Active Uprising 2025

Tickets now on sale

THIS IS WHAT AN
ACTIVE UPRISING
LOOKS LIKE

Active Uprising 2025 is returning to the QEII Centre in Westminster on Thursday 6th March 2025.

Active Uprising is our flagship event that exists to inspire and champion our sector and our members with a range of motivational speakers to provoke positive and progressive ideas.

​​​​​​Our annual conference brings together senior business executives, high-level decision makers, operational leads, business and partnership professionals, Government Ministers, and thought leaders to discuss and debate the projected growth of the sector across the rest of the decade.

The theme for 2025 is ‘No Growth without Health: Physical Activity’s Role in National Renewal’, focusing on the growth and development of the sector across the UK. This event will have an emphasis on the crucial role the sector will play in helping drive economic growth supporting a happier and healthier society.

SPEAKERS

Please see below for our incredible speaker roster for Active Uprising 2025.

Emily Campbell

Emily Campbell is a British weightlifter, the most successful British weightlifter of modern times and greatest British female of all time. She is a Commonwealth and four-time European champion, and a double World and Olympic medallist.

Emily’s journey to the Olympics has helped to shape her vision. Being from a deprived area and receiving no funding for the Olympics, she champions and represents her community for their local support as well as knowing first had the full suite of benefits of strength training and physical activity.

She is on a mission to Make the Nation Stronger and joins us to speak about her key three pillars of increasing participation in lifting weights and highlighting the importance of strength, female body empowerment and developing children and young people.

These three pillars will form the foundations of her ultimate goal of opening her own weightlifting gym, wanting to influence and create a high standard for new gyms that incorporate elite athlete level facilities, an area for youth development and community led projects and a financially accessible for the community.

Iain Pringle

Iain Pringle is a loyalty consultant and Managing Partner at New World Loyalty, with 30 years of experience in loyalty marketing.  A key contributor to the creation of Avios for International Airlines Group, Iain has worked with major brands including Shell, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Nectar, Tesco and Delta Airlines. His expertise spans strategy, customer insights, and delivering end-to-end loyalty solutions, such as launching a coalition programme in South Africa.  Iain is also a founding partner of Loyalty Wired, a podcast reaching a global audience across 45 countries, sharing insights and best practices in the loyalty industry.

Join loyalty expert Iain Pringle as he shares insights from 30 years of experience in loyalty marketing and behavioural incentives.  Drawing on real-world examples, Iain will explore how incentives can drive meaningful behaviour change, outline key principles of loyalty theory, and reveal lessons rarely found in textbooks—or AI-generated advice! Packed with practical tips for program managers, this session will offer valuable advice on building a compelling business case for loyalty programs. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, engage, and get your questions answered by a global leader in the loyalty industry.

Mark Shayler

Mark helps big companies think like small ones and small companies think like big ones. He has worked in sustainability for 33 years and works on the creativity and innovation of products, services and business models; and he is a coach and facilitator for businesses and individuals.

His clients include Patagonia, Nike, Samsung, EE, Audi, Bombay Sapphire, Seedlip, Universal Works, Unilever, Mars and many more.

Mark is the author of three books: “Do Disrupt, change the status quo or become it” then “Do Present, how to give a talk and be heard”. Latterly, his third book “You Can’t Make Money from a Dead Plant: The sustainable method for driving profits” was published by Kogan Page in 2023. Over the last 20 years he has been a keynote speaker for events all over the world.

Mike Farrar

Huw Edwards

Claire Rollins

Paul Corrigan

From July 2024 Paul has been a strategic adviser to Wes Streeting the SoS for health and social care

Between 1966 and 1972 Paul studied:
- for his first degree in social policy at the London School of Economics where he was taught how to make social policy work by some of the people who had made post war policy
- for his PhD on juvenile delinquency and schooling at Durham University

Between 1972 and 1984 he taught social policy at the University of Warwick and the Polytechnic of North London to undergraduates, social workers, and community nurses. His research was on community development and social policy in inner city areas.

