The Structure of Swim England NE Region

Following the decision to become an incorporated association, the 2019 ACM approved proposals to revise our governance structure.

We are now governed by a Board of Directors who have appointed a skilled and experienced management and administration team. We have discipline managers who design and deliver programmes of activity throughout the year, and we also have a Youth Forum whose aims are to:

• Represent the interest of young people participating or volunteering within aquatics within the North East Region.
• Develop a network of young people throughout the organisation and the sport across the region.
• Assist on projects within the North East Region such as the development of resources and training opportunities for young volunteers.
• Act as ambassadors for the sport and the organization at a local, county, regional and national level. Be a representative for the sport and the organization.
• Positively engage with youth and young adult members in an engaging way which motivates them to represent the interests of young people in a challenging, rewarding and enjoyable manner.

To ensure that the region maintains the highest standards of governance, we adhere to the Sport England Code for Sports Governance. We recently invited a number of new Independent Directors to join the Board during 2022-2023. We are committed to recruiting and engaging people with diversity of background, thought, independence, skills and experience to take effective decisions that further the organisation’s goals and best serve our communities, stakeholders and wider UK society.

Swim England North East Region is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales (Company number 12215986).

The work we do

Regions form the middle tier of national, regional and county swimming governance.  Each of the 8 regions is independently managed and employs their own staff.

Swim England North East Region focuses on the needs of its clubs and members, ensuring that our practices and policies keep up to date with the needs of clubs across all the aquatic disciplines. We communicate with our clubs and members via our website, ezines, newsletters and social media platforms and endeavour to ensure that they have all relevant information that they need.

We work in partnership with Swim England to ensure that we have compatible strategies and development plans, and also work closely with our county associations to make sure that, by working together, we meet the varying needs of our members.

Development is a key priority for the Region. The Region employs a small team of professional staff, to ensure that our clubs, athletes, coaches and volunteers are able to access the support, training and education they need to reach their full potential. We encourage coaches and volunteers from all disciplines across the region to share good practice to develop themselves and their athletes.  We are confident that by investing in development, aquatics in the North East Region will continue to improve, and that we will see more of our developing athletes succeeding on the national and international stage, and a growing number of our members staying involved throughout their lives and into adulthood.

We work with our clubs to ensure that they all meet the minimum standards required for Swim England affiliated clubs, and support clubs to achieve SwimMark accreditation, which is Swim England’s quality standard for clubs.  Although we will not become involved in internal disputes, we can provide support and offer signposting for clubs as required.

The Region also provides a high standard of regional camps and competitions for athletes from all disciplines, in order that everyone can strive to achieve their goals and enjoy the many health and wellbeing benefits of lifelong participation in aquatics.

MEET THE TEAM

Professional Staff

Board of Directors

Subject to the Articles of Association, the Directors are responsible for the management of the Company’s business, for which purpose they may exercise all the powers of the Company.

Each year at the Annual General Meeting, one third of the Board Directors will retire. Retiring Directors are eligible for re-election unless they have served nine consecutive years, at which point a break will required before re-election. Any casual vacancy that occurs during the year may be advertised via the Regional website and positions can be filled by a majority decision of the remaining Directors. The appointment will be for the remainder of the term that would have been served by the Director who is being replaced.

For anyone interested in becoming a Director of SENER, here are some of the main duties and responsibilities;

Main Responsibilities

Individual Board Members of SENE have the following responsibilities:

1. – Developing Strategy and Policy: to actively and constructively contribute to and challenge the development of strategy and policy in the Region
2. – Risk: to be satisfied that financial information is accurate and that systems of risk management are robust and defensible
3. – Delegated authority: ensuring that Board Members operate within the limits of its delegated authority
4. – Monitoring performance: overseeing the work of SENE and monitoring the performance of planned areas of work against the agreed objectives and targets
5. – Investment: to contribute to collective decisions on recommendations to Swim England in relation to the development and investment into aquatics in the region.
6. – Advocacy: to be an advocate for sport and the work of SENE across the region at all times- –
7. – Individual skills, knowledge and experience: Board Members are drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds, including voluntary sector sport, local government, health, education, safer/stronger communities, private sector and others. They should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to promote sport and in particular aquatics, improve SENE’s networks and help the board reach sound decisions
8. – Specialist skills, knowledge and experience: Each Board Member will have a specific area of expertise and support role to the staff of SENE e.g. Finance.

If you feel you have the skills, knowledge and experience to be of value to our Board of Directors, you can send your CV and a covering letter to our Head of Aquatics, Louise Graham, be held on file should any vacancies arise;

louise.graham@swimnortheast.org

MEET OUR DIRECTORS

NE Regional President 2026-2027 – Howard Leighton

It is a great honour having been asked to be the President of Swim England North East Region and I thank Northumberland & Durham Swimming Association for nominating me for the role.

My involvement in swimming goes back for a long time. I have held many roles from being a swimmer to coaching, committee roles, team management and for many years I was the lead Team Manager presenter for the Region, working with many hundreds of developing team managers.

I look forward to meeting old and new friends in the coming year