Amelia Kitchen, from Hayle, has been elected Vice-Chair of GLL’s Worker Board.
As a charitable social enterprise, GLL is a staff owned cooperative that is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year. To mark the occasion Amelia, a senior general manager in Cornwall, recently joined colleagues, politicians and sporting celebrities at the House of Commons.
Amelia has worked in leisure and sport since 2000. She became a member of the GLL team when the organisation agreed a contract with Cornwall Council to take on the running of its leisure centres. She has a master’s degree in Recreation Management from Loughborough University and, as an opt-in member of the GLL Society, was elected to the cooperative’s 10-strong worker board two years ago.
“We meet monthly online as a group and have full board meetings quarterly that include the chief executive, independent trustees, observers and councillors,” said Amelia.
“The worker board is about governance – checking and challenging what GLL does to fulfil its purpose of improving the physical, mental and social wellbeing of our communities across the UK.
“As a member, I have a role to play in shaping the future direction of GLL, and being able to bring the Cornish perspective to the table is very important.
“I strongly believe in the GLL ethos. It doesn’t have shareholders like private companies and surplus money is invested back into the services and facilities we provide. The new outdoor gym at Newquay Leisure World, for example was a capital reinvestment of surplus funds.
All staff can choose to join GLL’s Society – giving them a non-dividend paying share in the organisation, discounted leisure memberships, the chance to participate in exciting group activities and a real say in corporate planning. We invest heavily in staff training and are proud to be a Real Living Wage employer.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about GLL but, as someone who lives and works in Cornwall, I can honestly say that our charitable social enterprise model is impressively unique.
“It’s an honour to have been elected to my new voluntary role, whilst also working hard to ensure our Cornish centres work as cost effectively as possible in these post Covid, high inflation times.”
GLL was first established in 1993 and is now the UK’s largest service provider in the leisure, sport and library sector.
The organisation runs nine leisure centres in Cornwall and this year supported 84 Cornwall-based athletes through its annual sports award foundation.
For more information about GLL’s 30th anniversary celebration at the House of Commons, visit: https://www.better.org.uk/news/gll-celebrates-30th-anniversary-at-house-of-commons
