Webinar 30 March 2021: Emerging from the Pandemic

Challenges and Opportunities for the Sports and Leisure Sector

Huw Edwards is the CEO of ukactive, the not-for-profit health body which represents the physical activity sector and has a mission to get More People, More Active, More Often. He took the role in July 2019 following three years as Director of Public Affairs, Communications and Research. During his ukactive career, Huw has played a key role in shaping ukactive’s strategy and business plan, as well as leading the organization’s engagement with government and wider stakeholders.

In 2017, Huw was named Leisure Sector Champion for the Department of Work & Pensions disability taskforce, aiming to ensure that the work of the sector in the disability space is aligned to the DWP’s objectives.

Previously, Huw was the Public Affairs lead at British Tennis, working across both the Lawn Tennis Association and The Tennis Foundation. He has also worked for both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Olympic Delivery Authority during the delivery of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Shaun Dawson leads the award winning Lee Valley Regional Park Authority which is responsible for the 4,000 ha Lee Valley Regional Park. It consists of a range sport and leisure venues along with country parks and nature reserves and attracts 7 million visitors a year.

Shaun has been involved in the London 2012 Olympic project from bid stage in 2003 to now leading the organisation which has guaranteed the future of three world class London 2012 legacy venues: Lee Valley White Water Centre; Lee Valley VeloPark; Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre.

Shaun has extensive experience of strategic planning, business modelling, development and management of sports venues. A particular focus has been delivering viable and sustainable venues that are community focused and commercially driven.

Cathy Gallagher has over 20 years experience in the university sport sector working at Queen’s University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin, before taking up a senior officer role as Executive Director of Sport at the University of Stirling. Cathy has responsibility for the strategic development of sport at Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence comprising a unique combination of student club sport, recreational opportunities and a world-class training environment for performance sport athletes. Cathy led on the vision and delivery of the recently opened GBP 21 million indoor sports facility and has a proven record of strategic sport development planning.

Amongst Cathy’s non-executive appointments, she is currently Chair of the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Senior Managers Executive and a member of the BUCS Board. She has fulfilled the role of Chef de Mission for Team Ireland to three World University Games from 2013 to 2017 and has represented on numerous national committees.

Tom is a Senior Principal in the London office of Populous and has a keen interest in how sports and entertainment buildings and events can enhance cities and communities. He has a great passion for sport and has been able to use this in the design and delivery of a number of high-profile projects around the world, including the Olympic Stadium for the London 2012 Olympic Games. He has also worked on other major sports events, including the ICC Cricket World Cup and NFL Super Bowl.

In addition to running major projects, Tom has co-authored the technical guide to Sports Facilities in the Metric Handbook and contributed to a series of international publications. He is IAKS Vice President and sits on the Sports Economy Sector Advisory Group for DIT (Department of Industry and Trade).

Mike Hall specialises in the design of sports facilities. He is an advocate of developing expertise as a springboard for innovative solutions in this specialist field, where the social spaces are as valuable as the fields of play. Notable examples include the multi award-winning Derby Arena, Lee Valley White Water Centre for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the University of Surrey Sports Complex.

Mike has travelled widely, researching and benchmarking facilities around the world and brings a national and international perspective to this field. He is an active member of the International Union of Architects (UIA) sports and leisure working group.