Conference 2024

This year’s SAPCA Conference took place on 29 February 2023 at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road stadium. With high-profile speakers, a diverse educational programme and a number of networking opportunities, the one-day conference is the sport and play construction sector’s main event of the year

The event kicked off with a keynote speech by ex-England rugby captain and World Cup winner, Maggie Alphonsi, who shared her views and thoughts on leadership and effective teams. Mixing audience interactions with personal anecdotes from her life and career, Alphonsi provided plenty of food for thought around positive mindsets and the importance of a diverse workforce.

Alphonsi challenged delegates to answer a number of questions, such as “what drives you to be a successful leader”, “why do you do what you do” and “why is it important to have diverse teams”. She also highlighted the importance of “being comfortable being uncomfortable”, as well as the ability for leaders to see accomplishments and achievements from the point of view of individual team members.

“Winning a World Cup is a great achievement from a team perspective,” Alphonsi said. “But as well as the collective success, winning a team competition will provide each team member with their own ‘priceless moment’. Maybe they or a family member sacrificed something to get to where they are. Or perhaps they had to work extra hard due to a personal issue. These can create priceless moments for them, but ones that are pretty meaningless to you. As a leader, it is important to learn to understand those personal journeys, as well as your own and the team’s collective one.”

As a leader, it is important to learn to understand those personal journeys, as well as your own and the team’s collective one

Getting active

Cameron Yorston from the Sport and Recreation Alliance updated delegates on how the National Sector Partners Group (NSPG) – a group consisting of some of the leading bodies for the sport and physical activity sector – is working to get the sector’s voice heard ahead of this year’s General Election. He highlighted how, despite the benefits of physical activity to a nation’s health were recognised among politicians, the sector was too often ignored when policies were drawn up.

“You only need to look at the previous general election party manifestos of all political stripes to see how sport and physical activity is anything but a priority,” Yorston said. “As an example, the previous Labour manifesto of 2019 had more than 100 pages and 26,000 words – I know, because I read it all – the word ‘sport’ was featured a grand total of five times.”

Yorston also described in detail one of the NSPG’s main campaigns – the ambitious target of making the UK the most active nation in Europe. He presented data which revealed how the UK currently ranks joint 11th out of 15 comparable European nations for levels of physical activity. The stats also show that the UK is ranked as the third highest spender on healthcare costs caused by inactivity and only 9th in overall wellbeing.

“Our message is that sport, recreation and physical activity currently saves the NHS £9.5 billion every year by preventing illness and generates £85 billion annually in economic value,” Yorston said, adding: “but the simple truth is that the value generated by the sector could be far greater if the UK can reach the activity levels of its European peers.

“If we could make the UK the most active nation in Europe – reaching and exceeding the levels of the likes of Finland – we project savings of up to £1 billion in healthcare spending linked to inactivity, alongside the generation of an additional £3.6 billion per annum in GDP uplift through increased productivity and realising up to £77.2 billion in increased wellbeing benefits.”

From sports to health

Duncan Wood-Allum, Managing Director of SLC (Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy), outlined to delegates how the public sector’s ability to invest in physical activity and sport was being squeezed further, following the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

“Local authorities are increasingly needing to focus their spending – and I mean all of it – on adult social care and essential children’s services,” Thody said. “We all know that they’re already not fixing roads, so we know that sport is not a priority. Sadly, some of the facilities that the public currently enjoy – and which SAPCA members supplied and equipped – may not be replaced by the time they get to the end of their operational lives.

“But there is hope – and this was highlighted in a report by Sport England back in 2022, called ‘The Future of Public Sector Leisure’. It set out a compelling argument that there needs to be a shift, in terms of the focus of the public sector and the sport and physical activity sector to also include and support the less well, the less sporty and the less active.

There needs to be a shift to also include and support the less well, the less sport and the less active

“An example of this can be found in the Pivot to Active Wellbeing programme in Manchester It involves all 10 local authorities and their leisure operators alongside GreaterSport and Sport England colleagues. The aim is to change how leisure centres, swimming pools, fitness facilities, services and teams serve their people and communities; to better support active lives for all, tackle health inequalities and ensure that active wellbeing becomes an integral and valued contributor to the wider health and social care system in every neighbourhood.”

Play for all

Other speakers on the day included Al Rownan, Sports Economy Lead at the Department for Business & Trade, who presented delegates with some of the opportunities that exist for those looking to export their products and services. Carolin Göhler, President of the Landscape Institute, outlined the principles of biodiversity net gain – a growing area of interest for the construction sector – while Neil Thody from the Orange Peel Consultancy revealed some of the ongoing changes faced by those competing for public sector work in the sports and leisure sector.

There was also an inspiring and passionate presentation by Eugene Minogue, Executive Director of Play England, who called for places for sport and play – such as Multi-Use Games Areas and sport facilities – to be designed in a more inclusive way. He encouraged funders and planners to think outside the box and move away from the ‘one size fits all’ approach. He also called for Play Sufficiency legislation to be introduced in England. This would make it a legal requirement for every local authority in England to both assess and ensure that their area secures enough opportunities for children to play.

The event was then closed by conference host, Gail Emms MBE and SAPCA Chief Executive, Richard Shaw.

“We wanted to present delegates with a wide range of speakers, covering some of the topics and issues faced by the sector,” Shaw said. “There was plenty to take home and I think the main message from the day was that sport and play is a robust sector that is well equipped to both benefit from the opportunities and tackle the challenges it faces.”

To find out more about SAPCA and its work, visit: [sapca.org.uk/about](https://sapca.org.uk/about)