The Conveners Podcast

On this episode of The Conveners Podcast , we’re joined by Gareth Kirk, Senior Regional Director at GLL. From graduate trainee to leading GLL’s operations in Northern Ireland, Gareth shares his personal journey and insights into managing at scale while staying local. We discuss his experience navigating devolved governments, GLL’s role in promoting active well-being with 35,000 referrals a year, a...

This week, host Andy King is joined by long-time collaborator and sector expert Duncan Wood-Allum, Founder and Managing Director of SLC, for a deep and thought-provoking conversation on the evolution of public leisure.   Together, they revisit Duncan’s 2020 blueprint " A New Future ", exploring how his ambitions for the sector post Covid hold up in 2025 and what still needs to change. From local g...

Today on the Conveners podcast I’m delighted to welcome Andy Farr, the Strategic Director from Parkwood. As Andy goes on to explain, Andy was once-upon-a-time, the F in FMG - a  very well-known and highly respected consultancy known to probably everyone in the sector. Andy has had a fascinating time since leaving FMG, both at British Cycling and at Parkwood and is now the driving force behind w a...

It might not just be the fact that I’m turning 60 in a couple of months time, but over recent months and years I’ve personally had much more interest in the topic of longevity and living a longer and healthier life. So, I was delighted to catch up with a former colleague from many years ago and somebody who is really blazing a trail, in darkest Milton Keynes -  Neil King with his Longevity branded...

On the Conveners today we focus on the topic of Children and Young People’s mental health and wellbeing.  Martin Yelling can tell a fascinating story not only of his own incredibly successful athletic career, or his internationally renowned podcast called Marathon Talk, or even the fact he is a qualified teacher and Doctor – today we focus on the fact he is a founder of an incredible charity doing...

Leadership development, and in particular, GM Active's Transformational Leadership program is a real hot topic currently. As I travel around the country meeting various 'leisure professionals' and council's,   there’s a realisation that the leadership required from our Physical Activity managers and workforce generally, needs to be different if we’re really going to make some headway on working wi...

'You can’t build a reputation on what you plan to do' - So says my guest on this weeks episode of the Conveners podcast, Martyn Alison.  Classified by himself on LinkedIn as 'observer and critical friend', others might say 'influencer'. Martin's story is incredible. His articles over the years have been and continue to be, the most thought provoking on our sector and ne...

As Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is being pushed hard by the Government, and some Local Authorities are considering setting up Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCO’s) possibly along with the new ‘agency model’ it would be topical, would it not, to talk to someone who has just recently gone through elements of all of the above?  Well we have! Today we speak with Rob Wilks who is the Man...

Who better to talk to about the hottest topic, not just in our sector but in society in general, the GLP-1 weight loss medications, than friend of the Conveners, Dr Hussain Al Zubaidi.  Hussain is working with UK Active and CIMSPA on the guidelines for our sector so Elaine and I were keen to get his take on the opportunities these medications present and how best we can assist the NHS.  Future Fit...

Today on the Conveners I have a conversation with someone I have been looking forward to getting on the pod for some time, Duncan Jefford from Everyone Active. Everyone Active, as Duncan explains, is now heading towards a £400 million turnover company, with over 230 centres across the UK. Duncan and Everyone Active have been at the forefront of the recent drive to offer more than just fitness thro...

I’m delighted to say that today on the Conveners podcast we have another fascinating guest from Greater Manchester and this is a very important cog in the machine because today we get to speak to Warren Heppolette. Warren is the Chief Officer for Strategy and Innovation NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, so it’s a real pleasure and privilege to spend time with Warren. And I have to say this i...

Today on The Conveners , I spoke with my good friend Hayley Lever, CEO of GM Moving and a key leader in Greater Manchester's progress. As Chair of GM Active and a member of the GM Moving Partnership Board, I work alongside partners like Transport for Greater Manchester, NHS Greater Manchester, the GM Combined Authority, and Sport England to deliver the Greater Manchester Strategy and Integrated Ca...

