From Sport England
Sport England has appointed Caroline Weber to the newly created role of Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs.
Sport England has a new strategy focused on creating sporting opportunities in every community, and has set ambitious targets to get one million people doing more sport by 2012-13 and to help those with talent get to the very top.
Caroline joins Sport England from McDonald’s Europe, where she was Senior Director for Communications and Government Relations, working with the organisation’s European President. In her time with McDonald’s UK and Europe, Caroline was involved in raising the profile of McDonald’s sporting programmes, both at a community and an international level. In particular, she was responsible for building awareness and understanding of the company’s community partnerships with the four national football associations.
In her senior role at Sport England, Caroline will lead all areas of Sport England’s communications and public affairs work. Prior to joining McDonald’s, she was Sport England’s Public Affairs Manager so arrives with a clear understanding of the organisation.
She said: “I am excited to be joining Sport England at a time when the organisation is pressing forward with the delivery of its new strategy. It is important that we continue to communicate openly and effectively on the progress we are making towards our mission of getting one million more people regularly participating in sport by 2012/13.”
Jennie Price, Chief Executive of Sport England, said: “Caroline will be a real asset to Sport England as we focus on the modern sports clubs, great coaches and dedicated volunteers that will get more people enjoying sport and fulfilling their potential. We are delighted that Caroline is bringing her private sector experience of building strong, productive relationships with both the sports and Government to this important role.â€
Sport England is a non-departmental public body and National Lottery distributor. We are committed to creating a world-leading community sports development system and increasing participation in sport. Sport England’s annual budget (lottery and exchequer) is c£250m.
Sport England’s new strategy was launched on June 10 and commits Sport England to deliver on a series of demanding targets by 2012-13:
* 1 million people doing more sport
* 25% reduction in the number of 16-18 year-olds who drop out of five key sports
* improved talent development systems in at least 25 sports
* a measurable increase in people’s satisfaction with their experience of sport – the first time the organisation has set such a qualitative measure
* a major contribution to the delivery of the five hour sports offer for children and young people
For more information please contact the communications team: Peter Dickinson on 020 7273 1800, Alex Russell on 020 7273 1866, or Andrew St Ledger on 020 7273 1593.
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