APSE Southern Sports and Leisure Seminar 2026

Programme 

Kindly sponsored by

Space & Place 

Reading Football Stadium - Select Car Leasing Stadium, M4, Junction 11, Reading, RG2 0FL

Local authority leisure services continue to face challenges rising costs, public health priorities, climate commitments, and increasing demand for inclusive, community-focused provision. The seminar brings together leading voices from across the sector to explore how councils and partners can respond to these pressures while continuing to deliver services and meaningful social value.

The seminar will examine the growing integration of leisure with public health, the role of active travel in creating healthier cities, and the challenge of maintaining financially sustainable services under extreme cost pressures. Speakers will also highlight innovative approaches to decarbonisation, major capital investment in community facilities, and the wider economic pressures impacting local authority budgets.

Offering a great opportunity to network with likeminded colleagues, speakers and industry-relevant exhibitors, we look forward to welcoming you to this MUST ATTEND EVENT in Reading on 4 June 2026.

Presentations:

Integrating leisure with public health outcomes - Speaker: Steve Welch, Strategic Lead - Leisure
Operations, Sport England

Creating an Active City: How Local Authorities Lead System Wide Action on Inactivity through Transport,
Leisure and Health - Speaker: Guy Fishbourne, Principal Public Health Specialist Bristol City Council

A How to keep leisure services viable under extreme cost pressure. - Speaker: Simon Sen, Operations Director, Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL)

A Word from our Sponsor - Gen Z and the Spa World - Daniel Taylor, Business Development Architectural Designer, Space & Place

Opening of Lichfield Leisure Centre (2026), Community Impact & Council Vision - Speaker: Adrian Turner, Founder and Director of Client Success, The ReCreation Group.

Decarbonising Leisure: How Oxford is Cutting Energy Use and Carbon While Supporting Healthier
Communities - Speakers: Cllr Chewe Munkonge,  Lord Mayor of Oxford and Small Business Champion 

Implications of cost of conflict to council sports and leisure budgets. - Speaker: Andrew Donald, Business Development Manager, Equity Energies