The Board of Trustees provides strategic direction and oversight for the Active Partnerships charitable company and comprises a diverse team with six members drawn from Active Partnerships and four from other sectors, all appointed for the value they bring to our work.
Dick has over 45 years’ experience specialising in public relations for public sector services.
He started his career in local government, then joined the electricity industry before becoming Director of Public Affairs at Scotland Yard for the Metropolitan Police Service.
In addition to managing numerous high profile national events and incidents he provided communication advice overseas to the police services in Greece, South Africa and the Caribbean in the run up to the Athens Olympics in 2004, the Cricket World Cup in 2007 and the Football World Cup in 2010.
He now operates part-time as an independent communication consultant and trustee for several charities and chairs the Kent and Medway Active Partnership.
He was President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 1992 and was awarded the OBE in 2006 for services to policing following the London bombings that took place the previous year.
Having been a keen footballer in his younger days he now enjoys playing tennis, bowls and sailing.
Start Date: May 2020
Finish date: June 2023
Amanda is a chartered accountant with over 20 years experience working with professional services firm, PwC. During this time, she worked in both the UK and Singapore, and towards the end of her career, specialised in Internal Audit and Risk Management.
In more recent years, she has established a portfolio of non-executive director roles, primarily within the sport and physical activity sector, and she aims to bring her audit, risk and governance experience to those organisations. In particular, she is a Trustee and Senior Independent Director of Active Oxfordshire, and she also sits on the Board of Chinnor Rugby Football Club, who operate in the third tier of national rugby and run a semi professional first team.
Amanda is a very keen sportswoman and regularly plays and watches a variety of sports, including hockey, cricket, golf and more recently open water swimming! She is particularly passionate about getting girls and women active and involved in sport.
Start date: May 2020
Finish date: June 2023
Mike is Director of Public Health (DPH) for Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council being appointed to the post in February 2014. Mike has worked in public health since the early 90’s in a number of public health intelligence, r&d development, manager and consultant roles for both the NHS and academia.
Mike moved to the East Midlands in 2005. Before that he spent most of his career working across Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Mike is the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) Council representative for the East Midlands and represents the Faculty of Public Health on the Independent Advisory Panel for Data Release (IADPR) of Public Health England. Mike’s public health interest lies in the health improvement capability of asset-based community development approaches, moving public health from a focus on disease and illness to one that recognises the context in which people live their lives.
Mike is vice chair of Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport (LRS). Whilst still keen on swimming, cycling and bouldering (injury permitting), Mike’s sporting career peaked early as a member of the 1983 Plymouth Schools Cricket league and knock-out cup double winning side. A dashing left handed number 3 batsman, with a crushing vulnerability to chasing the ball outside off stump, he remains available for an England call up.
Start Date: September 2019
Finish Date: August 2022
Ian is Founder and Chief Energy Officer at Energise.me.
Around 12 years ago, he went on a journey that transformed his life. He discovered that investing in himself both physically and mentally had a significant positive impact both personally and professionally. This took him from couch potato to a Team GB Ironman triathlete. It took the company he was CEO of from Good to Great.
He now describes himself as an Energy Coach, and energises other business leaders and their businesses. His mission is to energise 10 million people. He’s also a Dad of 3 fabulous girls and a husband and a foster parent.
He also holds Non-Executive Director positions with four other SME organisations.
He is a past President of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, and originally trained as a Chartered Accountant.
Start date: September 2019
Finish date: August 2022
Adrian has been the CE of Lancashire SP (LSP) for over 10 years following an earlier career in local government where he held positions in community safety and youth offending. At LSP he has grown and established broad networks and partnership working with a wide range of stakeholders beyond the traditional sports and leisure organisations, including public health and third sector organisations (MIND, mental health trusts, Groundwork), housing associations and DCLG, the Home Office and the local Police Crime Commissioner, tourist bodies and other government bodies.
Adrian offers good experience of partnership and joint working at a regional level and a background in strategy development and implementation.
Adrian holds a number of non-executive roles, including Chair of the regional ASA, Chair of the NW CSP Group and Chair of Third Sector Lancashire.
Adrian is looking forward to joining the board, “I believe that Active Partnerships have the potential to make a more significant and wider contribution to health outcomes and the economy, I wanted through involvement with the Active Partnership national board to help shape the direction of travel and support the dialogue with national bodies to enable us to be seen as an invaluable strategic partner nationally and locally in achieving this goal”.
Start Date: 7 September 2016
Finish Date: March 2021
Ali has enjoyed a career within leadership, organisational development, HR and Learning and Development for over 20 years. As a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD she is a passionate advocate of business improvement and developing high performing teams, with a genuine enthusiasm for any organisational approach which places people at the heart of its vision and strategy.