He then worked as a senior manager in London local government at the GLC, ILEA and the London Borough of Islington, In the midst of that 1990-93 he was the education policy officer for the Labour Party.

In the late 90s he was a management consultant before, in 2001 becoming special adviser on health policy to Alan Milburn. John Reid and Tony Blair

Between 2007 and 2009 he was the Director of Strategy and Commissioning for NHS London.

Since then he has been working for himself and in particular was a non exec at the CQC 2013-9 and helped to develop the NHS New model of care 2014-7

Adam Wilson

Belinda Steward

Belinda’s journey with Places Leisure began in 2024, adding a new dimension to our collective expertise.

With extensive experience and leadership acumen, Belinda has made her mark in hospitality and customer-focused service delivery organisations. Belinda’s integrity, ethical decision making, and strong values means she enjoys uniting people and believes in inspiring a service culture which puts our customers at the heart of everything we do.

Outside of work, Belinda and her husband prioritise an active and healthy lifestyle, with a passion for walking and running. Belinda also has a passion for singing and is a member of her local choir.

For Belinda, a healthy community means fostering environments where individuals can thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi

Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi is a lifestyle TV doctor and athlete coach. He is a team GB age group long distance triathlete. Movement, community, and nutrition are three cornerstones of his personal and professional life. He has a varied portfolio career across several sectors. These include being parkrun’s health partnerships lead, Royal College of GPs lifestyle and physical activity lead, Leamington NHS personalised care lead, as well as a SWIM England clinical advisor and a board member for Sport in Mind.

He runs a pioneering NHS based lifestyle clinic and fitness club helping to educate and support patients to eat better, move more and connect with their community. He has a strong focus on health span and social prescribing. He is a well-respected educator delivering numerous talks and lectures to audiences both professional and public including regular TV and radio appearances including over 80 appearances on Channel 4, BBC & ITV.

Elizabeth Bachrad

Elizabeth is a Population Health Strategist and Head of Programme Strategy at Business for Health, catalysing and facilitating business contributions to reduce health inequalities and increase healthy life expectancy. Bridging academia, government and industry approaches, she advises SMEs globally in human capital management and ESG strategies to promote sustainable health, economic development and community-level impact across the business ecosystem. She also co-founded Sable Advisory Services, advising SMEs in social innovation and impact management, and sits on the Workplace Wellbeing Initiative for the Global Wellness Institute. She is a mission-driven advocate for achieving health, equity and environmental sustainability - The Triple Win.

Gary Laybourne

A coach from the age of seventeen, Gary has worked in the coaching and sporting charity sector for over 20 years and has also won medals at major World, European and National triathlon and marathon championships. He has been part of the Coach Core programme since its launch in 2012, shaping, tutoring, and leading the first London apprenticeship programme, then overseeing its successful expansion across the UK, through to its establishment as the Coach Core Foundation in 2020. A leader who has now forged partnerships with over 350+ UK sector employers and national bodies, Gary speaks openly and passionately about his own challenging upbringing, how sport changed and improved his life in every sense, and how it has empowered him to provide the same opportunities for other marginalised or under-represented young people. Gary also chairs the Sport for Development Coalition employability group and sits on the UK Athletics Children’s Advisory Group, the Active Surrey trustee board, and volunteers weekly as Juniors Head Coach of his beloved athletics club, South London Harriers!

Jamie Cartwright

Jamie Cartwright is an experienced leader in the fitness sector, with a deep passion for improving mental health and wellbeing through exercise. In 2019, he co-founded BOX12, a cutting-edge, technology-driven boxing for fitness solution. Designed to break down barriers to exercise, BOX12 makes fitness more accessible and inclusive for people of all ages and abilities. Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, Jamie’s innovative approach has enabled BOX12 to scale internationally, partnering with market-leading fitness operators worldwide.

Jamie is also the founder of Move for Freedom, a charity that uses physical activity to raise awareness for mental health and show gratitude to those who make a positive impact. Jamie’s work reflects his unwavering commitment to using fitness as a force for good, empowering people to live healthier, happier lives.

