British Cycling’s Chief Executive, Ian Drake, has been appointed to sit on the Board of Sport England, the national body for grassroots sport that acts under the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Sport England’s role is to build the foundations of a community sport system, to grow the number of people doing sport; sustain participation levels; and help more talented people from all diverse backgrounds excel by identifying them early, nurturing them, and helping them move up to the elite level.
Drake’s appointment has been announced alongside six other new Board members – including Kate Bosomworth, David Goldstone, Sally Gunnell, Debbie Jevans, Charles Reed and Mark Spelman. The new members have been appointed for a three-year term.
Commenting on the news, Ian Drake said “I am delighted to be joining Sport England’s Board. It is a privilege to help shape the future of grassroots sport in this country. The amazing success that cycling has enjoyed across all levels since 2008 have put me in a good position to be able to use that experience to help drive change across all sports.
“Of course I am immensely proud of the success that we’ve enjoyed on the elite stage – including many Olympic and Paralympic medals and two British winners of the Tour de France.
“However, those successes are not ends in themselves – the significant strides we’ve made at the grassroots, including inspiring one million more people to ride regularly through our partnership with Sky, and the work we’ve done to recruit more coaches and volunteers into the sport, have contributed most to our overarching ambition to turn Britain into a true cycling nation.
“I look forward to making a contribution to Sport England’s work which helps realise their ambitions to get more people active across all sports.”
British Cycling is the national governing body for cycling as recognised by the UCI – the international federation for the sport. Based in Manchester at the National Cycling Centre, British Cycling works across all levels and six disciplines of the sport (BMX, Mountain Bike, Cyclo-Cross, Road, Track and Cycle Speedway).
British Cycling also works hard to represent cyclists’ interests at all levels, including campaigning on important issues including road safety. As a membership organisation, British Cycling provides a suite of benefits and support to its members who currently number over 83,000. All membership revenue is invested back into cycling.
British Cycling was named Governing Body of the Year at the 2013 Sports Industry Awards.