She has a strong background working in strategic people leadership roles, especially in commercial environments and has enjoyed developing her own successful management Consultancy business. She brings to the board extensive experience in effective strategic business planning, coaching and behaviour profiling as well as understanding governance arrangements and the development of effective Board ways of working. She thrives on helping organisations transform through developing its workforce and believes in the importance of understanding the style and strengths of the individual and teams.
Having worked within the sector for a relatively short time across a few years, Ali is hugely committed to helping Active Partnerships develop, learn and improve opportunities which drive the achievement of their goals. She has recently joined the Active Partnership Quest PMIF team and worked with West Midlands CSPs in helping design and align competency frameworks with their strategic plans.
On a personal note Ali firmly believes in the power of sport as a tool for changing lives. With a lifelong passion for any and all sports, Ali now enjoys, when limited time allows, her passion for rowing forged from University days. More and more she spends her time travelling the West Midlands helping her children play out their growing love of sport and being a side-line cheerleading Mum!
Ali says “my experiences within the sport and physical activity sector have inspired me; I’m excited to join the Board, and help reach and engage with the broader Active Partnership network, ensuring learning and skills improvement sits at the heart of their success in transforming lives through participation in sport and physical activity”.
Start Date: 20 Sept 2018
Finish Date: August 2020
Eamonn is a former senior officer in local government sports and leisure. He has a track record of promoting sports and physical activity programmes and strategies to maximise sport an all levels, from developing sports facilities within Manchester to active involvement in bidding and attracting major sporting events to the City, including the Commonwealth Games, World Squash Championships, World Indoor Championships and seven other national championships which are held in Manchester each year.
His interest in sports has extended into a range of non-executive over a period of 15 years with regional sports and leisure organisations. He has chaired the Velodrome Trust and the Forum Futures Board and is currently a Board member with the Trafford Leisure Trust and the Greater Manchester Sports Partnership.
Eamonn has a wealth of experience in working with local authorities and government in the field of leisure, sports and active lifestyles, and has considerable involvement in local and regional sports, as well as playing and supporting the development of strategies to grow the water polo at a national level.
Eamonn motivation for wanting to Join the Active Partnership Network Board is to be able to contribute at a national level to the strategies for sport and active lifestyle and to influence policy making that impacts directly to an increase in opportunity for people to access sport at a local level. This is a passion of mine and I want to influence a change in line with emerging Sport England strategy's to increase participation within communities.
Start Date: 7 September 2016
Finish Date: March 2020
Adam is the founder of a successful management consultancy company working within sport, education, and the 3rd and corporate sectors. Since the company’s inception in 2008, it has built a respected reputation for delivering innovative advice and solutions along with an excellent return on investment. Its clients currently include, premier league and championship football teams, national charities, FTSE 100 companies, universities, multi academy trusts, housing associations and national governing bodies of sport.
Prior to its establishment, Adam held senior positions within Team Origin the British America’s Cup team, UK Athletics and the Lawn Tennis Association. In addition to his professional career, Adam has also been an active volunteer, acting as a non-executive trustee within a range of sport and none sporting charities. Adam offers considerable experience of working with CSPs and insight into their challenges and opportunities against a changing environment, in particular in the area of income diversification.
Adams motivation for joining the board “I am passionate about helping people to improve their lives and firmly believe the current and future work of the Active Partnerships has and will continue to play a vital part in making this happen. The Active Partnerships has reached a very exiting phase of its development and I am really excited about being given the opportunity to help them shape their future and reach their potential”.
Start Date: 7 September 2016
Finish Date: March 2021
Sue has a background in emergency planning, health and safety and business continuity – initially in local government and latterly as a member of the senior team in Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA). Her role incorporates working with the ECB to develop safety across cricket, developing SGSA links internationally and working with football clubs in the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and Humberside. Also developing stakeholder relationships with national and international sporting bodies, federations and organising committees.Sue has chaired internal committees, local government groups (such as the Nottinghamshire Safety Advisory Group) and the governing body of her local primary school.
She is a keen cyclist and cycled from London to Paris in 2015 for Leukaemia, she previously played hockey at Midlands League level and was a past Taekwondo British Veterans Champion.
Sue brings a background in leadership and senior management, and has worked with many local and national sporting organisations.
Sue’s view on why she joins the Active Partnership national board, “Sport changes lives, I see that through my role with major sporting events, and as a mother of sporty children. I now want to do my bit to encourage more people to embrace sport and to reap those benefits as well as enjoying sport.”
Start Date: 7 September 2016
Finish Date: March 2020