As 2025 comes to an end, we’re reflecting on a year filled with progress, innovation, and powerful moments that brought our mission to life. In 2025, we raised the bar on governance, strengthened our team and partnerships, and led innovative programmes and events, championing health and wellbeing across Bucks and MK.
This year was also defined by creativity and community empowerment. From the Girls Strong Minds – school games event boosting confidence and resilience in teenage girls, to MK Movers and thriving local programmes like women’s walking groups and pickleball clubs, we’ve created inclusive spaces for people to move more. We’ve provided initiatives such as the Fit for the Future, inspiring young people to explore leisure careers, and training to healthcare professionals to support women during pregnancy highlight our commitment to health and wellbeing. These achievements were made possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of our incredible team, committed partners, and supportive communities.
The Leap team have been shared some of their highlights of 2025:
Mark Ormerod, CEO
2025 was a very positive year for Leap. Under our Board’s leadership we finalised all areas to achieve Tier Three of the UK Sports Governance Code, this includes having the People Plan and Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan assessed externally and achieving all national standards. Arguably, governance is not as exciting as the incredible partnership development work led by the team, but it does underpin every process we undertake as an organisation, and fewer than 150 sports bodies in the UK operate at this level. The cause and effect of higher levels of governance, brings greater assurance to our investors, typically Sport England, Government Departments and, Local Authorities. 2025 records the highest levels of investment Leap has brought into Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, since being established in 2000.
The investment allows us to advance our ability to tackle the harsh inequalities that prevent 1 in 5 Buckinghamshire, and 1 in 4 Milton Keynes residents from experiencing the life-enhancing physical, mental, economic and social benefits of movement, physical activity and sport.
Abbi Mckane, Participation Project Manager
One of my most memorable achievements in 2025 was supporting a full training session to a room of healthcare professionals, focused on empowering women to make informed physical activity choices during pregnancy and beyond. This initiative provided professionals with practical tools and confidence to discuss physical activity throughout the childbearing years, embedding positive, evidence-based conversations into routine care. Alongside this, some of my favourite moments have been our team meetings and generally spending time with the team. It reflects how strong and supportive we are as a group. We’ve built a safe environment where everyone feels valued, and it’s been inspiring to see new members integrate seamlessly. The sense of unity and collaboration makes us unstoppable when working toward our goals, and these experiences remind me how much our collective strength drives success.
Anya Forbes-Phyall, Project Officer
Anya’s highlight of the year was leading the Fit for the Future: Leisure Careers Programme, a rewarding initiative designed to inspire young people and create pathways into the leisure sector. “It was an absolute joy to lead on this project, designing and delivering a much-needed programme alongside brilliant colleagues and partners was incredibly rewarding. Even more meaningful was the opportunity to support and inspire six amazing young people during their important years of school. Staying connected with them and continuing to offer guidance has truly been the most fulfilling outcome”.
Charlotte O’Connor, Administrator
My proudest moments this year was supporting Wendy with the Sports Games events, especially the Dance event at the beginning of the year. It’s amazing to see the children start off shy and then grow in confidence, helping and encouraging each other despite coming from different schools.
Chris Gregory, Head of Strategic Relationships
Chris highlighted the team’s success on securing the discovery phase investment (£276,000) for Milton Keynes and to see Move Together Buckinghamshire commissioned by Bucks Public Health. “This Active Lifestyle service is something I have championed and been making the case to come into Bucks for 3-5yrs. Leap colleagues and I have been sharing the good practice from Oxfordshire for at least 3yrs. It was amazing to see the public health team commission the service for 3 years in Bucks.”
Hans Trivedi, Data and Insight Partner
Hans’ highlight of the year was the team Christmas party at Lane 7, a moment that perfectly captured the spirit of togetherness at Leap. It wasn’t just a celebration; it was an opportunity to reflect on all the hard work and achievements of 2025, strengthen team bonds, and appreciate the collaborative effort that made this year so successful. Events like these remind us that behind every milestone is a dedicated team working side by side.
Kayla Byfield, Content Creator
I started my role as Content Creator in September, and my time here so far has been a really positive and rewarding experience. From my very first day, the team have been incredibly welcoming and supportive, which has made settling into the role feel natural and encouraging. I’ve loved bringing fresh ideas to Leap’s communications, whether it’s crafting social media content, shaping new blogs for the website, or finding new ways to showcase the incredible work we do. Working with such a passionate and supportive team has made the experience a treasurable one, and collaborating on projects for our key events such as the Leap Partner Event and PE Conference has been a real highlight. It’s been rewarding to share the impact Leap is making across Bucks and MK, and I can’t wait to keep building on this momentum in 2026.
