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The national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity

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Team

Our two office hubs are in Loughborough and Manchester. Many of us work remotely across England. Our Board is made up of highly experienced volunteers with a variety of skills to support our charity's strategy, policies and vision.

Please see below the details for staff, Board and Advocates. You can also use the contact us form for general information.

Find a team member

Found 8 team members.

  • Sam Orde OBE

    Chair

    Sam Orde’s passion is to see more disabled people enjoy sport and activity. She brings 20 years of experience from Riding for the Disabled Association, including as UK Chair for nine years, coaching from grassroots to national championships and developing Centres of Excellence. This has involved strategic planning, driving growth, fundraising and connecting with a wide range of organisations and people.

    Sam has been on the British Equestrian Federation Council for eight years and was on the working group to ensure compliance with Sport England’s Code for Sports Governance.

    Her professional background was initially as a Chartered Surveyor in rural practice, followed by growing her livestock farming business over the last three decades.

    As a young rider Sam competed in eventing to advanced level and Sam continues to ride for pleasure. Other interests include hill walking, Pilates, skiing and attending the last two Paralympics in support of the para-equestrian teams.

    Phone
    01509 227750

  • Andrea Dando

    Trustee

    Andrea is a Qualified Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales with over 25 years’ experience in finance. Having started her career at PWC, she then spent 10 years in the industry working in various finance rolls at Rolls Royce in Derby. Andrea has spent the last 13 years working in the charity sector and is currently the Finance Director of the Baca Charity, based in Loughborough.

    Andrea is passionate about ensuring that charities have strong financial and management controls in place to allow organisations to successfully deliver on their operating purpose. Over the past 13 years she has really seen the need to ensure that the finances in a charity need to be robust to allow the organisation to thrive.

    Having gone to Loughborough University Andrea has continued to enjoy sport and is passionate about all people having access to it. As a very amateur tennis player as well as a big cricket fan she understands the benefits that sport can provide.

    Andrea chairs the Finance Audit Risk and Governance Committee.

  • Rebecca Evans

    Trustee

    Rebecca has worked in various sports development roles in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, since graduating in 2004 from University in Sport Science and Management. Latterly working strategically across the county to improve people’s health and wellbeing by supporting them to be active specialising in those facing the most inequalities, particularly disabled people.

    Before a working life began Rebecca competed in disability swimming at national level and up to international level for more than ten years, until 2005. Her proudest sporting achievement was breaking the S8 Short course 1500m World and European record in 2004 and 2005 at the Beds County championships. She was one of the first swimmers to integrate into the county championships and went on to become Beds ASA disability secretary and their President. Rebecca spent a lot of time volunteering at club level and is a qualified level 3 swimming coach and believes she may be the first disabled person to do so. She continues to volunteer in many club roles, but in a different sport having taken up wheelchair basketball in her spare time, “for fun”.

    Rebecca says being involved in sport from a teenager has transformed her life. She is forever grateful for the experiences and friends that sport has offered. It continues to shape her life today. She is passionate about ensuring everyone has the opportunities to reap the benefits sport and activity have to offer.

    Rebecca sits on the Finance Audit Risk and Governance committee.

  • Peter Ackred

    Trustee

    Peter has been involved in sport for disabled people for the last 25 years both at a delivery and strategic level. He has worked with several charities over the years including Interactive (formerly known as London Sports Forum for disabled people). In 2005 he founded Disability Sports Coach, ensuring that disabled people have access to physical activity and sport at the level that they want to participate at. The charity now supports over 5000 disabled people and their support networks each year.

    He has also been on other boards including UK Active kids and Sports Excel (formally UKSA for people with a Learning disability), where he supported them in areas including Business Development, Governance and Inclusion.

    Peter joined the Activity Alliance board in September 2024.

  • Isabelle Michelson

    Trustee

    Issy is a policy and public affairs specialist at the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). She has a passion for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in sport and society with a political background spanning Westminster, Cardiff Bay and Holyrood. Her role at the LTA involves managing relationships within the sport sector, government and elected politicians from across Britain. She works to influence key policy areas such as education, healthcare and facilities investment. Her position has enabled her to champion and promote disability tennis to stakeholders across sport and politics.

    Issy has worked in the sport sector for many years, starting out at the charity Women in Sport where she established a political engagement programme and developed systemic policy asks to improve participation of women and girls in sport.

    Outside of work, Issy is a qualified lacrosse coach and has played international lacrosse for Wales for over four years. She also sits on the National Lacrosse Committee and has shadowed the Sport Wales Board.

    She joined the Activity Alliance Board in October 2023 as a Member Nominated Trustee, representing the interests of the National Disability Sport Organisations.

  • Emma Pawson

    Trustee

    Emma is the health and programme director for universal free school meals at the Greater London Authority working for the Mayor of London. She is responsible for a wide portfolio including universal free school meals, mental health, heath inequalities, physical activity, youth inclusion and working with all 33 London boroughs and NHS partners. Prior to joining the Greater London Authority, Emma worked as health policy lead at the Department of Health and Social Care.
    She has also worked in the Chief Medical Officer’s private office as policy lead on obesity.

    Emma started her career as a sports development officer working in inclusion health. She brings extensive experience in policy and strategy, risk management and programme delivery working with a wide range of stakeholders.

    Emma is extremely experienced in managing relationships at a local, regional and national level. She is passionate about inclusion health and activity and has spent many years volunteering with disabled sports in the UK and internationally. She also worked at the 2012 Paralympics in London.

    Emma joined the Activity Alliance Board in October 2023.

  • Lucy Smith

    Trustee

    Lucy works in governance and data protection at British Gymnastics. Her early involvement in gymnastics started as a participant and then she later progressed to coach which led to her pursuing a career in sport. Lucy has covered a wide variety of roles within the sport sector including working in development, safeguarding, HR, equality and diversity and governance, risk and compliance.

    Lucy was advisor to the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique Working Group for the Prevention of Abuse and Harassment. She was responsible for developing a framework to embed safeguarding arrangements at world events and within national federations and supported the establishment of the International Gymnastics Ethics Foundation.

    As a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Lucy is passionate about developing inclusive environments where everyone can thrive. She has lived experience as a parent and carer of the inequalities that disabled people face in daily life and is passionate about ensuring disabled people can benefit from taking part in sport and physical activity.

    Lucy joined the Activity Alliance Board in October 2023.

  • Loretta Sollars

    Trustee

    Loretta’s career includes over 20 years of work in community sports development as well as close to a decade in public health. During the pandemic, Loretta led the Health Inequalities team to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities and the publication of PHE’s annual Public Sector Equality Duty report. In October 2021, her role was transferred into the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities which is part of the Department of Health and Social Care. She has responsibility for the health of school-age children which sees her working with national agencies on issues such as physical activity, obesity and mental health and wellbeing.

    Loretta has always enjoyed sport and being active. She initially swam competitively and later took swimming coaching and teaching qualifications with the intention to coach professionally. However, she was diverted into competing in triathlons in the early 90s, representing GB internationally. Throughout her time as a competitor and since retiring from elite sport she has taken on various voluntary roles with local athletics, triathlon and swimming clubs.

    Loretta sees the trusteeship at Activity Alliance as an opportunity to “give something back”. She is also passionate about wanting to make life fairer and healthier for everyone.

    Loretta sits on the Finance Audit Risk and Governance Committee.