A team from the Sport and Recreation Alliance was in Brighton this week to talk to Liberal Democrats about the sector’s needs.
Topics being tackled with parliamentarians include the value of sport and recreation to society, taxation on sports clubs, school sport funding, major events and access to water and the countryside.
The party conference season presents a number of opportunities to speak to politicians away from the pressing day-to-day business of Westminster and, in the case of ministers, allows for conversations to take place away from their offices and red boxes.
Sport and Recreation Alliance chair, Andy Reed OBE, says that the conferences are an important way of getting to the heart of issues important to the Alliance’s members.
“Days at conference are spent having meeting after meeting with MPs. We fit in as many as ten a day and more when we have a bigger team present.
"We also attend fringe meetings which are relevant to the sector to make sure that our members’ views are represented.
"And evenings are spent at informal networking events where you can often catch up with people who haven’t had time for you in their daytime schedule.
“Because the conferences are away from the office, it’s often possible to have more frank conversations and you can get to the point very quickly.
"MPs can be more open-minded and receptive to new ideas when they are away from the pressures of the office which makes the conferences a good opportunity to talk about new things.”
The Alliance will also be represented at the Labour and Conservative party conferences in the next two weeks.
If you have an issue you would like the Alliance to talk to parliamentarians about, contact James Stibbs.
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