STEPHEN CASTLE is the Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education; Leisure and Thames Gateway. He sits on the board of the Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership representing the East of England Regional Assembly, and is also Deputy Chairman of the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership. Additionally, Stephen is a board member of the East of England Development Agency, and is Vice-President of the Conservative Party and a member of the Board of the Conservative Party. He has been the East of England’s leading player in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic bid for a number of years.

A lifelong resident of south Essex with two young sons, he is Director of Castle Opticians, the largest independent chain of optometrists within Essex, and a qualified ski instructor. In his spare time he enjoys swimming, gardening and travel.
 

MARTIN CORCK is founder and Managing Director of Creating Excellence, a marketing company based in Essex. Martin has a wealth of experience in the sports sector embracing teaching, public sector leisure, consultancy and representation of national sports figures.

He has engaged in numerous high profile projects and campaigns including Sport Relief, Sporting Champions, Sportsmark/Activemark and in 2005 managed the Year of the Volunteer campaign on behalf of the sports sector. He is involved with London 2012 on a number of levels and is a member of the Essex 2012 Steering Group.

Martin is the East Region Sports Board ‘Champion’ for communications and County Sports Partnerships.

DR PAUL COSFORD is the Regional Director of Public Health for the East of England, leading the public health and medical advice functions within the new NHS East of England and the Government Office for the East of England. He is responsible for the oversight of population health improvement, reducing health inequalities, health protection and emergency planning, as well as professional leadership, clinical quality and patient safety. Paul was previously Medical Director and Director of Public Health for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland

LIZ DELANY has worked, and lived in the East region for nearly 20 years. Starting out as a lecturer in Leisure management / Sports Studies; before taking up a role as Regional Development Manager with the NCF (now ScUK) in 1993. In 1996 she joined Suffolk County Council as  County Sports Development Officer, and moved to set up the Sports Development Service in Norfolk in April of 2000.

In 2006 Liz joined Partnerships for Schools as PE & Sports Facilities Adviser from Suffolk Coastal District Council where she was Head of Community & Economic Services.  Liz was a founder member, of  the East Region Sports Development Association (ERSDA), which she chaired for nearly 8 years, and played a significant role in the development of the National Association for Sports Development (NASD).

ROGER FENNEMORE  - solicitor by profession Roger also has extensive experience across a range of industries and sectors having served as a non executive director or chairman in many companies.  He has served as a district councillor, a non executive director of a hospital trust, a trustee of several charities and president of a local rotary club.  A keen sportsman he played rugby for Bedford, cricket for Luton town, athletics for Luton and more recently was captain of Woburn golf club.  On the regional board he chairs the investment Committee and is the Board Vice Chair.

DAVID HILLS is currently a partner in Hornagold and Hills, the largest independent firm of Project Management consultants in the UK.  He has a broad based background of international project management experience on all types of projects involving change management and project management.  David also has a keen interest in a number of sports, actively participating in sailing, water-skiing and cycling.

SARAH PAVELEY runs her own Management Consulting business, Jacobite Limited, which offers commercial and strategic advice for small and medium-sized companies.  Following GB representation in fencing, she has worked in a variety of businesses, as well as for the Department of Trade and Industry.

KAREN PEARCE is currently Assistant Director of Physical Education at Cambridge University.  In this role she oversees the day-to-day management of the University’s facilities, initiates and oversees various sports development initiatives, manages the TASS scheme and supports the elite performance of the University’s students and teams. Karen is the East Region Sports Board ‘Champion’ for National Governing Bodies of Sport.

CHRIS PERKS is regional director of Sport England East.  During his school years, Wolverhampton born Chris was a national champion in athletics.

He then trained as a Physical Education Teacher at Warwick University, before studying for a Master’s Degree in Sports Science at Loughborough University.

Chris’ teaching career began at Roade School in Northamptonshire, where he worked across the secondary age range. Chris then led a project to enhance the school with wider sports development initiatives, as well as developing the community use of the school site. This innovative project saw him both teaching and working as a sports development officer, liaising with local clubs and governing bodies.

Since joining Sport England, Chris has led work around improving sporting opportunities for young people, as well as focussing on the use of sport in combating social inclusion. This has been underpinned with extensive experience of working in partnership with a variety of organisations in the East of England.

More recently, Chris has overseen Sport England East’s investment function, including facility development, land use planning and grants management.

GARY SULLIVAN worked freelance in a variety of industries, including petrochemical, pharmaceutical, event management and construction, after leaving the Armed Forces.

In the early 1990s, he joined the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and was part of the team that set up humanitarian aid logistics in war-torn former Yugoslavia.

1994 saw Gary join forces with Mark Dobson to create Wilson James Ltd, to provide business support services (logistics, security, FM) to many blue-chip clients including NGO’s.  Wilson James now employs over 1,600 people and operates from its base in Westcliff.

In 2000, Gary became Chair of Business Link For Essex and has made a significant contribution to Essex through a variety of bodies, such as the Learning & Skills Council’s ‘Profit From Learning’ programme, the Essex Business Consortium and Renaissance Southend, to name just a few.

In December 2004 Gary was elected Chairman of Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership.

In 2002, Gary completed his Masters Degree in Business Administration at APU.

BRIONY SUTCLIFFE joins the Board  from the National Trust, where she developed their corporate strategic plan as Assistant Director of Strategy. She played a major role in the transformation of the former English Tourist Board into a new strategic body for tourism the English Tourism Council. Working closely with DCMS advisers, she gained direct experience of the links between strategy, culture, structure, relationships, processes and performance.

Through her career she has been instrumental in developing partnerships with local and international organisations and in particular was successful in delivering multi million pound projects part funded by EU grants for a London borough.

Briony lives in Hertfordshire and is a keen lacrosse player and cyclist.