Getting Wales Moving

Geoff Thompson
Executive Chair MBE, FRSA, DL
The Youth Charter

Geoff Thompson was appointed to the GB Sports Council - now Sport England in 1990 following an outstanding career in competitive Karate. He was five times World Karate Champion from 1982 to 1986 and holder of over 50 national and international titles. As one of Britain’s most successful and celebrated sportsmen of the 80’s Geoff made a transition from tracksuit to lounge suit where he established himself as a sports politician and administrator. Geoff is one of the leading youth activists and experts in sports development and politics with over 25 years experience in the bidding and hosting and legacy of major games and the positive impact of sport and the arts in the social and human development of young people and communities. He is Founder and Executive Chair of the Youth Charter (www.youthcharter.co.uk), a UK registered charity and United Nations accredited Non-Governmental Organisation established in 1993.

Gary Denton
Managing Director
Icon Vocational Training Limited

Gary Denton is Managing Director of ICON Training, an award-winning, Grade 1 Ofsted, sport and leisure industry apprenticeship provider. Gary has more than 16 years of experience in the sector and started out as an apprentice Gym Instructor. He previously operated his own personal training business, worked as an Exercise Therapist in accident rehabilitation and has tutored, assessed and managed operations at a number of organisations, sharing his passion for education and the difference it can make to an individual and the workforce as a whole. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and consultant for an industry trailblazer.

Ken Skates
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure
Welsh Government

Ken Skates was born in 1976 in Wrexham, educated at Mold Alun School and went on to study Social and Political Science at Cambridge University. In his free time, Ken enjoys running, swimming, hiking and golf as well as having an interest in gardening, art and architecture. Ken was previously a journalist and assistant to Mark Tami MP. In 2008, he was elected a community councillor. Ken's policy interests include manufacturing, mental health, sport and leisure, eliminating poverty and political economy. His political interests include skills training, tourism, environmental protection, mental health, sport and fitness and social inclusion. In June 2013 Ken Skates was appointed Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology. In September 2014, Ken was appointed Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism. In May 2016 he was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure.

Iestyn Davies
CEO
ColegauCymru/College Wales

Iestyn Davies is the Chief Executive of ColegauCymru, a charity and limited company that raises the profile of further education among decision-makers in order to improve educational opportunities in Wales. It is a member-led body, representing all 14 further education colleges and institutions in Wales. Iestyn is a graduate in Philosophy and Welsh from Swansea University and holds an MA in Political Communications from Cardiff University. During his career, Iestyn has worked in both the business and voluntary sectors as well as in education. He has been a Lay Inspector with the Estyn, a Governor at Cardiff Metropolitan University as well as at his local Welsh-medium primary school. Iestyn was a member of the shadow board of Qualifications Wales. With two school-age children, he has a keen personal and professional interest in the provision of high-quality learning and skills in Wales.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE, DL
ukactive Chair
Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords

Baroness Grey-Thompson has had an extremely successful career as a Paralympic athlete, winning 11 gold medals, as well as six London marathons. In 2005 Tanni was made a Dame for her services to sport and in 2010 became a Life Peer sitting as a cross-bencher in the House Lords. She is the president of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, and the patron of numerous charities including Sports Leaders UK, the Duk ...

Tom Overton
Head of Community Sport
Sport Wales

Tom is Head of Community Sport at Sport Wales and leads the organisation's relationship with key partners delivering the Vision for Sport in Wales. He also has lead responsibility for Governance and Leadership. Tom is an experienced sport and community development professional having spent over 20 years working across the public sector in both England and Wales. He is also a Board Director at Welsh Triathlon and a Board member at 'Show Racism the Red Card Wales'. As an avid learner, Tom has more recently gained an MBA with Distinction from the University of South Wales. In addition, he studied and was successful with a Certificate in Corporate Governance with Distinction with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Finally, Tom's daily passion is to keep learning and to keep applying that learning in the real world.

Mr Andy Reed OBE
Director at Saje Impact and The Sports Think Tank
Sports Think Tank

