GM Moving Sports Club Conference 2025

By GM Moving | 08 January 2026 | TAGS: Clubs, Professional clubs, Conference, Safeguarding, Holly Grimes, Katie Thompson, Rachel Garbutt, Hayley Lever

In November 2025, we held the first GM Moving Sports Club Conference. We brought GM-based sports clubs, governing bodies, local authorities, Sport England, and other active partners together to network, learn and take action to improve sports club participation and enable positive, active lives for all. 

See the conference brought to life in the video highlight reel.

A collaborative approach to planning a conference

To engage local clubs and official bodies in conversation, the Sports Club Conference needed to reflect their knowledge gaps, areas of interest, and active ambitions.

Instead of planning an event based on what we thought people wanted to hear, we asked sports clubs across GM what would inspire them to attend a conference. We created a survey, which we sent to coaches and groups delivering sports provision, including those we’d never engaged with before and those serving on committees. 

One hundred and nineteen individuals replied in detail, helping us design the conference, book speakers and plan workshops based on need. This impressive response rate also proved the appetite for an event like this, demonstrating sports clubs are proactive in tackling inequalities, keen to grow their knowledge, and welcome the support of GM Moving. 

Exploring the relationship between inactivity and inequality

On Sunday 2 November 2025, delegates from nine of the 10 GM boroughs, representing a range of demographics and sports, joined us at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport building.

We began with a conference welcome, led by Greater Manchester Moving CEO Hayley Lever and followed by Head of Clubs at Sport England Rosie Benson.

Hayley Lever highlighted the relationship between inactivity and inequality. She reminded our delegates we each have a role to play to design movement back into everyone’s lives, translating national insights into local ambitions by emphasising the contribution of sports clubs across GM.

“I found it so helpful to learn about these best practices to encourage community engagement.”*

Next, Rosie Benson shared Sport England’s unwavering vision ‘to ensure that everyone across the nation can have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of sport and physical activity’. She asked us to consider what inclusion means to our local clubs and communities, how our values shape our actions, and what small changes could encourage more people to take part in physical activity.

“Everything was on point, informative and helpful. These speakers’ knowledge was second to none.”

Why understanding lived experiences improves safety in sport

To encourage active lives responsibly, sports clubs must understand their responsibilities towards children and young people, and create a place for them to speak up about anything that doesn’t feel right.

Child safeguarding campaigner and advocate Karen Leach emphasised this message in her ‘Expert by Lived Experience’ keynote speech. Karen openly shared her experiences of abuse at the hands of her youth swimming coach, and the resulting lifelong trauma, to empower adults to speak up and take action so no child suffers as she did.

Karen’s story was incredibly difficult to hear. But this discomfort helped sports clubs confront challenging questions, reflect on practices, and ask themselves how they can provide an even safer environment for their members, especially children and young people. 

“Karen’s powerful talk was the highlight of the event for me.”

Afterwards, we asked each club to share one thing they would take away from Karen’s speech to strengthen their current safeguarding practices. They told us the talk really highlighted the importance of continuing to be trusted adults keeping children safe, increasing visibility of their existing support and feeling more confident having conversations about difficult topics in age-appropriate language (such as ‘it gives me a weird feeling in my tummy’). 

“My main action from the day? Keep talking clearly and openly about culture change and abuse in sport.”

Karen’s story is distressing, so we arranged for a counsellor from We Are Survivors to provide free on-the-day and follow-up support for attendees to access.

Engagement strategies and funding opportunities: the benefit of GM Moving support

There was time for reflection, networking and lunch before an interactive afternoon. We’d already asked delegates to choose which two of the afternoon’s four workshops they’d like to attend, so we’d been able to plan resources based on number and need.

An external tutor from Sport England’s physical activity learning and resource organisation Buddle delivered two of our afternoon sessions, with our support.

Creating an Inclusive Environment provided a chance for reflection and discussion around what inclusion truly means, and barriers to active involvement. In Engaging Your Community, we asked delegates to assess their organisations’ current community relationships and identify practical ways to strengthen these connections.

“I’m going to register for Buddle.co as soon as I leave today!”

Holly Grimes and Richard Davis-Boreham from GM Moving and Rosie Benson from Sport England delivered our funding-based workshops.

Understanding the Funding Landscape provided details about the Sport England Movement Fund and how to submit a strong application. In the practical Funding Support Application Clinic, attendees could pitch project ideas and receive funding-based feedback.

“Based on everything discussed in the workshop, I have the confidence to apply for more funding. The requirements seemed too complex before, but now I understand the application process.”

What action can we take to increase participation and inclusivity in sports clubs?

The Sports Club Conference brought together representatives from sports clubs in 90% of Greater Manchester’s boroughs. The clubs increased their understanding of the environments they’re working in, networked with other clubs and support organisations, and learnt from those leading best practices or sharing their lived experiences.

“I loved meeting ... other community club members. Everyone I spoke to had relevant input and ideas.”

We’re already seeing the impact of sports clubs’ increased knowledge and understanding, and are offering them support. Some clubs have already been in touch to review their funding applications before submission, with others engaging in proactive discussion about what we can do, together, to tackle inequalities in inactivity in GM, and beyond. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us for meaningful discussions and activities. We’ll be planning another Sports Club Conference in 2026, and will share details as soon as we can.

See the conference brought to life in the video highlight reel.

For more information on GM Moving’s club support, visit our upcoming training and events page.

To register your interest in a future sports club conference, contact [email protected].

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*To lead by example on good practice, we asked for feedback from delegates, staff and partners to help us plan the next Sports Club Conference. Every respondent provided four- or five-star feedback, and some shared constructive suggestions for making conferences even better. Their responses are anonymous, and featured throughout this article.