Governance

Welcome to Leisure in the Community Ltd

Leisure in the Community Ltd is a leisure management organisation, dedicated to supporting and developing sports, leisure and cultural facilities in the communities in which we operate.

In accordance with the Rules of the Society its governance is overseen by a dedicated and experienced team of Committee Members

Committee Members

As Committee Members, David, Ian, Colin and Dennis, working alongside our Representative Chris, work to ensure that Leisure in the Community delivers on their community and financial promises. The Committee Members and Chris are also responsible for overseeing the performance of our operational partners and suppliers in order to maximise the financial benefits to our clients.

David Frederick Coffield – Committee Member

David worked in the Public Sector for over 30 years having qualified as an Accountant (CIPFA) in 1968. In 1998 he retired from his post as Finance Director & Deputy Chief Executive of Newbury District Council, Berkshire.

He subsequently worked as a part-time freelance Local Government Finance Consultant. He mainly specialised in projects relating to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), Government Grants & Budget Modelling.

Since retiring he has also been involved in Community projects, including:

Chairing a Local Committee raising funds for worthwhile Local Schemes
Acting as Internal Auditor for three Local Parish Councils
Chairing a Group to seek a replacement Local Shop/Post Office within the Community

David is a keen sportsman although active participation is now limited to golf and swimming.

Ian Stuart Cooper – Committee Member

Ian is a Culture and Sport Management Consultant, based near Cambridge. He has over 35 years executive level experience in both the public and private leisure sectors in the UK and overseas. In public sector cultural services he has worked in all local government formats at Director level. He also has extensive management consultancy experience through working in major companies and his own consultancy. This experience includes preparing over 20 major strategic cultural leisure and sports plans and over 100 consultancy studies for blue chip companies including: facility feasibility, site options appraisals, business planning, facility design manageability and management restructuring

His unique and lengthy involvement in the World Leisure Organisation at Board Director level has provided experience of managing ten world congresses. He holds the post of Programme Manager Honours and Awards which includes chairing the prestigious World Leisure International Innovation Prize Committee. Ian is also a Senior Fellow in the World Leisure Academy.

Ian has been an international volleyball player and manager with the Great Britain and England teams. He is the British Volleyball Federation and Volleyball England Match and Player Records Archivist.

Colin Richard Barlow – Committee Member

Colin is a leisure and cultural services consultant based in Reading, Berkshire. Colin has many years experience in education (secondary, further and prison service), local government leisure / cultural services, parks/countryside services, entertainment/museums and tourism. His experience in local government covers Chief Officer / Departmental Director positions in both Wales and the Home Counties, together with a spell as Town Clerk in Henley-on-Thames. His experience also includes work with formative leisure trusts as an MD in the late 1990’s, and more recently in both interim and project management roles for large local authority cultural service departments.

Dennis Bell – Committee Member

Dennis initially worked as a teacher for eleven years before moving into local government cultural services for twenty years becoming Head of Service for Fenland District Council.

Since 2003 he has been an independent consultant and interim manager working at a senior level with a wide range of authorities in a variety of services.

While primarily involved with sport he also has an extensive knowledge of the arts and museums.

He has been a trustee of several charitable trusts since 1979 and a voluntary director (2006 – 2012) of the British Equestrian Federation, the national governing body for equestrian sports.

He continues to play racketball badly and to “actively” watch rugby and cricket

Chris Reeves – Societies Representative

Chris graduated from Manchester University in 1987 with a BA (Hons) in Sport and Recreation Management and has worked within the leisure industry since this time.

Chris spent the initial four years of his career in the public sector with Harrow Council and St Albans District Council prior to transferring to the private sector as part of the management team of newly created ‘management buyout’ company St Albans Leisure Limited, which later became the Relaxion Group in 1992 and then Leisure Connection in 1999.

Up until his departure in early 2007, Chris held many senior positions within Leisure Connection including those of Business Development Director, Operations Director and Commercial Director and was appointed to the Board in 1998.

In early 2007 Chris set up his own independent consultancy business, Leisure Management Services Ltd (LMS), to provide specialist consultancy support and advice to organisations working within the local authority leisure sector. Since this time LMS has grown significantly and Chris has undertaken many successful projects on behalf of public sector, private sector and voluntary sector based clients.

Chris has been working closely with Leisure in the Community since July 2009.