28/10/09 England 2018 establishes Inclusivity Advisory Group

England 2018 ltd. has appointed 11 specialists to a new Inclusivity Advisory Group (IAG) to further the bid’s commitment to inclusivity, embracing all communities across the country.

The group comprises members who will ensure that the England 2018 bid demonstrates that a World Cup hosted in England will enthusiastically celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity of all members of society.

The group will be chaired by non-executive board member Paul Elliott MBE, and will advise England 2018 on all aspects of inclusivity to ensure that England’s bid builds on English football’s positive record of inclusion.

England 2018 Bid Chairman, Lord David Triesman said: “An England World Cup is uniquely positioned to provide the passion and diversity that guarantees a genuine welcome to visitors from across the world. The Inclusivity Advisory Group has been established to ensure we maximise all the attributes we have at our disposal, and that we are planning a World Cup that embraces and celebrates our diverse communities, and considers their various needs.

“The make-up of the group is very strong as it represents all areas of our society and strengthens our resolve to ensure that groups across the spectrum have a voice through the process. We are determined to prove that England 2018’s bid is focused on ensuring that all our communities in every part of the country are involved. This panel strengthens our commitment to inclusivity throughout the bid process.

“England’s multi-cultural society means there will be a “home” welcome for every competing nation and the work we do now to integrate these communities into the process will be invaluable. Our bid to FIFA will promote inclusivity and embrace all areas of the global football family, and England 2018 is committed to exceeding FIFA’s expectations of a host nation and to providing a compelling legacy to go with it. This group will play an important part in achieving our aims.”

The Inclusivity Advisory Group Members are:

• Paul Elliott, England 2018 ltd. (Chair)

Paul is an England 2018 football ambassador and was recently appointed a non-executive board member. He is also an International Ambassador to FIFPro (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionels) and is an ambassador for both FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) and Kick It Out, the campaign to eradicate racism from football. He also works as a Trustee for the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) and is a panel member with the Inclusion and Diversity Committee for LOCOG (London Organising Committee Olympic Games) During his football career, Paul played for: Charlton Athletic, Luton Town, Aston Villa, Pisa, Bari, Celtic and Chelsea. He represented England at youth and under-21 level, was a captain of England ‘B’ and an England senior squad member.

• Piara Powar, Director, Kick It Out!

Piara is the Director of Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion campaign, which works across the football, community and educational sectors.As part of his role he has sat on many governmental and NGO forums, and a number of boards. He is chair of the FURD youth inclusion project in South Yorkshire, was a member of the UK governments Football and Disorder Working Group in 2000. He is also an advisor to UEFA on CSR matters, attending meetings of its Football and Social Responsibility Group. Piara has previously been a board member of the Football Against Racism in Europe network since 2000, and a board member of The Buwan Kothi Trust which is a small development NGO working in India. Prior to Kick It Out, a background as a human rights campaigner saw him working on community-based campaigns for the Newham Monitoring Project and the shop workers union USDAW.

• Lorraine Deschamps, Sporting Equals Trustee, FA Get Into Football Ambassador

Born in Kenya and brought up in Brazil, Lorraine developed a love for football that has seen her take on a number of roles in the sport – Club Secretary for a grass-roots football club with age groups spanning Under 8’s through to Under 18’s and Adults, Level 5 referee (Senior County Level),and FA Licensed Referee Instructor. She is still active in her refereeing and referee instructor roles, officiating regularly in Men’s semi-professional football and on the Women’s Premier League. As a founding director, now trustee, of Sporting Equals Ltd - a charity funded by Sport England which promotes ethnic diversity across sports and physical activity, Lorraine is passionate about equal opportunity for all to participate in the sports or physical activities of their choice. She is an ambassador for The FA in their ‘Get into Football’ Programme and currently serves on the FA REAG – Race Equality Advisory Group to the Board.

• Panikos Efthimiou, Campaigns Officer, Gay Football Supporters’ Network

Panikos is currently the Campaigns Officer for the Gay Football Supporters Network (GFSN), a voluntary role having previously been its chair for three years. He is passionate about seeing a societal attitude change regarding homophobia in sport. He has also campaigned actively on behalf of refugees and economic migrants and has helped several organisations formulate race awareness and diversity policies. He has spent most of his working life in the charity sector volunteering and working for numerous charitable organisations. His roles have included fundraising, co-founding charities, volunteer management and directing a youth theatre. His present ‘day job’ is Training Manager at the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) where he runs a varied and interactive workshop programme aimed at helping charities develop practical, effective and successful fundraising strategies.

