Features
From previous issues of The Leisure Review
August 2008: volume two issue seven
Discovering Greenwich
The Greenwich Foundation has embarked upon a £6m development project to enhance the visitor experience at the Old Royal Naval College. Jonathan Ives finds out where one puts a brewery in a world heritage site.
An incredible journey by coach
There are people in the know who think that Coaching North West is going to revolutionise the coaching landscape in the UK. Mick Owen went to meet Rob Burchell to find out why.
Mentoring in sport – no more quick fixes
Jenny Buckham and Mark Scarth make the case for a more robust system for the development of mentors in sport and explain how the launch of the new qualification could mark the beginning of a new era for sports coaching.
Making the cut
In the first of three articles, Mick Owen investigates the issues surrounding life on ‘the cut’, its politics and its people.
Should we be marketing disability sport?
After the recent Sports Marketing Network event Svend Elkjaer realises that there should be little difference in marketing sport participation, regardless of people’s mental or physical ability.
The road to improvement
When the Towards an Excellent Service (TAES) improvement tool was launched,Halton Borough Council's culture and leisure department adopted it to help evaluate, develop and improve its cultural services. Here some of the people involved tell The Leisure Review about the process and the impact it had on services
July 2008: volume two issue six
Tessa Jowell, minister for London 2012
With plans for the legacy of London’s Olympic Games now published, The Leisure Review asked the minister with responsibility for London 2012 about some of the key aspects of the Games, the legacy and what it means for UK leisure.
A new vision for sport?
The new Sport England strategy promises a new approach to the pursuit of a world-leading community sport structure. Jonathan Ives found out what it means for the government’s sports agency and for those involved in the sport sector.
Child safety versus volunteering
The Manifesto for Change from the Commission on the Future of Volunteering suggested that volunteers were being put off by CRB checks. Mick Owen looks at two new reports.
Why it’s still OK to love the Tour
With only days to go until the grand départ, Jonathan Ives offers a personal perspective of the Tour de France, the world’s greatest sporting event.
A click and point approach to shaping up
Mick Owen found himself dragged into a competition to get a county he does not live in more active more often. Happy to oblige and with a point to prove, he ran down off to talk to the head of the county sports partnership behind it.
June 2008: volume two issue five
The business of swimming
A new edition of PAS 81: 2005, the publicly accessible standard for the operation and management of swimming schools, will be published later this month. Steve Franks discusses the implications for the swim school sector
Taking it in stages
All round the country r egional theatre venues are bringing audiences face to face with a great diversity of performance. Mick Owen reports from the Buxton Opera House on Shakespeare, The Stranglers and everything in between.
A people business: the first Runningsports conference
Runningsports, the skills and support network for sports volunteers, held its first full-scale gathering in May. The Leisure Review was near the front.
On the starting line
Paddy Corcoran explains how Tees Valley Leisure, a leisure trust, came to organise the Redcar half marathon, why it seemed like a good idea at the time and what lessons were learned for next year
May 2008: volume two issue four
The National Skills Academy launches
Jonathan Ives talks to SkillsActive chief executive Stephen Studd about how the new academy will affect the sport and active leisure sector
Building a system for UK coaching
Mick Owen visits the third UK Coaching Summit to report on the views from the platform and the views from the floor
Passion for Excellence: inspiring and challenging
CLOA chair Ann Gosse offers her view of the implications of the new improvement strategy for culture and sport
Challenging yourself to challenge others
Dr Mark Nesti confronts the post-modern perspective and explains why sports development is about individuals, passion and the Socratic spirit
Are we really listening to people’s lives?
Svend Elkjaer argues that now is the time for sports development professionals and leisure managers to become more responsive to people’s needs
April 2008: volume two issue three
Rising in the east
Kim Wright, Hackney's corporate director for community services, talks to Jonathan Ives about what the future of culture holds for the Olympic borough.
Gold at the end of the rainbow
The Leisure Review went to Manchester to talk to John Mills, British Cycling's director of coaching, education and development, about the coaching, clubs and development behind the medals
Do we care about volunteers?
A major report on volunteering has provoked very little comment from within the leisure, culture and sport sector, despite this sector’s reliance on and investment in the good will of unpaid supporters. Mick Owen wonders why.
A passion for excellence
A Passion for Excellence provides the culture and sport sector with its first agreed improvement strategy. The Leisure Review offers a summary of a document that charts a future for better cultural services
Phantom: the artist in residence
Alison Watt has marked the end of her time as the National Gallery’s associate artist with an exhibition of the work the National Gallery collection has inspired. Jonathan Ives reports
March 2008: volume two issue two
New York's best investment
Adrian Benepe, New York City's commissioner
for parks and recreation, talks exclusively to The Leisure Review about 150 years of parks and their role in changing the way a city thinks of its future
Delivering Sport: the TLR round table
Three seasoned professionals involved in the delivery of sport discuss the state of the sporting nation and the challenges, successes and hopes that are shaping the future of sport in the UK
Fit for work in Trafford and beyond
Models of effective good practice in sports development are not so common that one falls over them. Mick Owen unearths a gem of project in south Manchester
Where next for leisure and cultural services?
