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| 23 October 2007 |
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Sport England has appointed Thomas Godfrey as its first ever Commercial Director - tasking him with securing partnership funding from the private sector for community sport.
Thomas was formerly a partner at sports marketing company Spring Worldwide. He has also been Chief Executive at Planet Sport, which provides outsourced sports education to primary and nursery schools and founded Activate UK, which pioneered the concept of corporate involvement in grass roots sport in the UK.
Sport England champions community sport and is aiming to get two million people doing more sport by the time of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. To help achieve this, the organisation will be working even more with the private sector and other Government departments, and has created a Commercial Department to build on the strong corporate interest in community sport.
Thomas brings to the role a wealth of experience in the sports sponsorship environment from both the UK and abroad. He has worked closely with a number of national governing bodies of sport including the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), where he was instrumental in setting up the ‘Street Cricket’ initiative with Channel 4.
Jennie Price, Chief Executive of Sport England said:
"Thomas will bring a new dimension to Sport England with his direct experience of working on the commercial side of sport. Sport England needs to tap into all the know-how the private sector has to offer and Thomas has the knowledge and experience to make that happen.”
Thomas Godfrey said:
“I am delighted to be joining Sport England at such an exciting time for sport in this country. I am looking forward to building strong links with the private sector and demonstrating to other Government departments that sport is an effective tool of engagement and can deliver against the Every Child Matters framework for people of all ages.”
Sport England has already been working with the private sector through its National Sports Foundation (NSF) which encourages partnerships between private investors and community sports projects. The NSF recently teamed up with Lloyds Pharmacy to launch ‘Fit Together’, which encourages people over the age of 50 who visit branches of Lloyds Pharmacy to get active and manage their health by participating in walking and cycling programmes or by joining an existing local activity or sports club.
The NSF also recently matched NPower’s contribution of £200,000 to deliver the ECB’s Urban Cricket Programme which aims to introduce the game to a new young audience and encourage children to actively participate in the sport. Thomas Godfrey will be building on these foundations.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Sport England has also recently strengthened its Board so that it draws on the private as well as the public sector. Recent appointments include Jill Ainscough who was the managing director of Easynet Group (BSkyB) and Philip Lemanski who was a Partner at Robson Rhodes and Deloitte and Touche, where he developed the firm’s management consultancy service.
Sport England exists to sustain and increase participation in community sport. It is a non-departmental public body and Lottery distributor. Its ambition is to get two million people participating more in sport by 2012. It does this by promoting, advising and investing in community sport.
Sport England has been a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting playing fields since August 1996. Sport England objects to any application that is detrimental to sport, unless alternative provision of at least equivalent value is found elsewhere.
For further information:
Jonathan Weisgard Tel: 020 7273 1822
Jonathan Weisgard@sportengland.org
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