About Us
Allow us to introduce ourselves. We’re Active Nation, a registered charity who are wholeheartedly committed to a bold and exciting mission to persuade the nation to be active.
Our expertise lies in sport and exercise, for which we have an incredible passion. At our heart is the belief that this is a passion everyone can share with us. We exist to spread the word about the benefits moving more, getting communities excited and igniting their enthusiasm for getting active.
The good news is that by being more active, and sticking to the Department of Health’s recommendation of 150 minutes of activity per week, you can go a long way to preventing these obesity and inactivity associated illnesses.
We aim to make a truly positive difference to the health of the nation.
What We Do
To fulfil our mission, Active Nation campaign nationally to get educate and change the behaviours of communities across the UK on the benefits of being active. At present we’re based at 15 sports and exercise venues right across the UK, ranging from swimming pools to leisure centres to ski slopes.
Working with 5 local authority partners, we deliver an abundance of innovative sport and exercise programmes across a range of activities that include group exercise classes, gym sessions, swim lessons, kids tryathlons, sailing, snowsports and much more. To be honest, if it will get you moving more, we’ll have a go at it.
Our Trustees
Active Nation is a registered charity, and as such we don’t have any shareholders or investors to impress. Which is great news, because it means that every single penny we make is put straight back into persuading the nation to be active. It means we can commit to improving sport and exercise facilities nationally, increasing the number of opportunities for people to get active, improve the level of skill and expertise in sport and exercise coaching and help to educate communities better in the long term benefits of being active.
Of course, somebody’s got to be in charge and keep our unrivalled enthusiasm for sport and exercise under some sort of control! So at the top of our governance structure is a Board of Trustees, consisting of volunteers who provide their time and considerable expertise to help us to maximise our public benefit. Each of our five trustees has their own respective specialisms and invaluable experience in the leisure sector that helps to determine the strategic direction of the charity.
BOB PATON - HONARARY PRESIDENT:
Bob Paton epitomises the energy of the sport and leisure industry. A born entrepreneur he has been involved with some of the biggest and smallest leisure operators at a start-up stage and is experienced at maximising value for any business. With a drive and passion for business, Bob’s particular strengths include strategic thinking, a strong marketing and sales drive with a sound understanding of finance. As one of the three founders of Active Nation, Bob’s vision was to ensure that the organisation really made a difference to the health of the nation. One which ensured that health and activity was at the forefront of all the charities work. Bob was delighted to have been honoured as the Lifetime President of the organisation in 2012 and now uses his considerable experience and enthusiasm to further the aims of the charity. Bob says; “Having been involved in the sport and leisure sector for 30 years it’s been an absolute passion to get more people active and enjoying life to the full. As the first Executive Director of the Fitness Industry Association I was able to introduce huge consumer campaigns such as Commit to Get Fit as well as Fit For Business however the opportunities for Active Nation to build on these initiatives is immense.”
PAUL CALLUS - CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD:
Paul is the Managing Director of VisuaLearning Ltd a company specialising in providing content management software and web design for the education market. He was Managing Director of Plastimo UK, a business to business sales and logistics operation supplying leisure marine chandlery equipment to 1500 retailers, boat builders and mail order specialists where he was responsible for all areas of sales, marketing, warehouse and logistics. Previous positions also include Sales Director of Mobile Computing Systems and Vice President for Distribution sales of Tandy Corp.
DAVID HUGHES - TRUSTEE
David qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist & Exercise Physiologist and went on to pioneer corporate wellness in Europe. He has been Coach and Physiotherapist to the GB Paralympic & Judo teams and advised on fitness to a number of professional and international sports teams David was one of the Founding Directors of the Fitness Industry Association, brought ACSM qualifications into the UK and became the Secretary of the Education Board of the FIA. Responsible for business development for Redgrave Health & Leisure plc, he worked with Steve Redgrave on a range of initiatives such as improving children’s health and fitness levels. He has recently held managerial positions in BUPA.
BARRY JAMES - TRUSTEE
Barry is a retired Independent Financial Adviser and Insurance Broker and Honorary Consul for Tunisia. Barry’s previous roles have included time as a Borough and District Councillor, a former Non-Executive Chairman of a leisure management group and a Director of a hotel and tour operator company.
COLIN COPLAND - TRUSTEE
Colin is a Chartered Accountant with many years experience in financial and commercial management. Colin has been a Board member of publicly quoted and substantial privately owned companies and has been fully involved in the formulation and implementation of group strategy. Colin is currently Group Finance Director of an international group of companies with a turnover of £500m operating mainly in food related activities. He has particular experience of acquisitions and disposals and managing relationships with bankers, investors etc.
