England Athletics - How we work

Regional Council Elections
To view updated information on the 2013 Regional Council Elections please click here.

On this page you can find out more about how England Athletics works including:

• National Council
• National Staff
• Project Groups
• The Board of Directors

The central functions and services provided by England Athletics are maintained by a small team of staff. These services and responsibilities include member services, supprt relating to England international teams, , Age Group Championships and Combined Events Championships both indoors and outdoors, and financial and accounting services.

We also have a team of staff covering the whole country to provide the sport with support and resources at a local level. To find out more about the staff in your area please see www.englandathletics.org/your-area. Many of the services provided by England Athletics are delivered to clubs and coaches through our Club and Coach Support Officers. There is a Club and Coach Support Officer covering every area of the country working to do exactly what their job says - to support the invaluable work of clubs and coaches. We also have a team of Education Coordinators. They too cover the whole country to ensure that courses for coaches and officials are held to enable them to develop their skills and improve their qualifications. We also have Activators who work to create new opportunities to bring people into the sport. Our Run England programme works to bring more people into the sport through recreational running.

A key strength of the organisation is the bringing together of staff and the elected volunteer councils in nine regions. The elected regional chairs from each elected council come together to form the England Athletics National Council, a body which evaluates the needs and requirements of the sport in formulating proposals for consideration and action by the Board of England Athletics Ltd.

National Council

The National Council includes the nine regional council chairs and is an advisory and best practice sharing group to help shape national strategy and direction. The members of the National Council are:

• East - Mick Shortland
• East Midlands - Barry Parker
• South East - Mike Neighbour
• South West - Nigel Rowe
• London - Tony Shiret
• West Midlands - Stewart Barnes
• North West - Mike Harris
• North East - Andrew Ward
• Yorkshire & Humberside - Mike Moss
• Co-opted (Disability Portfolio Holder) - TBA

You can find out more about the Regional Council in your area in the 'About Us' section for your area of the country.

England Athletics National Council Meetings 2013

*Meetings to be held at Athletics House, Alexander Stadium, Birmingham
Other dates – Venue tbc

National staff

Many of the operations and services of England Athletics are carried out at a national level. The national staff are:

Chris Jones - CEO: chrisjones@englandathletics.org
Richard Wheater - Head of Coaching: rwheater@englandathletics.org 
Ralph Knibbs - Head of HR and Welfare: rknibbs@englandathletics.org 
Lynette Smith - Head of Membership Services: lsmith@englandathletics.org
Andy Day - Head of Teams & Competitions: aday@englandathletics.org
Kevan Taylor - Finance Director: ktaylor@englandathletics.org
Emma Davenport - North Area Manager: edavenport@englandathletics.org
Matt Foad - Acting Midlands and SW Area Manager: mfoad@englandathetics.org
Neil Deans - South Area Manager: ndeans@englandathletics.org 
Bob Smith - London Area Manager: bsmith@englandathletics.org  
Andy Barber - National Communications Officer: abarber@englandathletics.org
Anna Gray - Community Athletics Programme Manager: agray@englandathletics.org
Liz Purbrick - National Disability Manager (Community Participation): lpurbrick@englandathletics.org

Project Groups

England Athletics delivers and invests much of its work through focused project groups comprising both volunteers and paid staff. These groups have been established to help drive priority areas of work such as coaching, clubs, schools, facilities, officials development and the like. Groups are often chaired by a council portfolio holder and administered by a paid member of our team. Budgets are aligned to groups to help deliver actions. For further information on project groups, please contact chrisjones@englandathletics.org or contact your regional office for further details of how you can support.

Board Of Directors

The Board Of Directors is tasked with supporting and endorsing high level strategic and financial decisions that shape the delivery of actions within the National Strategy.

• Peter King - Chair of the Board
• Chris Jones - CEO
• Niels De Vos
• Mike Heath - Vice Chair
• Karen Neale
• Nigel Rowe
• Wendy Sly
• Kevan Taylor

PA to the Executive - Sue Banks - sbanks@englandathletics.org.

England Athletics Board Meetings 2013

*Meetings to be held at Athletics House, Alexander Stadium, Birmingham
Other dates – Venue tbc

More about our how we work

• England Athletics - Board Sub Committee Membership
• England Athletics - Audit and Assurance Committee - Terms of Reference
  
• England Athletics - Remuneration Committee - Terms of Reference
• England Athletics - Athletics Appointments Panel - Terms of Reference
• England Athletics - Governance Working Group - Terms of Reference