East Midlands Regional Council
Council Members
- Neil Dawson (Chair)
- Terence Timmis (Vice Chair)
- Adam Henley
- Howard Crabtree
- Richard Massey
Co-optees
- Angelica Oparinde
- Paul Gair
You can get in touch via eastmidschair@englandathletics.org.
Neil Dawson
Neil Dawson has been a member of athletics clubs for 10 years. Having moved to Retford he has joined the local club, training as a coach with a focus on development and sprints. He is also a member of the committee constantly looking at ways to raise funding to improve the athletes' facilities. He is honoured to be approved as the Chair of the East Midlands Regional Council. His intention is to help the local affiliated clubs and look to promote unaffiliated clubs to England Athletics. Plus be a vocal representative for the Region at National Council Meetings.
Outside of athletics Neil works for Asda in the IT Division in Leeds. Outside of work and athletics Neil enjoys golf if only a very average player but always trying to improve. He is currently in the planning stages of attempting to break a Running World Record in 2026. Watch this space.
Adam Henley
Adam Henley came to athletics as a veteran having been inspired as a spectator at the Berlin World Athletics Champs. He joined a local club and became a below average thrower before becoming a field official. Adam has worked his way up to regional level field official and is now seeking National level elevation.
Outside of athletics, Adam works as a Finance Analyst for Kettering General Hospital and is a qualified management accountant. He is a keen swimmer, parkrunner and cinema goer having lost a significant amount of weight with Slimming World.
Fun fact: Adam has seen the Men's 100m world record broken twice live – Atlanta (1996) and Berlin (2009).
Howard Crabtree
Howard is Club Secretary and a Coach in Running Fitness at Harborough AC. He has been a member of the club since 1987 having started his athletics career in Manchester, aged 10, going on to specialise at 800 and 1500m before turning to the road.
He is motivated by making our sport accessible to everyone so that the benefits of club athletics can be enjoyed by juniors, seniors and masters alike. Currently studying for the Endurance Event Group coaching qualification Howard aims to improve his skills as a coach and contribute to the wider development of the sport through the Regional Council.
Paul Gair
Paul Gair is a level 3 throws coach based at Mansfield Harriers. He has been coaching for over 20 years and has performed many roles over the years including team manager, sports hall organiser, and committee member.
He has recently retired after completing 30 years in the Nottinghamshire Fire Service. He is currently a Coach Developer, delivering both the Coaching Assistant and the Athletics Coach courses. He also assesses and provides feedback on both courses, is and Internal Verifier for coaching courses and is the Regional Club Coaching Lead for the East Midlands.
Angelica Oparinde
Angelica has been a member of Derby Athletics Club since 2012 and is now part of University of Stirling athletics team. Angelica is currently Track and Field Captain of her university team. She competes in 200m and 400m. Outside of athletics, Angelica is in her third year of studies of Law and Politics at Stirling University.
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