• Joyce Cook, Chair, National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS)

Joyce Cook is Chair of the National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS), a UK registered charity representing disabled football supporters and providing guidance to other sports such as cricket, rugby and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Joyce who is herself disabled is a founder director of the Charity – the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) which is extending NADS works for disabled supporters across Europe. Joyce also sits on the London Olympic Delivery Authority's Built Environment Access Panel, established to provide expert strategic and technical advice for London 2012. She has acted as a consultant to UEFA for the 2008 and 2009 UEFA Cup and Champions League Finals and Poland 2012 team providing advice on disabled supporters' requirements, written an advisory briefing paper for the UK Sports Minister and given evidence to the UK All Party Parliamentary Football Group on behalf of disabled supporters and their issues. Joyce recently joined other diversity representatives as part of a panel of experts consulted on the development of sports strategy at the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

• Roisin Wood, Senior Development Manager, Equalities and Diversity, The Football Foundation

Roisin joined the Football Foundation in September 2007 and provides strategic guidance and policy development to the Foundation. Roisin has been working within the inclusion field for several years and previously worked for the Metropolitan Police Service, within the Safer Neighbourhood Directorate and the Community Foundation for N. Ireland looking at the reintegration of Ex-Political Prisoners and the support of Victims of the Conflict and their families. Most recently Roisin has written the Foundation’s Diversity Strategy which was launched in February 2009 and which clearly outlines how the Foundation addresses diversity and inclusion issues, both from an internal and external perspective.

• Jeff Davis, National Development Manager (Disability), The FA

Jeff Davis has worked at the Football Association for 11 years, 5 years in his current post as National Development Manager for Disability football. Previous to his time at The FA he worked as a Sports and Recreation Manager for the London Borough of Greenwich and as a Regional Development manager for two major disability organisations in England. He is currently responsible for the development of the disability football grassroots and elite programmes in England and is a UEFA Grassroots Panel member, advising UEFA on disability issues. Jeff has also been a success coach in disability football; in 2002 he coached the England Learning Disability squad to a World Cup win in Japan and then onto win the Global Games in 2004, last year he was Performance Manager for the Great Britain Paralympic football squads in Beijing. As part of The FA’s relationship with the Asian Football Confederation, Jeff has lead a tutor training workshop with the identified AFC Elite Coaches who are to cascade the AFC Coaching Disabled Footballers course throughout Asia.

• Rachel Pavlou, National Development Manager (Women's), The FA

Rachel Pavlou has over 17 years of sports development experience, particularly specialising in the last 11 years in the development of women's football at The Football Association. Previous to her work at The FA, Rachel worked for 6 years as a Sports Development Manager at Solihull College in the West Midlands. Rachel is currently the National Development Manager for Women's Football. In her role, Rachel oversees the development and performance pathways of the game – supporting the work of 52 full time County Women's Football Development Officers and managing the 52 FA Girls’ Centres of Excellence.  Rachel was the first FA member of staff to be appointed onto a Regional Sports Board in 2003 and served as a member in the West Midlands region until 2008.

• Jonathan Mills, Equality Coordinator, The FA

Jonathan joined The Football Association in January 2007 and is responsible for supporting 46 County Football Associations with their equality and diversity strategies, the roll out of The FA’s Equality Education programme, The FA’s Ambassadors programme and the implementation of the National Standards for Equality. Jonathan also works closely with the National Game team, referee and coaching departments as well as supporting The FA’s Race Equality Advisory Group. Jonathan has over ten years experience of working in equality and diversity, four years from working in Children Services for a Local Authority and four years from working with the Commission for Racial Equality and a Race Equality Council.

• Simon Johnson, Chief Operating Officer, England 2018 ltd.

Simon joined the FA in April 2005, as Director of Corporate Affairs, having just left the FA Premier League, where he was the Director of Legal & Business Affairs. Prior to that, he held the Senior Legal and Business position at ITV, where he was responsible for all of ITV’s programme commissioning and acquisitions business, including sport where he helped ITV to negotiate the rights to a wide range of sports events. Since June 2008, Simon has been working on the England’s Bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup tm, first as Acting Chief Operating Officer, and then formally becoming COO in January 2009. Working closely with the CEO and Chairman of the Bid, he plays a key role in England’s campaign. Simon is involved with Charities and Jewish communal institutions.

• Beth Nicholls, Head of Legacy Development, England 2018 ltd.

Beth Nicholls is Head of Legacy Development for England 2018. Beth joined the bid team from UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), and is a Member of the London 2012 Social Legacy Board. Beth is also an Advisory Panel Member for Beyond Sport, and on the Steering Committee for the Sport Industry Awards Community Award.

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