information source for the public. The Association celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2005.
The BCA was a founder member of the European Chiropractors' Union (ECU) in 1932. The first President of the ECU was Charles Bannister, a British Chiropractor.
Since then, the Association has remained prominently active within the ECU and has been key to the establishment and development of chiropractic education and the chiropractic profession in Europe. When the World Federation of Chiropractic was formed in 1988, the British Chiropractic Association was a founder member and important contributor in the federation’s development.