Andy Reed is the Director of SajeImpact the Sports Think Tank and Loughborough University Institute for Sport Business. Formerly the MP for Loughborough between 1997-2010, Andy has a strong association with Sport Policy having served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sports Ministers and adviser to various Ministers and Sports bodies during his time in Westminster. He Chaired the Parliamentary Sports Caucus and was secretary of various All-Party Sports Groups including the All Party Sports Group. He introduced the 10 Minute Rule Bill paving the way for the Treasury CASC scheme for Community and Amateur Clubs & was responsible to the Prime Minister for the Labour Party 2010 sports manifesto. He played a vital role in the 2012 Olympic bid and delivery of the Games. As part of the government, he led the case for the increased funding for UK Sport in the lead to 2012 whilst in the Treasury. In his time he became known as the ‘Backbench Voice for Sport’ He was Chair of the Sport and Recreation Alliance from 2010 to 2016 – the umbrella body for the 320 National governing bodies and associations of sport and after a spell on the Board until 2018 he is now a Vice-President. He led on sport policy and the Health agenda for the Alliance. He Chaired his local Leicestershire County Sports partnership but after 12 years he stood down when governance term limits were introduced. He also sits on the Boards of Special Olympics GB, British Basketball League Foundation and was with Sports Chaplaincy UK until 2018. He was a Member of the RFU Rugby World Cup Legacy Group for his region. (2013-18) In 2011 he established with other colleagues, the independent Sports Think Tank (www.sportsthinktank.com) to enable the sports sector to have its own policy and evidence-based Think Tank space in Westminster and Whitehall. The Thinktank is highly respected for its thoughtful and challenging approach to sports policy matters. In 2015 he joined the Board of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA). He is was interim Chair for 18 months until September 2018 when he also stepped down after ensuring the Body was financially secure, met its governance requirements and recruited a strong replacement as Chair. Outside of sport Andy also served on the Board of the biggest Children's international development agency – Worldvision UK between 20102 and 2018. He still services on his Local Enterprise Partnership Board - Leicestershire LEP and the Governments Sports Business Council. In 2012 Andy was awarded the OBE for services to Sport and the Community in Leicestershire, after Chairing the 2012 Olympic Leicestershire Legacy Group and chairing Leicestershire and Rutland Sport. In 2012 he helped launch the new International Sports Management MBA at Loughborough University Business school and teaches around the world on Sport Policy and development. He was made a visiting professor of Sport Policy and Development in 2014 at Liverpool John Moores University. He also advises the new Institute for Sports Business based at the Loughborough University in London campus on the Olympic park and works closely with the world leading sports University. He is a regular keynote speaker at sports events across the UK and Ireland. His company SajeImpact has helped a variety of sports bodies and brands to communicate their messages to policy makers, having worked with sports charities like Sports Leaders UK, the YST as well as with leading brands like Nike on their Designed to Move Campaign. Other clients have included the ASA, Sporting Equals, Sports Aid, Sports Coach UK, the LTA, the RFU and London Sport. Andy believes sport can be used for social transformation and works with a wide range of sports foundations and charities – School of Hard Knocks, Leicester Tigers Foundation, British Asian Rugby Association, Asian Sports Foundation. Andy supports a number of sports start-up sport and fitness Tech companies and works to encourage new social enterprises in sport. He works with Loughborough University Physical Activity & Public Health Research Group, based in the School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Sciences. Andy always had a passion for economic development and regeneration and joined the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership in 2015 to promote the economic impact of sport and to widen the understanding of the health and wellbeing agenda and its economic impact on the economy. In 2015 Andy launched the campaign for a Sport Impact Fund www.sportimpactfund.com to widen the availability of new financing for the sports sector. In 2016 Andy was appointed by the Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to lead the Review of the County Sports partnerships as part of the government's new Sporting Futures Strategy. The report was published in the Summer of 2016 and the role of CSPs and their new performance framework was designed and launched in 2018. He still regularly plays rugby for Birstall RFC and the Commons & Lords XV where he has been Club President and now Hon Vice President. He advises Leicester Tigers Foundation and the British Asian Rugby Association and works closely with the Asian Sports Foundation.

Matt Newman
CEO
Welsh Athletics

Matt is a business transformation professional with extensive experience in the private and public sectors. A first career within the insurance and financial services software sector, before moving into the business of sport. As CEO of Welsh Athletics, Matt leads a team delivering programmes across the sporting spectrum, from social running to world-class athletics. In 2012, Matt established Run 4 Wales as part of a sustainable model for athletics in Wales. Run 4 Wales is a sports events organisation providing event management expertise for the sector in Wales. Its ambition is to build a portfolio of high-quality events, including its flagship event, the Cardiff Half Marathon, now the 2nd largest half marathon in the UK. In 2016 Run 4 Wales successfully delivered the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Matt is also an accomplished sportsman having played several sports at senior level and was awarded international rugby honours with Welsh Universities and Welsh Students. Educated at Barry Boys Comprehensive School, Millfield School and Swansea University. The photograph shows Matt trying to catch his 5-year-old son Charlie in the Cardiff Bay Run.

Malcolm Ward
Principal Health Promotion Specialist
Public Health Network Cymru

Malcolm joined the health promotion service in Merthyr Tydfil in 1995 as a generic Health Promotion Specialist gaining a postgraduate diploma in health promotion at the University of the West of England in Bristol and subsequently a Masters degree in Public Health at the University of Wales College of Medicine. As a specialist in the promotion of physical activity, he has advised on both policy development and programme delivery locally, nationally and internationally. He presently manages the public health networks in Public Health Wales and contributes to the International Health Coordination Centre. He is a board member and treasurer for EuroHealthNet He has contributed to a number of NICE guidance groups including those on obesity, behaviour change and exercise referral, jointly leads a HEPA Europe working group looking at physical activity in health care settings and is presently a temporary expert advisor to the WHO Europe working group developing a regional physical activity strategy. He was the first person on the UK voluntary register of defined public health specialists, successfully completed the Physical Activity and Public Health Practitioners course in Utah in 2004 run by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of South Carolina and has written for various publications on subjects including GP referral to exercise, men’s health, the role of sports science in health, nutrition and workplace health.

Sara Moseley
Director
Mind Cymru

Sara Moseley is Director at Mind Cymru. She leads the development and delivery of Mind’s work in Wales and is part of Mind’s Executive Team. Initially training as a journalist at the BBC, Sara has over 25 years of experience of leadership and communications across a number of high profile public and third sector organizations including the Welsh Government, where she was Director of Communications, Centrepoint, a charity for homeless and vulnerable young people, and the NHS. Sara is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Cardiff University and an Advisory Board Member to the National Trust.

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