Jordan Cummins

Karl Hayes

Karl Hayes is the Managing Director of Impulse Leisure, a charitable trust dedicated to improving the health, fitness, and wellbeing of the community in Thurrock and surrounding areas. With over 35 years of experience in the leisure industry, Karl has been a driving force behind numerous community health initiatives.
Under Karl's leadership, Impulse Leisure has seen over 500,000 annual visits across its facilities. He has spearheaded various programs, including tailored exercise classes for seniors and individuals with disabilities, youth engagement activities, and social inclusion projects. These efforts have significantly contributed to promoting active and healthy lifestyles within the community.
Karl's passion for community health is evident in his commitment to making fitness accessible to all. He has overseen the launch of affordable sports and activity programs for children and young people, encouraging them to develop lifelong healthy habits. His dedication to inclusivity ensures that everyone, regardless of financial or social barriers, has the opportunity to stay active and connected.
His work continues to inspire and benefit countless individuals, making him a respected and influential figure in the health and wellness community.

Laura-Jane Rawlings

Laura-Jane is a passionate campaigner for youth employment and the rights for all young people to access employment and have their voices heard on the issues that affect them.

Laura-Jane is a CEO & Board Member with more than 17+ years’ experience of leading both for profit and non-profit organisations. With personal experience of social inequality and poverty, Laura-Jane founded Youth Employment UK in 2012, believing that there was a need to put young people at the heart of youth employment policy and services on a local and national level. Youth Employment UK is an internationally regarded not-for-profit, social enterprise supporting young people, employers, educators, third sector organisations and policy colleagues.

Recognised as a leading youth employment expert Laura-Jane provides support, insight and expertise to many groups Co-Founder & Chair of the Youth Employment Group, Secretariat and Advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Youth Employment, a founding Board Member of the Youth Futures Foundation and most recently appointed as a Governor of The Bedford College Group and a Deputy Lieutenant for Northamptonshire.

Laura-Jane has also co-authored a number of reports, and provided content for published works. Reports include: Role of the Family in Social Mobility, Commission on Post 16 Education, Impact of place on youth employment – APPG Report, Making youth employment policy work - APPG Report.

Marc Holl

Marc is a clinician by background with a post-graduate qualifications in musculoskeletal and mental health. He has worked in clinical practice for 17 years across a mix of clinical, operational and leadership roles in both the NHS and independent healthcare. Marc is Head of Primary Care for Nuffield Health responsible for the quality assurance, development and professional leadership across all our clinical services including Emotional Wellbeing, Physiology, Health Assessments, Physiotherapy and Private GP. Marc has a special interest in healthy work, digital health and connected health.

Marianne Boyle

Oliver Coppard

Born and raised in South Yorkshire, Oliver took office as Mayor in May 2022 on a platform of restoring the pride, purpose and prosperity of South Yorkshire. He was re-elected in May 2024 when the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was brought under the remit of the South Yorkshire Mayor.

Since graduating from Leeds University, Oliver has worked for a range of organisations including Barnsley Council where he worked on low carbon regeneration projects, in Parliament and the US Congress, South Yorkshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership and the charity BookTrust. He was Chair of the Board at Sheffield Hallam Students’ Union and has worked on a number of high-profile political campaigns, both within the region and abroad.

As Mayor, Oliver is working on delivering his manifesto pledge to fight for a better deal for South Yorkshire. In line with another of his pledges, to improve transport in the region, Oliver has already brought the tram network back under public control.

Priya Oomahdat

Priya has worked at NHS England for over 8 years leading large-scale transformation and redesign of services and commissioning, policy and strategy to support improvements in the integrated UEC pathway and integrated planning across health and social care. She took on the role of Deputy Director of Community Rehabilitation in NHS England in 2021 and Programme Director for Better Care Fund at the beginning of 2024. Prior to that, Priya has held positions in clinical audit, consultancy, and public health and screening. Priya has also held a Non-Executive Director role for a nationwide social care provider of services to people with learning disabilities, and holds a Masters in Public health.