Kirsty Ingham, Head of Insight, Evaluation and Communications
One standout moment was the October Leap Partner Event, which felt like a real milestone in my expanded role leading Insight and Evaluation alongside Communications. It was a powerful collective conversation about how we can better tell the story of impact. The speakers were inspiring, and the feedback was incredibly valuable which will help develop further work in this area in 2026.
Another highlight was Kayla joining the team in September. Recruitment can be challenging, especially when aiming for a positive culture add, but we had a strong field of applicants and Kayla has been an excellent appointment. She’s brought fresh eyes and energy to our communications, freeing up my time to focus more strategically and on Insight and Evaluation. I’m excited to see our content evolve and develop in 2026 and beyond.
Mark Stokes, Head of Children and Young People
Mark’s highlight was redesigning the School Games programme to focus on opportunities and inclusive accessibility, ensuring more young people could participate. He also celebrated the Bucks and MK PE Conference, with over 100 schools attending workshops to boost confidence and knowledge in delivering high-quality PE. Other proud moments included strong youth engagement through the Youth Voice partnership with the Open University, completing the opening school facilities programme that supported 23 schools over three years, and achieving Leap’s best year for collecting Active Lives data – all while continuing to strengthen safeguarding culture.
Portia Simond, MK Community Officer (Place Expansion Partnership) and Movement Network Lead
This year has been a fantastic period of growth and connection for Leap’s work in Milton Keynes. MK Movers has gone from strength to strength and is now aligning closely with the Place-Based work across the city. I’m especially proud that MK Movers now has a recognised space and presence in Milton Keynes, creating real opportunities for collaboration.
Six months into my role as Community Officer MK PEP South, I’ve really valued being in the discovery phase learning alongside our partners and communities. It’s been full of challenges, but the shared learning and progress have been incredible. Our team have grown closer for it.
My community programmes MK Womens Walking Group and MK Pickleball Club are also thriving, and I’m proud to have created sustainability within them so they can continue supporting local people. On a personal note, I’ve launched my own CIC MK Smashers Pickleball Social Club to deliver pickleball to the young people in communities, continuing my commitment to helping people be active in ways they enjoy.
Rhiannon Smith, Children and Young People Project Manager
My highlight of the year has been moving over to the MK Place expansion work and immersing myself in all things place. I am finding it interesting building relationships with new partners and also finding out what residents think about physical activity via the work of Open University.
Wendy Couzin, Children and Young People Project Officer
My highlight for the year would be creating the first Girls Strong Minds school games event which we ran in November in partnership with Because I Can Fitness, a ladies only gym in Aylesbury.
This is the first time we have ran an event like this, targeting girls in years 10 & 11 with upcoming exams and girls that maybe struggling with low confidence and classed as not active. We wanted to empower girls by boosting their confidence and resilience by lifting weights in a safe environment whilst having fun with their friends. The girls learnt the physical and mental benefits of being physically active. We finished the session with a mental health talk and learnt coping mechanisms for exam pressures and how to look after yourself through a stressful time and the girls got to take away what they had created to use in the future.
It was great to see the confidence of the girls grow throughout the sessions on the day, from being quiet and shy to chatting away by the end. One school has reported since the girls have been back at school, they feel more confident about going into the gym and feel braver lifting weights now.
Yvette Hockley, Sport Welfare Officer
I have been in post as a Sports Welfare Officer, for almost 2 years and during that time the role has changed beyond recognition, relationships have been formed, clusters coalesced, regional representatives chosen and training delivered. It’s hard to believe that we are almost three quarters of the way through the 3-year project and I could never have imaged that we could have achieved so much as a network though I sometimes feel that there is still so much to do. I have met so many inspirational people and re-engaged with some individuals that I have previously worked with. I am looking forward to continuing to support an environment where everyone feels safe to move and be who they are and wish everyone a happy and safe 2026.
As we step into 2026, we’re excited to build on this momentum and continue creating opportunities for everyone to lead active, healthy lives. Thank you to our team, partners, and communities for making this year unforgettable, here’s to an even brighter year ahead!