Members of Sporta and their fellow management professionals gathered in West Yorkshire this week . TLR’s Man in the North dropped in to gauge the impact of current plans for the sector and news of another brave new world
February 2008:: volume two issue one
Pat Duffy: the UK's head coach
The Leisure Review talks to Dr Pat Duffy, group chief executive of Sports Coach UK, about the future of coaching and the impact of coach development on the delivery of community and elite sport.
The A to Z of management efficiency
With new instructions for service delivery, Ken McAnespie wonders if new letters will mean a better understanding of quality.
75 years with lives on the line
The Leisure Review went to Walsall to discover what has changed for water safety during the three quarters of a century in which the Swimming Teachers' Association has been at work. Jonathan Ives reports.
Art and the environment
Why would a professional body working with scientists and engineers make art one of the central themes of its work? The Leisure Review went to see the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) to find out.
Doing the Strand
Mick Owen heads for the West End and wonders whether modern musical theatre is selling audiences short.
December 2007: volume one issue four
Challenging the culture
The Scottish Sports Development Conference came to Crieff and gathered the sports development sector in a highly polished package. Our man in the front row, Mick Owen, found plenty of straight talking, much food for thought and a regular supply of surprises.
Two halves with a single purpose
Football’s billionaire owners and millionaire players would do well to remember that the sport grew out of a need to improve the health of the disadvantaged, foster community cohesion and to alleviate poverty. Nick Reeves offers a guide to the social roots of the modern professional game.
A sporting chance for education
Building Schools for the Future is a multi-billion pound project that is aimed at transforming the education environment. The Leisure Review spoke to Liz Delany about why the world of sport should be sitting up, taking notice and getting ready to get involved
Improving culture, changing times
Like all the best stories, Towards an Excellent Service (TAES), the performance management tool for the sport and leisure sector, began with a round table and a small group of determined individuals committed to a better future. Jonathan Ives spoke to Martyn Allison about how it started, the impact it has had and his hopes for the future of leisure
Under one roof
Is it us or did this year’s LIW seem to have a bit more of a buzz about it? The Leisure Review spoke to Michael Westcott about how leisure’s leading exhibition has changed over the years and what they have planned for the future.
The Turner Prize: a retrospective
The nation’s, if not the world’s, most celebrated prize for contemporary art has taken the opportunity of a hole in its annual exhibition schedule to host a retrospective. The Leisure Review paid its respects
November 2007: volume one issue three
High court judgements
After a visit to one of the calendar’s most prestigious squash competitions, Mick Owen finds poetry on the court and wonders how minority sports will make headway in the face of the all-powerful Olympic roster
A Scottish perspective of leisure Down Under
Two staff from Edinburgh Leisure visited Australia and New Zealand in August this year to discover what is happening in sport and leisure in the southern hemisphere. They spoke to The Leisure Review about what they found
A landscape for imagination
Art and culture can imbue a sense of place and inspire ambition but such achievements have to be delivered and defended. Jude Kelly, artistic director at the Southbank Centre, argues that local authorities should have confidence in their ability to offer leadership as well as management.
October 2007: volume one issue two
Five hours for one in a million
Bold new government plans for five hours of sport for school pupils sent Mick Owen into the field to find out about the proverbial state of play. After extensive research, he wonders whether too much school sport could be more than enough
Making the case for culture
After many years working in a leisure environment, Derrick Anderson explains why he is keeping the faith with culture and why in recent years so many others have joined the cause.
Mad about museums
Is the Natural History Museum losing its way? As this famous landmark of scientific endeavour works to fill the funding gap, Nick Reeves argues it has become a lavish amusement park and a backdrop for celebrity entertainment
Underage and proud of it
An report from inside the fence of the summer’s most innovative musical experience, the Underage festival in London
August/September 2007: volume one issue one
Referees and coaches
Referees and coaches are in the same game but have fundamentally different approaches to what happens on the pitch. Mick Owen suggests that deciding which you would rather be could say a lot about your management style
The National Sports Development Seminar
The National Sports Development Seminar brought its unique mixture of intense workshops and boundless enthusiasm to the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham again this summer. Jonathan Ives took a seat in the front row and paid attention
Is there anyone here from swimming?
The National Sports Development Seminar saw another bravura performance from one of the larger characters in the world of sports administration. Jonathan Ives wonders if size is still an issue
An Australian perspective of leisure
A little while ago a group of Australian leisure professionals arrived in the UK as part of an international study tour. The Leisure Review spent some time with them during their hectic schedule to see what they had learned and what lessons they would be taking home with them
The Leisure Review: thinking features
The Leisure Review aims to offer a range of articles to cover the full breadth and diversity of the leisure, culture and recreation indsustry. Our remit extends to all aspects of the management, development and promotion of leisure.
If you would like to contribute to TLR, either by submitting an article or just suggesting a likely line of enquiry, we would be delighted to hear from you.