Sean Phillips

Sean is Head of Health and Social Care at the think tank, Policy Exchange, where he has co-authored reports on. A wide range of topics including expanding medical school places, the future for vaccines policy and measures to tackle the elective waiting list. In 2024 he authored a report entitled 'None of Our Business?' which explored the role that workplaces can play in supporting the health of the nation. Prior to joining Policy Exchange, he completed a doctorate in History at the University of Oxford. He previously lived in Germany, where he worked as a consultant on matters relating to digital health and emergent technologies in healthcare.

Tim Mathias

Tina Woods

Tina Woods is a mission-driven social entrepreneur and system architect bringing diverse stakeholders together in shared endeavours to improve health, working at the cross section of science, technology, investment and policy/government. She is Founder and CEO of Collider Health and works with private, public and third sectors.

She is Founder and CEO of Business for Health, a business-led social venture developing a Business Framework for Health, bringing in ‘Health’ into ‘ESG’ mandates to support long-term sustainable innovation and investment in preventative health and care.

She is the Healthy Longevity Champion for the National Innovation Centre for Ageing, co-leading the Quantum Healthy Longevity Innovation Mission and City of Longevity programme.

She is Executive Director of the International Institute of Longevity, combining her interest in taking the latest science and technology of longevity into the 'next frontier' to understand what really drives human healthspan, resilience and flourishing while protecting the planet.

Tina is the co-founder of Longevity Rave, a collective of entrepreneurs, scientists, DJs and artists that organise raves around the world using the power of music, joy and connection to bring the generations together to dance and celebrate life and humanity.

Tina sits on various advisory groups, including the XPRIZE Global Visioneering Brain Trust, Strategic Advisory Board for the BBSRC Bioscience for an Integrated Understanding of Health, and BSI standards group for AI in health and care. She is also a trustee for the British Society for Research on Ageing.

Tina was director of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity secretariat (2016-2023)

Tina’s book, ‘Live Longer with AI: How artificial intelligence is helping us extend our healthspan and live better too' was published in October 2020.

She studied genetics at Cornell University in the USA and also has an MBA from Bayes Business School in London.

William Roberts

William Roberts is the Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Public Health. Previously William has been a senior leader in the NHS across roles in public health, commissioning, strategy, transformation and planning. He is a registered nurse who has worked in both hospital and community services, and as a nurse specialist in tuberculosis and HIV.

William is a Non-Executive Director of Housing 21 and was previously Deputy Chair at Terrence Higgins Trust and a Non- Executive Director of POBL a Welsh housing and care provider. He is the Chair of the Swimming and Health Commission and is a member of Movember’s Global Men's Health Advisory Committee.

He brings a wealth of experience across public health and inequalities from the healthcare, charity sector, social care, housing, local government and further education.

Dr Victoria Goodyear

Victoria is an academic expert in school-based research on youth health and wellbeing. A key focus of her work is on digital technologies, relating to how smartphones and social media inform young people’s mental health, wellbeing and physical activity. She has recently led a large NIHR funded study evaluating the impacts of school smartphone policies (SMART Schools Study).

Victoria has a sustained track record of working collaboratively with national partners, including working in partnership with ukactive for several years. Victoria also regularly advises the government, most recently working on the Online Harms Bill and as a member of the UK Chief Medical Officer’s UK Physical Activity Committee. She has also worked with national broadcast media (e.g., BBC, Sky News), to engage with broad and diverse audiences.

Victoria is currently the Training Director of the Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (CENTRE-UB), that is part of a major investment by the Economic and Social Research Council in advancing behavioural research capability in the UK.  CENTRE-UB and ukactive have recently established a new partnership focused on connecting the physical activity sector with expertise from academia.

More to be announced soon…

SPONSORS

Thank you to our headline sponsors and exhibitors for supporting Active Uprising 2025

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