Today on the podcast, I’m really pleased to have James McInerney joining me. James is the health improvement manager at OHID, the office for health improvement and disparities. I’ve made no secret of my personal opinion that if our sector is truly going to be integrated as part of the health and well-being of the nation and contributing to address inequalities etc, we would be better placed to be...

Today on the Conveners podcast we have another luminary from Greater Manchester, Eve Holt. Until recently Eve was the GM Moving Strategic Director and has recently moved over to be part of Andy Burnham‘s team as head of Policy and Implementation at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. So who better to talk us through how PA is playing a part in helping advance the wider strategic objectives...

Here is a little additional festive episode of the Conveners just to finish off 2024 and take a brief look ahead to 2025 with my friend and colleague Mr John Oxley, CEO of Life Leisure and fellow board member of GM Active. It’s been a fascinating year for our Sector, and even more fascinating meeting so many interesting people on the Conveners. I have learned so much and feel honoured to have the...

Today’s guest on the Conveners is Helena Jopling, a public health consultant at West Suffolk Foundation who works with Abbeycroft Leisure and Warren Smyth around Bury St Edmunds. So today you’ll hear a perspective from one of the commissioners who has been working with Warren and his team so successfully for some time. Helena will specifically talk about about the evaluation of the integrated heal...

Kate Vaughton is our guest today on the Conveners. Kate is the Chief Officer for Strategy and Partnerships at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS. Kate collaborates with Warren Smyth at Abbeycroft Leisure, and listening to Kate, you can understand why the collaboration has been so successful over the years and continues to be so. There's some really good insights into how to approach a relationshi...

This week on the Conveners my guest is Michelle Roberts from the Richmond Group of Charities. Michelle is the physical activity and health program lead. The Richmond Group of Charities are a coalition of health and care charities working together to help people living with long-term, multiple or complex health needs to live well and thrive. As our sector talks a lot about addressing inequalities a...

Today on the Conveners I’m incredibly delighted to welcome Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who is a huge advocate for physical activity generally and a long-time supporter of GM Moving and GM Active.  Andy is a passionate believer in getting people moving for health benefits, not just since becoming mayor of Greater Manchester, but previously as a former health secretary in the prev...

Our guest this week on the Conveners is Warren Smyth the chief exec of Abbeycroft Leisure. Warren has been blazing a trail for well over a decade now with Abbeycroft leisure working with health, and so it was a fascinating day that we recently spent with Warren and two of his commissioners who were on earlier episodes of the pod if you want to go back and listen. Warren has a fabulous way of bring...

Our guest on the Conveners this week is Helen Jaggar, a wellness consultant and WELL accredited practitioner (Helen explain all) who has a fascinating backstory. Helen has created her company, Thriveologie, that is arguably about to take off massively, as the explosion of interest in offering additional services other than Fitness to customers based around well-being and wellness is all around us....

Today on the Conveners I interview Dr Coral Hanson following a knowledge exchange event at Edinburgh Napier University where Coral was presenting learning from the Scottish Activity Referral Standards study that she has been leading. The study is looking at ways the standards can be applied to inform, enhance and improve physical activity referral schemes, known as PARS. The standards were develop...

Today on the Conveners podcast I am delighted to welcome probably one of the most intelligent people in our sector (if you can class him as being from our sector) and that is Ben Wilkins from Good Boost. I’ve got to know Ben quite well over the last year or so because we sit on various groups not least the Alliance leisure Health group that I have the pleasure of Chairing, and his insight and pers...

Today I’m really pleased to welcome another old friend to the podcast, industry legend Dave Stalker. Dave is always good value - inspirational and his sense of purpose and passion for our sector - in fact for people generally - is infectious. There’s a lot of talk about convening and bringing people together to agree a common purpose and work better with health etc, and for me Dave Stalker epitomi...