The Subcommittee will oversee and advise the Alliance Board on EDI matters to help promote, educate and encourage us in our vision to create equal opportunities for everyone in sport and recreation.
By guiding us on policies, actions and long-term plans, we hope to become more diverse and inclusive in all we do, and our aim is to share this knowledge and expertise with our members to support them to do just the same.
Who is part of the Subcommittee?
Hamid Vaghefian, Chair of the Subcommittee | Currently Head of Community Engagement at London Marathon Events, Hamid has more than a decade of experience working in the youth and community sector and is a passionate diversity and inclusion advocate. Before taking on his current role in 2019, Hamid worked as Strategic Lead for Sported where he managed projects and services to almost 400 community sports organisations in London, primarily focusing on disadvantaged and under-represented communities across the capital and understanding barriers to engagement. |
Sunil Jindal, Independent member | Sunil is Regional Business Head at Diversio, partnering with CEOs, HR leaders and investors to enable diverse, equitable, inclusive workplaces and cultures. Sunil is an expert and sought after speaker in how to take a data led approach to ED&I. He has a strong and successful background as a business-led technology professional with over 30 years experience in the industry and consulting with sector expertise in CPG and Retail. Sunil has extensive non-executive and independent advisory experience at organisations such as Astia Ventures, CITE, BSI and Equal Education. |
Helene Raynsford, Board representative
| Helene is better known as a Paralympic gold medallist from the 2008 Beijing Games and is a World Champion in rowing. She has also represented GB on the Wheelchair Basketball team where she won two silver Paralympic World Cup medals. Following retirement from rowing, she took a secondment to work for LOCOG as part of the Sport Management team for rowing across the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. In addition to Helene’s sporting achievements, she has a proven record across public service, local authority, sport and health. |
Barry Horne, Independent member and sector expert | Barry was appointed as Chief Executive of the English Federation of Disability Sport in May 2010. Now renamed Activity Alliance, the national charity works to get more disabled people active across England. Barry’s former role was as a Corporate Director in a large City Council but he has worked in a range of roles including as Chief Executive of the East Midlands Regional Assembly and Regional Local Government Association. He is passionate about helping more people to understand the critical role which active recreation can play in improving disabled people’s lives. |
Lisa Wainwright MBE, Alliance CEO | Lisa became Chief Executive of the Alliance in May 2019. She has held a number of senior roles at Sport England initiating the work on the safeguarding standards, clubmark and volunteering before moving to become CEO at Volleyball England in 2008 and then British Basketball in 2016. Lisa has been recognised in the Top 100 LGBT+ Executives by FT OUTStanding three times and has been an Ambassador for Women on Boards UK since 2018. |
The group’s first meeting is scheduled for 28 June. Find out more about the Subcommittee here.
The Sport and Recreation Alliance is delighted to announce the launch of a new website, developed with partners 93ft.
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This Black History Month, the Sport and Recreation Alliance sought to celebrate the significant contributions Black individuals have made and continue to make to grassroots sport and recreation by engaging with leaders throughout the sports sector.
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A new and exciting campaign spearheaded by Angela Rippon CBE is being launched called Let’s Dance! with one objective – to get more people dancing.
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Joining the Sport and Recreation Alliance is pretty simple, but worthwhile!
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