GOVERNANCE
County Durham Sport, as an organisation in receipt of public funding, is required to achieve Tier 3 of the Code of Governance. This page contains information that relates to the governance of County Durham Sport and our plans to create and sustain an equitable organisation.
DOWNLOADS
Click on the links below to download information regarding our policies.
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
PDF copies of our Annual Accounts
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
The constitution by which CDS is governed.
BOARD MINUTES
Copies of minutes taken at our annual Board Meeting.
BOARD TERMS OF REFERENCE
PEOPLE PLAN
Our people plan sets out how we plan to be a great place to work and support the team to achieve their best and the organisation’s aims.
STRATEGY
Our vision for County Durham Sport
OUR BOARD
County Durham Sport is governed by a board of trustees who oversee the success of the charity.
Stephen Bell, OBE - Chair
Stephen has always been passionate about sport and physical activity and is currently a junior cricket coach, is actively involved in organising and supporting junior football and is the Chair of a Golf club.
Stephen is also the Chief Executive of Changing Lives, a nationwide homeless charity helping people facing challenging times to make positive change – for good.
Stephen is committed to values of social justice, equality and diversity and received a Queens Honour for services to the homeless. Stephen is passionate about improving the lives of those in the community.
Stephen’s background is in finance. Alongside being the Chair, Stephen is also a member of the Finance, Risk and Audit sub-committee.
Meryl Levington - VICE CHAIR/Senior Independent Director
Meryl is the Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit sub-committee.
DAVE SHIPMAN - TRUSTEE
David is the Board champion for Safeguarding and Welfare. David is also the Chair of the Governance, Nominations and HR sub-committee.
WENDY EMBERSON - TRUSTEE
Wendy joined County Durham Sport as a Trustee because of her keen interest in many sports and getting people active.
She has a grown family so along with her husband she takes every opportunity to travel.
Wendy is a volunteer coach for Greencroft Netball Club, which has achieved a silver caps award by All England Netball Association. The club is based at North Durham Academy in Stanley.
The support she brings to the board is in finance. Working in a charity, she has supported the development of the organisations growth to over £3.5 million.
Wendy is a member of the Finance, Risk and Audit sub-committee.
KIERAN SPENCER - TRUSTEE
Kieran is a member of the Governance, Nominations and HR sub-committee.
MARC GREGSON - TRUSTEE
Marc has spent 20 years working within the public sector in Wales. He has worked within the Further Education sector, local authorities, and Sport Wales. He has expertise in developing policy, programmes, and projects which promote and develop sport and physical activity in education and community settings. Marc has contributed to the development of the new Curriculum for Wales 2022 and advised the Welsh Government on the physical health and wellbeing elements of the new curriculum. During his 14 years at Sport Wales, his portfolio also included actively supporting delivery partners with varying organisational cultures. These included local authorities, National Governing Bodies of Sport, Higher Education Institutions, National partners and third sector organisations. He has been Chair of the Wales Physical Activity Partnership Educational Settings Group and the North Wales Consortia PE & School Sport Strategic Group.
Marc has presented at national and international conferences and is a guest lecturer at Bangor University’s School of Sport, Health, and Exercise Sciences. Outside his professional involvement in Sport, Marc has been involved in sports coaching at a national level and has been a Non-Executive Director of a Welsh National Governing Body of Sport. He is also a trustee of the ‘Robin Llyr Evans Memorial Trust.’
Marc is a member of the Strategy and Impact Sub-committee.
SARAH HARDING - TRUSTEE
Sarah joined the CDS Board in early 2021, having previously worked with the organisation on research projects whilst working at Durham University. Sarah’s background is in sport and physical activity research, having previously worked as a PE teacher in the region. Her current role is as a research manager for a not-for-profit research consultancy that specialises in sport, wellbeing and educational research, including evaluating Sport England projects. Alongside her role with CDS, Sarah also is a trustee of a charity that works in Zambia to promote sport and education to deprived young people, and competes at GB age group level at triathlons and duathlons. Her main interests are in children and young people, mental health and wellbeing, and overcoming inequalities that affect an individual’s opportunity to engage in physical activity.
Sarah is the Chair of the Strategy and Impact Sub-committee.
LYDIA GIBSON - TRUSTEE
Lydia is currently a Policy Advisor in the Civil Service. She has always been passionate about equal opportunities in sport and was a keen sportswoman herself growing up. She was lucky enough to spend 3 years in Durham studying for a BA in Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity through which she was introduced to so many amazing people, experiences and new ways of thinking. Not least through her time volunteering with the Community Sport Activators scheme and coaching netball in Zambia with the UK Sport IDEALS Project (rebranded Volunteer Zambia in 2018). Lydia then went on to continue her studies at the University of Edinburgh (MSc Sport Policy, Management and International Development) in which her commitment to policy making and sport for development was reinforced.
Lydia is a member of the Strategy and Impact Sub-committee.
SARAH CAMPBELL - TRUSTEE
Sarah is currently Community and Volunteer Manager for the National Trust across the Derwent, Wear and Coast portfolio. Sarah was lucky enough to spend 3 years in Durham studying for a BA in Psychology and Anthropology, whilst competitively rowing, playing tennis and netball. Having previously worked as a personal trainer specialising in neuro-rehab and then as a PE teacher, her experience in sport/physical activity is varied. She particularly loves diving, walking, climbing and skiing, and is passionate about creating opportunities to make the outdoors a more inclusive space.
EQUALITY STATEMENT
County Durham Sport is fully committed to the principles and practice of equality of opportunity and diversity and in treating everyone according to their needs. We have been awarded the Foundation Level of the Equality Standard for Sport. You can download a copy of our Equality Statement here.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
County Durham Sport are committed to ensuring the responsible collection and use of personal data in the course of our work. We are bound by the guidelines issued by the GDPR and we will ensure that personal data is processed fairly and lawfully and that the rights of data subjects are properly respected.